Cfoe  ILiorarp 

of  tbr 

antoersitp  of  Jl3ott&  Carolina 


Collection  of  ji2ontj  CaroUntana 

"  C37O.03 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N  C    AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00030748834 


This  book  must-  not 
be  token  from  the 
Library  building. 


• — 


— 


THIS  TITLE  HAS! 


BEEN  Iv.lCROOtkEg 


MYTHS  OF  THE  CHEROKEE 


JAM  ES     M<  ><  >Xi;V 


EXTRACT   FROM  THE    NINETEENTH    ANNUAL    I;l  PORT   OF  THE 
BUREAU    OF    AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY 


WAS  II  IN  (.ION 

GOVERNMENT     PRINTING     OFFICE 

L9  02 


Library,  Univ.  of 
North  Carolina 


MYTHS  OF  THE  CHEROKEE 


JAMES    MOONEY 


CONTENTS 


Page 

I — Introduction 11 

II — Historical  sketch  of  the  Cherokee 14 

The  traditionary  period 14 

The  period  of  Spanish  exploration — 1540-? 23 

The  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  period — 1654-1784 29 

Relations  with  the  United  States 61 

From  the  first  treaty  to  the  Removal— 1785-1S38 (il 

The  Removal— 1838-1839 130 

The  Arkansas  band— 1817-1838 135 

The  Texas  hand— 1817-1900 L43 

The  Cherokee  Nation  of  the  AVest— 1840-1900 146 

The  East  Cherokee— 1838-1900 157 

III — Notes  to  the  historical  sketch 182 

IV — Stories  and  story-tellers _ 229 

V— The  myths 239 

Cosmogonic  myths 239 

1.  How  the  world  was  made 239 

2.  The  first  fire 240 

3.  Kana'ti  and  Selu:  Origin  of  corn  and  game 242 

4.  Origin  of  disease  and  medicine 250 

5.  The  Daughter  of  the  Sun :  Origin  of  death 252 

6.  How  they  brought  back  the  Tobacco 254 

7.  The  journey  to  the  sunrise 255 

8.  The  Moon  and  the  Thunders 256 

9.  What  the  Stars  are  like 257 

10.  Origin  of  the  Pleiades  and  the  Pine 258 

11.  The  milky  way 259 

12.  Origin  of  strawl  perries 259 

13.  The  Great  Yellow-jacket:  Origin  of  fish  and  frogs 260 

14.  The  Deluge 261 

Quadruped  myths  . . .  .• 261 

15.  The  four-tooted  tribes 261 

16.  The  Rabbit  goes  duck  hunting 266 

1 7.  How  the  Rabbit  stole  the  Otter's  coat 267 

IS.   "Why  the  Possum's  tail  is  bare 269 

19.  How  the  Wildcat  caught  the  turkeys 269 

20.  How  the  Terrapin  beat  the  Rabbit 270 

21.  The  Rabbit  and  the  tar  wolf 271 

22/  The  Rabbit  and  the  P  >ssum  after  a  wife 273 

2::.    The  Rabl.it  dines  the  Bear 273 

24.  The  Rabbit  escapes  from  the  wolves 274 

25.  Flint  visits  the  Rabbit 274 

26.  How  the  Deer  got  his  horns 275 

27.  Why  the  Deer's  teeth  are  blunt 276 

2s.   What  became  of  the  Rabbit 277 

29.  Why  the  Mink  smells 277 

30.  Why  the  Mole  lives  under  ground 277 


6  CONTENTS                                                                   [ETH.ANN.19 

\     The  rnythi — ( kmtinued. 

Quadruped  myths — Continued.  ras>-' 

31     The  Terrapin's  escape  from  the  wolves 278 

:;•_'.  Origin  of  the  Groundhog  dance:  The  Groundhog's  head 279 

33    The  migration  of  the  animals 280 

34.  The  Wolf's  revenge:  The  Wolf  and  the  Dog    - 280 

Bird  myths 280 

35.  The  1  »ird  t  ribes 280 

36.  The  ball  game  of  the  birds  and  animals 286 

37.  How  the  Turkey  got  his  beard  287 

38.  Why  the  Turkey  gobbles 288 

39.  How  the  Kingfisher  got  his  bill 288 

-10.   How  the  Partridge  got  his  whistle 289 

41.  How  the  Etedbird  got  his  color 289 

4l'.  The  Phi  asant  beating  corn:  The  Pheasant  ■lane.' 290 

4:;.  The  race  between  the  ( Irane  and  the  Humming-bird 290 

44.  The  Owl  gets  married 291 

4."..  The  Huhu  gets  married 292 

46.  Why  the  Buzzard's  head  i^  bare 29.", 

47.  The  Eagle's  revenge 293 

4s.  The  Hunter  and  the  Buzzard 294 

Snake,  fish,  ami  insect  myths    294 

49.  The  snake  tribe  294 

50.  The  Uktenaand  the  riufisu'ti 297 

51.  A.gan-Uni'tsi's  search  for  the  Uktena 298 

52.  The  Red  Man  and  the  Uktena 300 

53.  The  Hunter  and  the  Oksu'hl 301 

54.  The  Tstu'tli 302 

55.  The  Uw'tsufi'ta 303 

56.  Tl  ie  Snake  Boy 304 

57.  The  Snake  Man 304 

58.  The  Rattlesnake's  vengeance - 305 

59.  The  smaller  reptiles,  fishes,  and  insects 306 

60.  Why  the  Bullfrog's  head  is  striped 310 

61.  The  Bullfrog  lover 310 

62.  The  Katydid's  warning 311 

Wonder  stories 311 

63.  rntsaiyi'.  the  Gambler , 311 

64.  The  nest  of  theTla'nuwa 315 

65.  The  Hunter  and  the  Tla'nuwa 316 

66.  r'tlufi'ta.  the  Spear-finger 316 

07.    Xun'yunu'wl,  the  stone  man 319 

68.  The  Hunter  in  the  Dakwa' 320 

69.  A-taga'M,  the  enchanted  lake 321 

To.  The  Bride  from  the  south 322 

71 .  The  Ice  Man t 322 

72.  The  Hunter  and  Selu 323 

73.  The  underground  [■anthers 32 1 

74.  The  Tsundige'wl 325 

75.  i  >rigin  of  the  I '.ear:  The  Bear  songs 325 

To.  The  Bear  Man 327 

77.  TheGreat  Leech  of  Tlanusi'yl.. 329 

78.  The  Xunne'hi  and  other  spirit  folk 330 

70.  The  removed  townhouses 335 


moonev.]  CONTENTS  7 

V— Tlie  myths— Continued. 

Wonder  stories — Continued.  Page 

80.  The  spirit  defenders  of  Nikwasi' 336 

8 1 .  TsuikaliV,  the  slant-eyed  giant 337 

82.  Kana'sta,  the  lust  settlement 341 

83.  Tsuwe'nahi,  a  legend  of  Pilot  knob 843 

84.  The  man  who  married  the  Thunder's  sister 345 

85.  The  haunted  whirlpool 347 

sii.  Yahula :;47 

87.  The  water  cannibals 349 

Historical  traditions . 350 

,    ss.   First  contact  with  whites 350 

89.  The  Iroquois  wars :;:,  i 

90.  Hiadeoni,  the  Seneca 356 

91.  The  two  Mi  .hawks 357 

92.  Escape  of  the  Seneca  boys 359 

9.'!.  The  unseen  helpers 359 

94.  Hatcinondon's  escape  from  the  Cherokee 362 

95.  Hemp-carrier. :;<;4 

'.hi  The  Seneca  peacemakers 365 

97.  Origin  of  the  Yontonwisas  .lance '365 

us.  i  ra'na's  adventures  among  the  Cherokee 367 

99.   The  Shawano  wars 370 

100.  The  raid  on  Tikwali'tsI 374 

101.  The  last  Shawano  invasion :;74 

102.  The  false  warriors  of  Chilhowee 375 

103.  (  Wee  town :;77 

104.  The  eastern  tribes _ 378 

105.  The  southern  and  western  tribes 382 

100.   The  giants  from  the  west 391 

107.  The  lost  Cherokee , 391 

108.  The  massacre  of  the  Ani'-Kuta'nl 392 

109.  The  war  medicine 393 

110.  Incidents  of  personal  heroism :;:i| 

111.  The  mounds  and  the  constant  lire:  The  old  sacred  things 395 

Miscellaneous  myths  and  legends 397 

Ul'.  The  ignorant  housekeeper :i'.i7 

113.  The  man  in  the  stump _ 397 

114.  Two  lazy  hunters 397 

115.  The  two  old  men 399 

116.  The  star  feathers 399 

117.  Th,'  Mother  Bear's  song 400 

118.  Baby  song,  to  please  tin-  children 401 

119.  When  babies  are  born:  The  Wren  and  the  ( Iricket 401 

120.  The  Raven  Mocker 401 

121.  Herbert's  spring 403 

1-".'.    Local  legends  i  4'  North  Carolina 404 

123.  Local  legends  of  South  Carolina 411 

124.  Local  legends-  of  Tennessee 412 

125.  Local  legends  of  t  ieorgia 415 

1 26.  Plant  lore 420 

VI— Notes  and  parallels 42s 

VII— Glossary 506 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Plate  I.   In  the  Cherokee  mountains 11 

IT.  Map:  The  Cherokee  and  their  neighbors 14 

III.  Map:  The  old  Cherokee  country 23 

IV.  Sequi  .ya  |  Sikwayl ) ' 108 

V.  The  Chen  ikee  alphabet 112 

VI.  Tahchee  (Tilts!)  or  Dutch 140 

VII.  Spring-fn  ig  or  Ti  x  lantuh  ( Du'stu') 142 

VIII.  John  Ross  (Gu'wisguwl') 150 

IX.  ColonelW.  II.  Thomas  (Wil-Usdi') 160 

X.  Chief  N.  J.  Smith  (Tsaladihl') 178 

XI.   Swimmer  (A'yuiVini )  22S 

XII.  John  Ax  (ItagiYnuhl) 238 

XIII.  Tagwadihl' 256 

XIV.  A  yasta 272 

XV.  Sawanu'gl,  a  Cherokee  l>all  player 284 

XVI.  NlkwasI'  mound  at  Franklin,  North  Carolina 337 

X  VII.   Annie  Ax  ( Sac  lay! ) 358 

XVII 1.   YValini',  a<  Iherokee  woman 378 

XIX.  On  Oconaluftee  river 405 

XX.   Petroglyphs  at  Track-rock  gap,  Georgia 4 IS 

Figure  1.  Feather  wand  of  Eagle  dance 2S2 

2.  Ancient  Iroquois  wampum  1  celts 354 

9 


MYTHS  OF  THE  CHEROKEE 


By  James  Mooney 


I— INTRODUCTION 

The  myths  given  in  this  paper  are  part  of  a  large  body  of  material 
collected  among  the  Cherokee,  chiefly  in  successive  field  seasons  from 
1887  to  L890,  inclusive,  and  comprising  more  or  less  extensive  notes, 
together  with  original  Cherokee  manuscripts,  relating  to  the  history, 
archeology,  geographic  nomenclature,  personal  names,  botany,  medi- 
cine, arts,  home  life,  religion,  songs,  ceremonies,  and  language  of  the 
tribe.  It  is  intended  that  this  material  shall  appear  from  time  to 
time  in  a  series  of  papers  which,  when  finally  brought  together,  shall 
constitute  a  monograph  upon  the  Cherokee  Indians.  This  paper  may 
be  considered  the  first  of  the  series,  all  that  has  hitherto  appeared 
being  a  short  paper  upon  the  sacred  formulas  of  the  tribe,  published 
in  the  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  in  1891  and  containing  a 
synopsis  of  the  Cherokee  medico-religious  theory,  with  twenty-eight 
specimens  selected  from  a  body  of  about  six  hundred  ritual  formulas 
written  down  in  the  Cherokee  language  and  alphabet  by  former 
doctors  of  the  tribe  and  constituting  altogether  the  largest  body  of 
aboriginal  American  literature  in  existence. 

Although  the  Cherokee  arc  probably  the  largest  and  most  impor- 
tant tribe  in  the  Tinted  States,  having  their  own  national  government 
and  numbering  at  any  time  in  their  history  from  20,000  to  25,000  per- 
sons, almost  nothing  has  yet  been  written  of  their  history  or  general 
ethnology,  as  compared  with  the  literature  of  such  northern  tribes  as 
the  Delawares,  the  Iroquois,  or  the  Ojibwa.  The  difference  is  due  to 
historical  reasons  which  need  not  be  discussed  here. 

It  might  seem  at  first  thought  that  the  Cherokee,  with  their  civi- 
lized code  of  laws,  their  national  press,  their  schools  and  seminaries, 
are  so  far  advanced  along  the  white  man's  road  as  to  offer  but  little 
inducement  for  ethnologic  study.  This  is  largely  true  of  those  in  the 
Indian  Territory,  with  whom  the  enforced  deportation,  two  generations 
ago,  from  accustomed  scenes  and  surroundings  did  more  at  a  single 
stroke  to  obliterate  Indian  ideas  than  could  have  been  accomplished 

11 


12  MYTHS    OF    THE    OHEBOKEE  [bth.aiw.19 

by  fifty  years  of  slow  development.  There  remained  behind,  however, 
in  the  bearl  of  the  Carolina  mountains,  :i  considerable  body,  outnum- 
bering todaj  such  well-known  western  tribes  as  the  Omaha,  Pawnee, 
Comanche,  and   Kiowa,  and  it  is  among  these,  the  old  conservative 

Kitn'hwa  < 'lenient,  that  t lie  ancient  things  have  been  preserved.  Moun- 
taineers guard  well  the  past,  and  in  the  secluded  forests  of  Xantahala  and 
Oconaluftee,  faraway  from  the  main-traveled  road  of  modern  progress, 
the  Cherokee  priest  still  treasures  the  Legends  and  repeats  the  mystic 
rituals  handed  down  from  his  ancestors.  There  is  change  indeed  in 
dress  and  outward  seeming,  but  the  heart  of  the  Indian  is  still  his  own. 

For  this  and  other  reasons  much  the  greater  portion  of  the  material 
herein  contained  has  been  procured  among  the  East  Cherokee  living 
upon  the  Qualla  reservation  in  western  North  Carolina  and  in  various 
detached  settlements  between  the  reservation  and  the  Tennessee  line. 
This  has  been  supplemented  with  information  obtained  in  the  Cherokee 
Nation  in  Indian  Territory,  chiefly  from  old  men  and  women  who 
had  emigrated  from  what  is  now  Tennessee  and  Georgia,  and  who 
consequently  had  a  better  local  knowledge  of  these  sections,  as  well  as 
of  the  history  of  the  western  Nation,  than  is  possessed  by  their  kindred 
in  Carolina.  The  historical  matter  and  the  parallels  are,  of  course, 
collated  chiefly  from  printed  sources,  but  the  myths  proper,  with  but 
few  exceptions,  are  from  original  investigation. 

The  historical  sketch  must  be  understood  as  distinctly  a  sketch,  not 
a  detailed  narrative,  for  which  there  is  not  space  in  the  present  paper. 
The  Cherokee  have  made  deep  impress  upon  the  history  of  the  southern 
states,  and  no  more  has  been  attempted  here  than  to  give  the  leading- 
facts  in  connected  sequence.  As  the  history  of  the  Nation  after  the 
removal  to  the  West  and  the  reorganization  in  Indian  Territory  pre- 
sents but  few  points  of  ethnologic  interest,  it  has  been  but  briefly 
treated.  On  the  other  hand  the  affairs  of  the  eastern  band  have  been 
discussed  at  some  length,  for  the  reason  that  so  little  concerning  this 
remnant  is  to  be  found  in  print. 

One  of  the  chief  purposes  of  ethnologic  study  is  to  trace  the 
development  of  human  thought  under  varying  conditions  of  race  and 
environment,  the  result  showing  always  that  primitive  man  is  essen- 
tially the  same  in  every  part  of  the  world.  With  this  object  in  view 
a  considerable  space  has  been  devoted  to  parallels  drawn  almost  entirely 
from  Indian  tribes  of  the  United  States  and  British  America.  For 
the  southern  countries  there  is  but.  little  trustworthy  material,  and  to 
extend  the  inquiry  to  the  eastern  continent  and  the  islands  of  the  sea 
would  be  to  invite  an  endless  task. 

The  author  desires  to  return  thanks  for  many  favors  from  the 
Library  of  Congress,  the  Geological  Survey,  and  the  Smithsonian 
Institution,  and  for  much  courteous  assistance  and  friendly  suggestion 
from  the  officers  and  stall'  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology;  and 


mooney]  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  13 

tn  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to  the  late  Chief  N.  J.  Smith  and 
family  for  services  as  interpreter  and  for  kindly  hospitality  during 
successive  field  seasons:  to  Agent  H.  W.  Spray  and  wife  for  unvarying 
kindness  manifested  in  many  helpful  ways;  to  Mr  William  Harden, 
librarian,  and  the  Georgia  State  Historical  Society,  for  facilities  in 
consulting  documents  at  Savannah,  Georgia;  to  the  late  Col.  W.  H. 
Thomas:  Lieut.  Col.  W.  W.  Stringfield, of  Waynesville;  ( 'apt.  James  W. 
Terrell,  of  Webster;  .Mrs  A.  C.  Avery  and  Dr  P.  L.  Murphy,  of  Mor- 
ganton;  Mr  W.  A.  Fair,  of  Lincolnton;  the  late  Maj.  James  Bryson,  of 
Dillsboro;  Mr  II.  G.  Trotter,  of  Franklin:  Mr  Sibbald  Smith, of  Chero- 
kee; Maj.  R.C.Jackson,  of  Smithwood,  Tennessee;  Mr  D.  R.  Dunn, 
of  Conasauga,  Tennessee:  the  late  Col.  Z.  A.  Zile,  of  Atlanta:  Mr  L. 
M.Greer,  of  Ellijay,  Georgia:  Mr  Thomas  Robinson,  of  Portland. 
Maine;  Mr  Allen  Ross,  Mr  W.  T.  Canup,  editor  of  the  Indian  Arrow, 
and  the  officers  of  the  Cherokee  Nation.  Tahlequah,  Indian  Territory; 
Dr  D.  T.  Day,  United  States  Geological  Survey.  Washington,  D.  C, 
and  Prof.  G.  M.  Bowers,  of  the  United  States  Fish  Commission,  for 
valuable  oral  information,  letters,  clippings,  and  photographs;  to  Maj. 
J.  Adger  Smyth,  of  Charleston.  S.  C,  for  documentary  material; 
to  Mr  Stansbury  Hagar  and  the  late  Robert  Grant  Haliburton,  of 
Brooklyn.  N.  Y.,  for  the  use  of  valuable  manuscript  notes  upon 
Cherokee  stellar  legends;  to  Miss  A.  M.  Brooks  for  the  use  of  valuable 
Spanish  document  copies  and  translations  entrusted  to  the  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology;  to  Mr  James  Blythe,  interpreter  during  a 
great  part  of  the  time  spent  by  the  author  in  the  field;  and  to  various 
Cherokee  and  other  informants  mentioned  in  the  body  of  the  work, 
from  whom  the  material  was  obtained. 


II     HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  CHEROKEE 
The  Traditionary  Period 

The  Cherokee  were  the  mountaineers  of  the  South,  holding  the 
entire  Allegheny  region  from  the  interlocking  bead-streams  of  the 
Kanawha  and  the  Tennessee  southward  almost  to  the  site  of  Atlanta, 
and  from  the  Blue  ridge  on  the  east  to  the  Cumberland  range  on  the 
west,  a  territory  comprising  an  area  of  about  40,000  square  miles, 
now  included  in  the  states  of  Virginia,  Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Alabama.  Their  principal  towns  were  upon 
the  headwaters  of  the  Savannah.  Hiwassee,  and  Tuckasegee,  and  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  Little  Tennessee  to  its  junction  with  the  main 
stream.  Itsati,  or  Echota,  on  the  south  hank  of  the  Little  Tennessee,  a 
few  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Tellico  river,  in  Tennessee,  was  commonly 
considered  the  capital  of  the  Nation.  As  the  advancing  whites  pressed 
upon  them  from  the  east  and  northeast  the  more  exposed  towns  were 
destroyed  or  abandoned  and  new  settlements  were  formed  lower  down 
the  Tennessee  and  on  the  upper  branches  of  the  Chattahoochee  and 
the  Coosa. 

As  is  always  (he  ease  with  tribal  geography-,  there  were  no  fixed 
boundaries,  and  on  every  side  the  Cherokee  frontiers  were  contested 
by  rival  claimants.  In  Virginia,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  the  tribe 
was  held  in  check  in  early  days  by  the  Powhatan  and  the  Monacan. 
On  the  east  and  southeast  the  Tuscarora  and  Catawba  were  their  invet- 
erate enemies,  with  hardly  even  a  momentary  truce  within  the  historic 
period;  and  evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  Sara  or  Cheraw  were  fully 
as  hostile.  On  the  south  there  was  hereditary  war  with  the  Creeks, 
who  claimed  nearly  the  whole,  of  upper  Georgia  as  theirs  by  original 
possession,  but  who  were  being  gradually  pressed  down  toward  the 
Gulf  until,  through  the  mediation  of  the  United  States,  a  treaty  was 
finally  made  fixing  the  boundary  between  the  two  tribes  along  a  line 
running  about  due  west  from  the  mouth  of  Broad  river  on  the  Savan- 
nah. Toward  the  west,  the  Chickasaw  on  the  lower  Tennessee  and  the 
Shawano  on  the  Cumberland  repeatedly  turned  back  the  tide  of  Chero- 
kee invasion  from  the  rich  central  valleys,  while  the  powerful  Iroquois 
in  the  far  north  set  up  an  almost  unchallenged  claim  of  paramount 
lordship  from  the  Ottawa  river  of  Canada  southward  at  Least  to  the 
Kentucky  river. 

14 


NINETEENTH    ANNUAL    REPORT     PL    II 


uooney]  TRIBAL    NAMES  15 

On  the  other  hand,  by  their  defeat  of  the  ("reeks  and  expulsion  <>f 
the  Shawano,  the  Cherokee  made  good  the  claim  which  they  asserted 
to  all  the  lands  from  upper  Georgia  to  the  Ohio  river,  including  the 
rich  hunting  grounds  of  Kentucky.  Holding  as  they  did  the  great 
mountain  harrier  between  the  English  settlements  on  the  coast  and  the 
French  or  Spanish  garrisons  along  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio,  their 
geographic  position,  no  less  than  their  superior  number,  would  have 
given  them  the  balance  of  power  in  the  South  but  for  a  looseness  of 
tribal  organization  in  striking  contrast  to  the  compactness  of  the  Iro- 
quois league,  by  which  for  more  than  a  century  the  French  power 
was  held  in  check  in  the  north.  The  English,  indeed,  found  it  con- 
venient to  recognize  certain  chiefs  as  supreme  in  the  tribe,  but  the  only 
real  attempt  to  weld  the  whole  Cherokee  Nation  into  a  political  unit 
was  that  made  by  the  French  agent,  Priber,  about  1  TMtJ.  which  failed 
from  its  premature  discovery  by  the  English.  We  frequently  find 
their  kingdom  divided  against  itself,  their  very  number  preventing 
unity  of  action,  while  still  giving  them  an  importance  above  that 
of  neighboring  tribes. 

The  proper  name  by  which  the  Cherokee  call  themselves  (l)1  is 
Yuii'wiya'.  or  Ani'-Yun'wiya'  in  the  third  person,  signifying  •"real 
people,"  or  "  principal  people."  a  word  closely  related  toOnwe-hofiwe, 
the  name  by  which  the  cognate  Iroquois  know  themselves.  The  word 
properly  denotes  "Indians,"  as  distinguished  from  people  of  other 
races,  but  in  usage  it  is  restricted  to  mean  members  of  the  Cherokee 
tribe,  those  of  other  tribes  being  designated  as  Creek,  Catawba,  etc., 
as  the  case  may  be.  On  ceremonial  occasions  they  frequently  speak  of 
themselves  as  Ani'-Kitu'hwagi,  or  "people  of  Kitu'hwa,"  an  ancient 
settlement  on  Tuckasegee  river  and  apparently  the  original  nucleus  of 
the  tribe.  Among  the  western  Cherokee  this  name  has  been  adopted 
by  a  secret  society  recruited  from  the  full-blood  element  and  pledged 
to  resist  the  advances  of  the  white  man's  civilization.  Under  the 
various  forms  of  Cuttawa,  Gattochwa,  Kittuwa.  etc..  as  spelled  by  dif- 
ferent authors,  it  was  also  used  by  several  northern  Algonquian tribes 
as  a  synonym  for  Cherokee. 

Cherokee,  the  name  by  which  they  are  commonly  known,  has  no 
meaning  in  their  own  language,  and  seems  to  be  of  foreign  origin. 
As  used  among  themselves  the  form  is  Tsa'lagi'  or  Tsa'ragi'.  It  first 
appears  as  Chalaque  in  the  Portuguese  narrative  of  De  Soto's  expedi- 
tion, published  originally  in  L557,  while  we  rind  Cheraqui  in  a  French 
document  of  1699,  and  Cherokee  as  an  English  form  as  early,  at  'east,  as 
1708.  The  name  has  thus  an  authentic  history  of  360  years.  There 
is  evidence  that  it  is  derived  from  the  Choctaw  word  choluk  or  chiluk, 
signifying  a  pit  or  cave,  and  comes  to  us  through  the  so-called  Mobilian 
trade   language,   a  corrupted  Choctaw  jargon   formerly   used   as  the 

1  gee  the  notes !"  the  historical  sketch. 


16  MYTHS    OE    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ahh.19 

medium  of  coi unication  among  all  the  tribes  of  the  <  rulf  states,  as 

fax  north  as  the  mouth  of  the  <  >hio  (2).  Within  iliis  area  many  of  the 
tribes  were  commonly  known  under  Choctaw  names,  even  though  <>t' 
widerj  differing  Linguistic  stocks,  ami  if  such  a  name  existed  for  the 
Cherokee  it  must  undoubtedly  have  been  communicated  to  the  first 
Spanish  explorers  by  I  >e  Soto's  interpreters.  This  theory  is  borne 
out  by  their  Iroquois  (Mohawk)  name,  Oyata'geronon',  as  given  by 
Hewitt,  signifying  "inhabitants  of  the  cave  country,"  the  Allegheny 
region  being  peculiarly  a  cave  country,  in  which  "rock  shelters,"  con- 
taining numerous  traces  of  Indian  occupancy,  are  of  frequent  occur- 
rence. Their  Catawba  name  also.  Manteran,  as  given  by  Gatschet, 
signifying  "coming  out  of  the  ground,"  seems  to  contain  the  same 
reference.  Adair's  attempt  to  connect  the  name  Cherokee  with  their 
word  for  &re,atsila,  is  an  error  founded  upon  imperfect  knowledge  of 
the  Language. 

Among  other  synonyms  for  the  tribe  are  Rickahockan,  or  Recna- 
hecrian,  the  ancient  Powhatan  name,  and  Tallige',  or  Tallige'wi,  the 
ancient  name  used  in  the  Walam  Olum  chronicle  of  the' Lenape'.  Con- 
cerning  both  the  application  and  the  etymology  of  this  last  name  there 
has  been  much  dispute,  but  there  seems  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the 
identity  of  the  people. 

Linguistically  the  Cherokee  belong  to  the  Iroquoian  stock,  the 
relationship  having  been  suspected  by  Barton  over  a  century  ago,  and 
by  Gallatin  and  Hale  at  a  later  period,  and  definitely  established  by 
Hewitt  in  1887. ]  While  there  can  now  be  no  question  of  the  connec- 
tion, the  marked  lexical  and  grammatical  differences  indicate  that  the 
separation  must  have  occurred  at  a  very  early  period.  As  is  usually 
the  case  with  a  large  tribe  occupying  an  extensive  territory,  the  lan- 
guage is  spoken  in  several  dialects,  the  principal  of  which  may.  for 
want  of  other  names,  be  conveniently  designated  as  the  Eastern.  Middle, 
and  Western.  Adair's  classification  into  "Aviate"  (.'///<//),  or  low,  and 
"Ottare"  (d'taM),  or  mountainous,  must  be  rejected  as  imperfect. 

The  Eastern  dialect,  formerly  often  called  the  Lower  Cherokee 
dialect,  was  originally  spoken  in  all  the  towns  upon  the  waters  of  the 
Keowee  and  Tugaloo,  head-streams  of  Savannah  river,  in  South  Caro- 
lina ami  the  adjacent  portion  of  Georgia.  Its  chief  peculiarity  is  a 
rolling  /'.  which  takes  the  place  of  the  /  of  the  other  dialects.  In 
this  dialect  the  tribal  name  is  Tsa'ragi',  which  the  English  settlers  of 
Carolina  corrupted  to  Cherokee,  while  the  Spaniards,  advancing  from 
the  south,  became  better  familial'  with  the  other  form,  which  they 
wrote  as  Chalaque.  Owing  to  their  exposed  frontier  position,  adjoin- 
ing the  white  settlements  of  Carolina,  the  Cherokee  of  this  division 

'Barton,  Ben}.  8.,  New  Views  on  the  Origin  of  the  Tribes  and  Nations  of  America,  p.  xlv,  passim; 
Phils  .,  I7'.i7;  Qallatfn,  Albert,  synopsis  of  Indian  Tribes,  Trana  American  Antiquarian  Society,  n,  p. 
'.il:  Cambridge,  1836;  Hew  iit.  .1.  X.  B.,  The  Cherokee  an  Iroquoian  Language,  Washington,  1887  i  Ms 
In  the  archives  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnologj 


t MYl  DIALECTS RELATED    TRIBES  17 

were  the  first  to  feel  the  shock  of  war  in  the  campaigns  of  L760  and 
1776.  with  the  result  that  before  the  close  of  the  Revolution  they  had 
been  completely  extirpated  from  their  original  territory  and  scattered 
as  refugees  among  the  more  western  towns  of  the  tribe.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  they  lost  their  distinctive  dialect,  which  is  now 
practically  extinct.  In  1888  it  was  spoken  by  but  one  man  on  the 
reservation  in  North  Carolina. 

The  Middle  dialect,  which  might  properly  be  designated  the  Kituhwa 
dialect,  was  originally  spoken  in  the  towns  on  the  Tuckasegee  and  the 
headwaters  of  the  Little  Tennessee,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Cherokee 
country,  and  is  still  spoken  by  the  great  majority  of  those  now  living  on 
the  Qualla  reservation.  In  some  of  its  phonetic  forms  it  agrees  with 
the  Eastern  dialect,  but  resembles  the  Western  in  having  the  /  sound. 

The  Western  dialect  was  spoken  in  most  of  the  towns  of  east  Ten- 
nessee and  upper  Georgia  and  upon  Hiwassee  and  Cheowa  rivers  in 
North  Carolina.  It  is  the  softest  and  most  musical  of  all  the  dialects 
of  this  musical  language,  having  a  frequent  liquid  /  and  eliding  many 
of  the  harsher  consonants  found  in  the  other  forms.  It  is  also  the 
literary  dialect,  and  is  spoken  by  most  of  those  now  constituting  the 
Cherokee  Nation  in  the  West. 

Scattered  among  the  other  Cherokee  are  individuals  whose  pronun- 
ciation and  occasional  peculiar  terms  for  familiar  objects  give  indica- 
tion of  a  fourth  and  perhaps  a  fifth  dialect,  which  can  not  now  be 
localized.  It  is  possible  that  these  differences  may  come  from  for- 
eign  admixture,  as  of  Natchez.  Taskigi,  or  Shawano  blood.  There  is 
some  reason  for  believing  that  the  people  living  on  Nantahala  river 
differed  dialectically  from  their  neighbors  on  either  side  (;:). 

The  Iroquoian  stock,  to  which  the  Cherokee  belong,  had  its  chief 
home  in  the  north,  its  tribes  occupying  a  compact  territory  winch 
comprised  portions  of  Ontario,  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania, 
and  extended  down  the  Susquehanna  and  ( Jhesapeake  bay  almost  to  the 
latitude  of  Washington.  Another  body,  including  the  Tuscarora, 
Nottoway,  and  perhaps  also  the  Meherrin.  occupied  territory  in  north- 
eastern North  Carolina  and  the  adjacent  portion  of  Virginia.  The 
( 'herokee  themselves  constituted  the  third  and  southernmost  bodj  .  It 
is  evident  that  tribes  of  common  stock  must  atone  time  have  occupied 
contiguous  territories,  and  such  we  find  to  be  the  case  in  this  instance. 
The  Tuscarora  and  Meherrin.  and  presumably  also  the  Nottoway,  are 
known  to  have  come  from  the  north,  while  traditional  and  historical 
evidenee'eoncur  in  assigning  to  the  Cherokee  as  their  early  home  the 
region  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Ohio,  immediately  to  the  south- 
ward of  their  kinsmen,  but  bitter  enemies,  the  Iroquois.  The  theory 
which  brings  the  Cherokee  from  northern  Iowa  and  the  Iroquois  from 
Manitoba  is  unworthy  of  serious  consideration.  (4) 

The  most  ancient  tradition  concerning  the  Cherokee  appears  to  be 

iy  etii— 01 2 


18  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  i   unr.U 

the  Delaware  tradition  of  the  expulsion  of  the  Talligewi  from  the  north, 
:i-  firsl  noted  by  the  missionary  Heckewelder  in  L819,  and  published 
more  l'ull\  by  Brinton  in  the  Walam  Olum  in  L885.  According  t<> 
the  firsl  account,  the  Delawares,  advancing  from  the  west,  found  their 
further  progress  opposed  by  a  powerful  people  called  Alligewi  or  Tal- 
ligcw  i.  occupying  the  country  upon  a  river  which  Heckewelder  thinks 
identical  with  the  Mississippi,  but  which  the  sequel  shows  was  more 
probably  the  upper  Ohio.  They  wen'  said  to  have  regularly  built 
earthen  fortifications,  in  which  they  defended  themselves  so  well 
that  at  la-t  the  Delawares  were  obliged  to  seek  the  assistance  of  the 
"Mengwe,"or  Iroquois,  with  the  result  that  aftera  warfare  extending 
over  many  years  the  Alligewi  finally  received  a  crushing  defeat,  the 
survivors  fleeing  down  the  river  and  abandoning  the  country  to  the 
invaders,  who  thereupon  parceled  it  out  amongst  themselves,  the 
■*  Mengwe"  choosing  the  portion  a  I  unit  the  I  rreal  lakes  while  the  Dela- 
wares took  possession  of  that  to  the  south  and  cast.  The  missionary 
adds  that  the  Allegheny  (and  Ohio)  river  was  still  called  by  the  Dela- 
wares the  Alligewi  Sipu,  or  river  of  the  Alligewi.  This  would  seem 
to  indicate  it  as  the  true  river  of  the  tradition.  He  speaks  also  of 
remarkable  earthworks  seen  by  him  in  1 7^'-»  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Lake  Erie,  which  were  said  by  the  Indians  to  have  been  built  by  the 
extirpated  tribe  as  defensive  fortifications  in  the  course  < if  this  war. 
Near  two  of  these,  in  the  vicinity  of  Sandusky,  he  was  shown  mounds 
under  which  it  was  said  some  hundreds  of  the  slain  Talligewi  were 
buried.1  As  is  usual  in  such  traditions,  the  Alligewi  were  said  to  have 
been  of  gianl  stature,  far  exceeding  their  conquerors  in  size. 

In  the  Walam  Olum.  which  is.  it  is  asserted,  a  metrical  translation  of 
an  ancient  hieroglyphic  bark  record  discovered  in  L820,  the  main  tra- 
dition is  given  in  practically  the  same  way.  with  an  appendix  which 
follows  the  fortunes  of  the  defeated  tribe  up  to  the  beginning  of  the 
historic  period,  thus  completing  the  chain  of  evidence.  (."■) 

In  the  Walam  Olum  also  we  find  the  Delawares  advancing  from  the 
wesl  or  northwest  until  they  come  to  "Fish  river"'— the  same  which 
Heckewelder  make-  the  Mississippi  (6).  On  the  other  side,  we  are 
told.    •■The   Talligewi    possessed    the    East."     The    Delaware    chief 

'•desired   the   eastern    land,"  and  some  of  his  ] pie  go  on.  hut  are 

killed  by  the  Talligewi.  The  Delawares  decide  upon  war  and  call  in 
the  help  of  their  northern  friends,  the  "Talamatan,"  i.  e.,  the  Wyan- 
dot and  other  allied  Iroquoian  tribes.  A  war  ensues  which  continues 
through  the  terms  of  four  successive  chiefs,  when  victory  declares  for  the 
invaders, and  "  all  the  Talega  go  south."  The  country  is  then  divided, 
the  Talamatan  taking- the  northern  portion,  while  the  Delawares  "-ta\ 
south  of  the  lakes."  The  chronicle  proceeds  to  tell  how.  after  eleven 
more  chiefs  have  ruled,  the  Nanticokeand  Shawano  separate  from  the 


■  Heckewelder,  John,  Indian  Nations  of  Pennsylvania,  pp.  17-49,  oil.  1^76. 


mooney]         DELAWARE    TRADITIONS THE    NAME    TALLIGEWI  1 ',» 

parent  tribe  and  remove  to  the  south.  Six  other  chiefs  follow  in  suc- 
cession until  we  come  to  the  seventh,  who  "went  to  theTalega  moun- 
tains." By  this  time  the  Delawares  have  reached  the  ocean.  Other 
chiefs  succeed,  after  whom  "the  Easterners  and  the  Wolves"  prob- 
ably the  Mahican  or  Wappinger  and  the  Munsee — move  off  to  the 
northeast.  At  last,  after  six  more  chiefs,  "the  whites  came  on  the 
eastern  sea."  by  which  is  probably  meant  the  landing-  of  the  Dutch  on 
.Manhattan  in  1609  (7).  We  may  consider  this  a  tally  date,  approxi- 
mating the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Two  more  chiefs 
rule,  and  of  the  second  we  are  told  that  "He  fought  at  the  south:  he 
fought  in  the  land  of  theTalega  and  Koweta,"  and  again  the  fourth 
chief  after  the  coming  of  the  whites  "went  to  the  Talega."  We  have* 
thus  a  traditional  record  of  a  war  of  conquest  carried  on  against  the 
Talligewi  by  four  successive  chiefs,  and  a  succession  of  about  twenty- 
five  chiefs  between  the  final  expulsion  of  that  tribe  and  the  appearance 
of  the  whites,  in  which  interval  the  Nantieoke,  Shawano.  .Mahican. 
and  Munsee  branched  oil'  from  the  parent  tribe  of  the  Delawares. 
Without  venturing  to  entangle  ourselves  in  the  devious  maze  of  Indian 
chronology,  it  is  sufficient  to  note  that  all  this  implies  a  very  long  period 
of  timt — so  long,  in  fact,  that  during  it  several  new  tribes,  each  of 
which  in  time  developed  a  distinct  dialect,  branch  off  from  the  main 
Lenape'  stem.  It  is  distinctly  stated  that  all  the  Talega  went  south 
after  their  final  defeat:  and  from  later  references  we  rind  that  they  took 
refuge  in  the  mountain  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Koweta 
(the  Creeks),  and  that  Delaware  war  parties  were  still  making  raids 
upon  both  these  tribes  long  after  the  first  appearance  of  the  whites. 

Although  at  first  glance  it  might  be  thought  that  the  name  Tallige-wi 
is  but  a  corruption  of  Tsalagi,  a  closer  study  leads  to  the  opinion  that  it 
is  a  true  Delaware  word,  in  all  probability  connected  with  iruhJ,  or 
walok,  signifying  a  cave  or  hole  (Zeisberger),  whence  we  rind  in  the 
Walani  Olum  the  word  oligonunk  rendered  as  "at  the  place  of  caves." 
It  would  thus  be  an  exact  Delaware  rendering  of  the  same  name, 
"people  of  the  cave  country."  by  which,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Chero- 
kee were  commonly  known  among  the  tribes.  Whatever  may  be  the 
origin  of  the  name  itself,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  it~ 
application.  "Name,  location,  and  legends  combine  to  identify  the 
Cherokees  or  Tsalaki  with  the  Tallike:  and  this  is  as  much  evidence  as 
we  can  expect  to  produce  in  such  researches."1 

The  Wyandot  confirm  the  Delaware  story  and  fix  the  identification  of 
the  expelled  tribe.  According  to  their  tradition,  as  narrated  in  1802, 
the  ancient  fortifications  in  the  Ohio  valley  had  been  erected  in  the 
course  of  a  long  war  between  themselves  and  tin  'Cherokee,  which 
resulted  finally  in  the  defeat  of  the  latter. ' 

The  traditions  of  the  Cherokee,  so  far  as  they  have  been  preserved, 


'Brinton.  D.G.,  Walani  Olum,  p.  231;  Phila.,  1885. 

2 Schoolcraft,  H.  E.,  Notes  on  the  Iroquois,  p.  162;  Albany.1847. 


20  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ahij.19 

supplement  and  corroborate  those  of  the  northern  tribes,  thus  bring- 
ing the  storj  down  to  their  final  settlement  upon  the  headwaters  of 
the  Tennessee  in  the  rich  valleys  of  the  southern  Aileghenies.  <  >wing 
to  the  Cherokee  predilection  for  new  gods,  contrasting  strongly  with 
tin  conservatism  of  the  Iroquois,  their  ritual  forms  and  national  epics 
had  fallen  into  decay  even  before  tin'  Revolution,  a-  we  learn  from 
Adair.  Some  vestiges  of  their  migration  legend  still  existed  in  Hay- 
wood's time,  but  it  is  now  completely  Forgotten  both  in  the  East  ami 
in  the  West. 

According' to  Haywood,  who  wrote  in  1823  on  information  obtained 
directly  from  leading  members  of  the  tribe  long  before  the  Removal, 
the  Cherokee  formerly  had  alone-  migration  lee-end.  which  was  already 
lost,  hut  which,  within  the  memory  of  the  mother  of  one  informant 
say  about  L750  was  still  recited  by  chosen  orators  on  the  occasion  of 
the  annual  green-corn  dance.  This  migration  lee-end  appears  to  have 
resembled  that  of  the  Delawares  and  the  Creeks  in  beginning  with 
genesis  ami  the  period  of  animal  monsters,  and  thence  following  the 
shifting  fortune  of  the  chosen  hand  to  the  historic  period.  The  tradi- 
tion recited  that  they  had  originated  in  a  land  toward  the  rising  sun. 
where  they  had  been  placed  by  the  command  of  ••the  four  councils 
sent  from  above."  In  this  pristine  home  were  great  snakes  and  water 
monsters,  for  which  reason  it  was  supposed  to  have  been  near  the  sea 
coast,  although  the  assumption  is  not  a  necessary  corollary,  as  these 
are  a  feature  of  the  mythology  of  all  the  eastern  tribes.  After  this 
genesis  period  there  began  a  slow  migration,  during  which  "towns  of 
people  in  many  nights*  encampment  removed,"  but  no  details  are  given. 
From  Heckewelder  it  appears  that  the  expression,  "a  night's  encamp- 
ment." which  occurs  also  in  the  Delaware  migration  legend,  is  an  Indian 
figure  of  speech  for  a  halt  of  one  year  at  a  place.1 

In  another  place  Haywood  says,  although  apparently  confusing  the 
chronologic  order  of  events:  ■"One  tradition  which  they  have  amongst 
them  says  they  came  from  the  west  ami  exterminated  the  former 
inhabitants;  and  then  says  they  came  from  the  upper  parts  of  the 
Ohio,  where  they  erected  the  mounds  on  Crave  creek,  and  that  they 
removed  thither  from  the  country  where  Monticello  (near  Charlottes- 
ville. Virginia)  is  situated."8  The  first  reference  is  to  the  celebrated 
mounds  on  the  ( )hio  near  Moundsville,  below  Wheeling.  West  Virginia; 
the  other  is  doubtless  to  a  noted  burial  mound  described  by  Jefferson 
in  17sl  as  then  existing  near  his  home,  on  the  low  groundsof  Kivanua 
river  opposite  the  site  of  an  ancient  Indian  town.  He  himself  had 
opened  it  and  found  it  to  contain  perhaps  a  thousand  disjointed 
skeletons  of  hoth  adults  and  children,  the  bones  piled  in  successive 
layers,  those  near  the  to])  being  least  decayed.     They  showed  no  signs 

Heckewelder,  Indian  Nations,  p.  17.  ed.  isti'.. 
2  Haywood,  John,  Natural  and  Aboriginal  History  of  Tenn pp   H5-226;  Nashville,  1823. 


mooney]  EARLY    DVVKLLING-PLACES  21 

of  violence,  but  were  evidently  the  accumulation  of  long  years  from 
the  neighboring  Indian  town.  The  distinguished  writer  adds:  "But 
on  whatever  occasion  they  may  have  been  made,  they  are  of  consider- 
able notoriety  among  the  Indians:  for  a  party  passing,  about  thirty 
years  ago  [i.  e.,  about  L750],  through  the  part  of  the  country  where 
this  barrow  is.  went  through  the  woods  directly  to  it  without  any 
instructions  or  enquiry,  and  having  staid  about  it  some  time,  with 
expressions  which  were  construed  to  be  those  of  sorrow,  they  returned 
to  the  high  road,  which  they  had  left  about  half  a  dozen  miles  to  pay 
this  visit,  and  pursued  their  journey."1  Although  the  tribe  is  not 
named,  the  Indians  were  probably  Cherokee,  as  no  other  southern 
Indians  were  then  accustomed  to  range  in  that  section.  As  serving  to 
corroborate  this  opinion  we  have  the  statement  of  a  prominent  Cher- 
okee chief,  given  to  Schoolcraft  in  1846,  that  acccording  to  their  tradi- 
tion his  people  had  formerly  lived  at  the  Peaks  of  Otter,  in  Virginia, 
a  noted  landmark  of  the  Blue  ridge,  near  the  point  where  Staunton 
river  breaks  through  the  mountains.2 

From  a  candid  sifting  of  the  evidence  Haywood  concludes  that  the 
authors  of  the  most  ancient  remains  in  Tennessee  had  spread  over  that 
region  from  the  south  and  southwest  at  a  very  early  period,  hut  that 
the  later  occupants,  the  Cherokee,  had  entered  it  from  the  north  and 
northeast  in  comparatively  recent  times,  overrunning  and  exterminat- 
ing the  aborigines.  He  declares  that  the  historical  fact  seems  to  be 
established  that  the  Cherokee  entered  the  country  from  Virginia,  mak- 
ing temporary  settlements  upon  New  river  and  the  upper  Holston, 
until,  under  the  continued  hostile  pressure  from  the  north,  they  were 
again  forced  to  remove  farther  to  the  south,  fixing  themselves  upon  the 
Little  Tennessee,  in  what  afterward  became  known  asthe  middle  towns. 
By  a  leading  mixed  blood  of  the  tribe  he  was  informed  that  they  had 
made  their  first  settlements  within  their  modern  home  territory  upon 
Nolichucky  river,  and  that,  having  lived  the-re  for  a  long  period,  they 
could  give  no  definite  account  of  an  earlier  location.  Echota,  their 
capital  and  peace  town,  "claimed  to  be  the  eldest  brother  in  the  nation," 
and  the  claim  was  generally  acknowledged.  In  confirmation  of  the 
statement  as  to  an  early  occupancy  of  the  upper  Holston  region,  it  may 
he  noted  that  "  Watauga*  )ld  Fields,"  now  Elizabeth  town,  were  so  called 
from  the  fact  that  when  the  first  white  settlement  within  the  present 
state  of  Tennessee  was  begun  there,  so  early  as  1769,  the  bottom  lands 
were  found  to  contain  graves  and  other  numerous  ancient  remains  of  a 
former  Indian  town  which  tradition  ascribed  to  the  Cherokee,  whose 
nearest  settlements  were  then  many  miles  to  the  southward. 

While  the  Cherokee  claimed  to  have  built  the  mounds  on  the  upper 

i  Jefferson,  Thomas,  Notes  on  Virginia,  pp.136-137;  ed.  Boston,  1802. 

2 Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  the  Iroquois,  p.  163,  isi7. 

•■>  Haywood,  Natural  and  Aboriginal  History  of  Tennesstv,  w   _'.;.;.  j.:i,.  ■_■.;■•.  !-._■ .: 


22  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.asjj.19 

Ohio,  the j  yet,  according  to  Haywood,  expressly  disclaimed  the  author- 
ship of  the  very  numerous  mounds  and  petroglyphs  in  their  later  home 
territory,  asserting  that  these  ancient  works  had  exhibited  the  same 
appearance  when  they  themselves  had  first  occupied  the  region.1  This 
accords  with  Bartram's  statement  that  the  Cherokee,  although  some- 
times utilizing  the  mounds  as  sites  for  their  own  town  houses,  were  a- 
ignoranl  as  the  whites  of  their  origin  or  purpose,  having  only  a  gen 
era!  tradition  that  their  forefathers  had  found  them  in  much  the  same 
condition  on  first  coming  into  the  country.8 

Although,  as  has  been  noted.  Haywood  expresses  the  opinion  that 
the  invading  Cherokee  had  overrun  and  exterminated  the  earlier 
inhabitants,  lie  says  in  another  place,  on  halfbreed  authority,  that 
the  newcomers  found  no  Indians  upon  the  waters  of  the  Tennessee, 
with  the  exception  of  some  Creeks  living  upon  that  river,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Hiwassee,  the  main  body  of  that  tribe  being  established 

up md   claiming  all   the   streams  to   the   southward.3     There   is 

considerable  evidence  that  the  Creek-  preceded  the  Cherokee,  and 
within  the  last  century  they  still  claimed  the  Tennessee,  or  at  least 
the  Tennessee  watershed,  for  their  northern  boundary. 

There  is  a  dim  bul  persistent  tradition  of  a  strange  white  race  pre- 
ceding the  (  'herokee.  .-onie  of  the  Molic-  e\  ell  going  SO  far  as  to  locate 

their  former  settlements  and  to  identify  them  as  the  authors  of  the 
ancient  works  found  in  the  country.  The  earliest  reference  appeal's 
to  he  that  of  Barton  in  1797,  on  the  statement  of  a  gentleman  whom 
he  quotes  as  a  valuable  authority  upon  the  southern  tribes.  "The 
Cheerake  tell  us,  that  when  they  first  arrived  in  the  country  which 
they  inhabit,  they  found  it  possessed  by  certain  •moon-eyed  people,' 
who  could  not  see  in  the  day-time.  These  wretches  they  expelled." 
He  seems  to  consider  them  an  albino  race.'  Haywood,  twenty-six 
years  later,  says  that  the  invading  Cherokee  found  "white  people" 
near  the  head  of  the  Little  Tennessee,  with  forts  extending  thence  down 
the  Tennessee  as  far  as  Chickamauga  creek.  He  gives  the  location  of 
three  of  these  forts.  The  Cherokee  made  war  against  them  and 
drove  them  to  the  mouth  of  Big  Chickamauga  creek,  when'  they 
entered  into  a  treaty  and  agreed  to  remove  if  permitted  to  depart  in 
peace.  Permission  being  granted,  they  abandoned  the  country.  Else- 
where he  speaks  of  this  extirpated  white  race  as  having  extended  into 

Llentucky  and  probably  also  into  western  Tennessee,  according  to  the 
concurrent  traditions  of  different  tribes.  He  desci'ibes  their  houses. 
on  wdiat  authority  is  not  stated,  as  having  been  small  circular  structures 


i  Haywood,  Nat.  and  Aborig.  Hist.  Tennessee,  pp.  226,  284,  1828. 
SBartram.Wm., Travels, p. 365;  reprint,  London,  L792. 

••Hiiyw 1.  op. Cit, pp. 23  i 

'Barton, New  Views,p.  sliv,  17'JT. 


mooney]  THE    DE    SOTO    EXPEDITION — 1540  '23 

of  upright  logs,  covered  with  earth  which  had  been  dug  out  from  the 
inside.1 

Harry  Smith,  a  halfhreed  born  about  1815,  father  of  the  late  chief 
of  the  East  Cherokee,  informed  the  author  that  when  a  boy  he  had 
been  told  by  an  old  woman  a  tradition  of  a  race  of  very  small  people, 
perfectly  white,  who  once  came  and  lived  for  some  time  on  the  site  of 
the  ancient  mound  on  the  northern  side  of  Hiwassee,  at  the  mouth  of 
Peachtree  creek,  a  few  miles  above  the  present  Murphy,  North  Caro- 
lina. They  afterward  removed  to  the  West.  Colonel  Thomas,  the 
white  chief  of  the  East  Cherokee,  horn  about  the  beginning  of  the 
century,  had  also  heard  a  tradition  of  another  race  of  people,  who 
lived  on  Hiwassee.  opposite  the  present  Murphy,  and  warned  the 
Cherokee  that  they  must  not  attempt  to  cross  over  to  the  south  side 
of  the  river  or  the  great  leech  in  the  water  would  swallow  them.2 
They  finally  went  west,  •"long  before  the  whites  came"  The  two 
stories  are  plainly  the  same,  although  told  independently  and  many 
miles  apart. 

The  Period  of  Spanish  Exploration — 1540-1 

The  definite  history  of  the  Cherokee  begins  with  the  year  1540,  at 
which  date  we  find  them  already  established,  where  they  were  always 
afterward  known,  in  the  mountains  of  Carolina  and  Georgia.  The 
earliest  Spanish  adventurers  failed  to  penetrate  so  far  into  the  intf  rior, 
and  the  first  entry  into  their  country  was  made  by  De  Soto,  advancing 
up  the  Savannah  on  his  fruitless  quest  for  gold,  in  May  of  that  year. 

While  at  Cofitachiqui.  an  important  Indian  town  on  the  lower 
Savannah  governed  by  a  " queen,"  the  Spaniards  had  found  hatchets 
and  other  objects  of  copper,  some  of  which  was  of  finer  color  and 
appeared  to  be  mixed  with  gold,  although  they  had  no  means  of  testing 
it.3  On  inquiry  they  were  told  that  the  metal  had  come  from  an  interior 
mountain  province  called  Chisca,  hut  the  country  was  represented  as 
thinly  peopled  and  the  way  as  impassable  for  horses.  Some  time  before, 
while  advancing  through  eastern  Georgia,  they  had  heard  also  of  a 
rich  and  plentiful  province  called  Coca,  toward  the  northwest,  and  by 
the  people  of  Cofitachiqui  they  were  now  told  that  Chiaha,  the  nearest 
town  of  Coca  province,  was  twelve  days  inland.  As  both  men  and 
animals  were  already  nearly  exhausted  from  hunger  and  hard  travel, 
and  the  Indians  either  could  not  or  would  not  furnish  sufficient  pro- 
vision for  their  needs,  De  Soto  determined  not  to  attempt  the  passage 
of  the  mountains  then,  but  to  push  on  at  once  to  Coca,  there  to  rest 
and  recuperate  before  undertaking  further  exploration.     In  the  mean- 

i  Haywood,  Nat.  and  Aborig.  Hist.  Tennessee,  pp.  166, 234-235, 287-289, 1823. 
See  story,  "The  Great  Leech  of  Tlanusi'yl,  "  p  328. 
^Garcilasodela  Vega,  La  Florida  del  Inea,  pp.  129, 133-134;  Madrid,  1723. 


-1  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

time  he  hoped  :i  1 — < >  to  obtain  inure  definite  information  concerning  the 
mines.  As  the  chief  puipose  of  the  expedition  was  the  discovery  of 
the  mines,  many  of  the  officers  regarded  tin-  change  of  plan  a-  a 
mistake,  and  favored  staying  where  they  were  until  the  ae\i  crop 
should  !><■  ripened,  then  to  go  directly  into  the  mountains,  but  as  the 
general  was  "a  stern  man  and  of  few  words,"  none  ventured  to  oppose 
his  resolution.1  The  province  of  ( loca  was  the  territory  of  the  ( !reek 
Indians,  called  Ani'-Kusa  by  the  <  Iherokee,  from  EZusa,  or  <  !oosa,  their 

ancienl   capital,  while  Chiaha  was  identical  with  Chehaw,  01 f  the 

principal  Creek  towns  on  Chattahoochee  river.  Cofitachiqui  may 
have  Keen  the  capital  of  the  LTchee  Indians. 

The  outrageous  conduct  of  the  Spaniards  had  bo  angered  the  Indian 
queen  thai  she  now  refused  i<>  furnish  guides  and  carriers,  whereupon 
l>e  Sot<>  made  her  a  prisoner,  with  the  design  of  compelling  her  to  act 
as  guide  herself,  and  at  the  same  time  to  use  her  as  a  hostage  to  com- 
mand the  obedience  pf  her  subjects,     instead,  however,  of  ( lucting 

the  Spaniards  by  the  direct  trail  toward  the  west,  she  led  them  far 
out  Hi'  their  course  until  she  finally  managed  to  make  her  escape, 
leaving  them  to  find  their  way  out  of  the  mountain.--  as  best  they  could. 

Departing  from  Cofitachiqui,  they  turned  tirst  toward  the  north, 
passing  through  several  towns  subject  to  the  queen,  to  whom,  although 
a  pris r.  the  Indians  everywhere  showed  great  respect  and  obe- 
dience, furnishing  whatever  assistance  the  Spaniards  compelled  her  to 
demand  for  their  own  purposes.  In  a  few  day-  they  came  to  "a 
province  called  Chalaque,"  the  territory  of  the  Cherokee  Indians. 
probably  upon  the  waters  of  Keowee  river,  the  eastern  head-stream 
of  the  Savannah.  It  is  described  as  the  poorest  country  for  corn  that 
they  had  yet  seen,  the  inhabitants  subsisting  on  wild  root-  and 
herbs  and  on  game  which  they  killed  with  bows  and  arrows.  They 
were  naked,  lean,  and  unwarlike.  The  country  abounded  in  wild 
turkeys  ("gallinas"),  which  the  people  gave  very  freely  to  the 
strangers,  one  town  presenting  them  with  seven  hundred.  A  chief 
also  gave  De  Soto  two  deerskins  a-  a  great  present.'  Garcilaso,  writ- 
ing on  the  authority  of  an  old  soldier  nearly  fifty  years  afterward, 
says  that  the  "Chalaques"  deserted  their  towns  on  the  approach  of 
the  white  men  and  lied  to  the  mountains,  leaving  behind  only  old  men 
and  women  and  some  who  were  nearly  blind.3  Although  it  was  too 
early  for  the  new  crop,  the  poverty  of  the  people  may  have  been 
more  apparent  than  real,  due  to  their  unwillingness  to  give  any  part 
of  their  stored-up  provision  to  the  unwelcome  strangers.  As  the 
Spaniards  were  greatly  in  need  of.  corn  for  themselves  ami  their 
horses,  they  made  no  stay,  hut  hurried  on.     In  a  few  days  they  arrived 


Gentleman  of  Blvos,  Publications  of  the  Hakluyl  Society,  lx,  pp.  52, 58, 64;  London  ;^">1 
p  mi. 
•Garcilaso,  La  Florida  del  Enca,  p.  136,  ed 


moosey]  THE    DE    SOTO    EXPEDITION 1540  25 

at  Guaquili,  which  is  mentioned  only  by  Ranjel,  who  does  not  specify 
whether  it  was  a  town  or  a  province— i.  e.,  a  tribal  territory.  It  was 
probably  a  small  town.  Here  they  were  welcomed  in  a  friendly  man- 
ner, the  Indians  giving  them  a  little  corn  and  many  wild  turkeys, 
together  with  some  dogs  of  a  peculiar  small  species,  which  were  bred 
for  eating  purposes  and  did  not  bark.1  They  were  also  supplied  with 
men  to  help  carry  the  baggage.     The  name  Guaquili  has  a  Cherokee 

sound  and  may  be  connected  with  wa'guli',  "whipj rwill,"  uicd'gili, 

" f oam,"  or  gill,  "dog."  1/ 

Traveling  still  toward  the  north,  they  arrived  a  day  or  two  later  in 
the  province  of  Xuala,  in  which  we  recognize  the  territory  of  the 
Suwali,  Sara,  or  Cheraw  Indians,  in  the  piedmont  region  about  the 
head  of  Broad  river  in  North  Carolina.  Garcilaso,  who  did  not  sec  it. 
represents  it  as  a  rich  country,  while  the  Elvas  narrative  and  Biedma 
agree  that  it  was  a  rough,  broken  country,  thinly  inhabited  and  poor 
in  provision.  According  to  Garcilaso,  it  was  under  the  rule  of  the 
queen  of  Cofitachiqui,  although  a  distinct  province  in  itself.2  The 
principal  town  was  beside  a  small  rapid  stream,  (lose  under  a  moun- 
tain. The  chief  received  them  in  friendly  fashion.  giving  them  corn, 
dogs  of  the  small  breed  already  mentioned,  carrying  baskets,  and  bur- 
den bearers.  The  country  roundabout  showed  greater  indication-  of 
gold  mines  than  any  they  had  yet  seen.1 

Here  De  Soto  turned  to  the  west,  crossing  a  very  high  mountain 
ranee,  which  appears  to  have  been  the  Blue  ridge,  and  descending  on 
'tin'  other  side  to  a  stream  flowing  in  the  opposite  direction,  which 
was  probably  one  id'  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  French  Broad.3 
Although  it  was  late  in  May,  they  found  it  very  cold  in  the  moun- 
tains.* After  several  days  of  such  travel  they  arrived,  about  the  end 
of  the  month,  at  the  town  of  Guasili,  or  Guaxule.  The  chief  and 
principal  men  came  out  some  distance  to  welcome  them,  dressed  in 
tine  robes  of  skins,  with  feather  head-dresses,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
country.  Before  reaching  this  point  the  queen  had  managed  to  make 
her  escape,  together  with  three  slaves  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  last 
that  was  heard  of  her  was  that  she  was  on  her  way  back  to  her  own 
country  with  one  of  the  runaways  as  her  husband.  What  grieved 
De  Soto  most  in  the  matter  was  that  she  took  with  her  a  small  box  of 
pearls,  which  he  had  intended  to  take.from  her  before  releasing  her. 
but  had  left  with  her  for  the  present  in  order  •"not  to  discontent 
hei-  altogether." 

Guaxule  is  described  as  a  very  large  town  surrounded  by  a  number 
of  small  mountain  streams  which  united  to  form  the  large  river  down 
which   the  Spaniard-   proceeded   after   leaving  the   place.6     Here,  as 

'Ranjel,  in  Oviedo,  Historia  Genera]  y  Natural  de  his  Indias,  i.  p.  562;  Madrid,  1851. 
'Garcilaso,  La  Florida  del  Inca,p.l37,  ITi':-;.         'Ranjel,  "p.  'it.,  i.  p.  562. 
Sei  note  8,  De  Soto's  route  ■  Elvas,  Hakluyt  Society,  ix.  p. 61, 1851. 

o  Garcilaso,  op.  cit.,  p.  139. 


26  KYTH8    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

elsewhere,  the  Indians  received  the  white  men  with  kindness  and  hos- 
pitality    -ii  much  so  thai  the  nan E  Guaxule  became  to  the  army  a 

synonym  for  good  fortune.1  Among  other  things  they  gave  the  Span- 
iards 3 logs  for  f I,  although,  according  to  the  Elvas  narrative, 

the  Indian-  themselves  did  qoI  ea<  them.8  The  principal  officers  of 
the  expedition  were  lodged  in  the  "chief's  house,"  bj  which  we  are  to 
understand  the  townhouse,  which  was  upon  a  high  hill  with  a  roadway 
to  the  top.3     From  a  close  study  of  the  narrative  it  appears  that  this 

"hill"  was   ther   than    the  greal    Nacoochee    mound,   in   White 

county,  Georgia,  a  few  miles  northwest  of  the  present  Clarkesville.' 
It  was  within  the  Cherokee  territory,  and  the  town  was  probably  a 
settlement  of  thai  tribe.  From  here  De  Soto  senl  runners  ahead  to 
notify  the  chief  of  ( !hiaha  of  his  approach,  in  order  that  sufficienl  corn 
might  he  ready  mi  his  arrival. 

Leaving  <  ruaxule,  they  proceeded  down  the  river,  w  hich  we  identify 
with  the  Chattahoochee,  and  in  two  days  arrived  at  Canasoga,  or  Cana- 
sagua,  a  frontier  town  of  the  Cherokee.  As  they  neared  the  town 
the\  were  met  i>\  the  Indians,  bearing  baskets  of  "mulberries,"5  more 
probably  the  delicious  service-berry  of  the  southern  mountains,  which 
ripens  in  early  summer,  while  the  mulberry  matures  later. 

From  here  they  continued  down  the  river,  which  grew  constantly 
larger,  through  an  uninhabited  country  which  formed  the  disputed 
territory  between  the  Cherokee  and  the  Creeks.  About  five  days  after 
leaving  Canasagua  they  were  met  by  messengers,  who  escorted  them 
to  ( 'hiaha.  the  first  town  of  the  province  of  Coca.  De  Soto  had  crossed 
the  state  of  Georgia,  leaving  the  Cherokee  country  behind  him.  ami 
was  now  an  lone-  the  Lower  ( 'reeks,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present 
Columbus,  Georgia.6  With  his  subsequent  wanderings  after  crossing 
the  Chattahoochee  into  Alabama  and  beyond  we  need  not  concern 
ourselves  (8). 

While  resting  at  Chiaha  De  Soto  met  with  a  chief  who  confirmed 
what  the  Spaniards  had  heard  before  concerning  mines  in  theproi  ince 
of  Chisca,  saying  that  there  was  there  "a  melting  of  copper"and  of 
another  metal  of  about  the  same  color,  but  softer,  ami  therefore  not  -o 
much  used.7  The  province  was  northward  from  Chiaha.  soinew  here  in 
upper  Georgia  or  the  adjacent  part  of  Alabama  or  Tennessee,  through 
all  of  which  mountain  region  native  copper  is  found.  The  other 
mineral,  which  the  Spaniards  understood  to  he  gold,  may  have  been 
iron  pyrites,  although  there  is  some  evidence  that  the  Indians  occa- 
sionally found  and  shaped  gold  nuggets.' 

i:.m  |el,  in  i  n  Ledo,  Hlstoria,  [,  p.563, 18  >1. 
'Elvas,  Biedma  and  Ranjel  all  make  special  reference  to  the  dogs  given  them  al  this  place;  they 

seem  to  have  been  of  the  same  small  breed  ["perrillos'     which  Ranjel  says  the  Indians  used  foi  I. 

sGarcilaso,  La  Florida  del  tnca,  p.  139, 1728.  'See  note  8,  De  Soto's 

in-.  Hakluyt  Society,  ix. p. 61,1861;  and  Ranjel.op  cit.,p  ••■ 

route.  'Elvas,  op.  cit.,  p.64. 


mooxev]  PARDO'S    EXPEDITIONS — 1566-67  27 

Accordingly  two  soldiers  were  sent  on  foot  with  Indian  guides  to 
find  Chisca  ;m<l  learn  the  truth  of  the  stories.     They  rejoined  the  army 

some  time  after  the  march  had  I n  resumed,  and  reported  according 

to  the  Elvas  chronicler,  that  their  guides  had  taken  them  through  a 
country  so  poor  in  corn,  so  rough,  and  over  so  high  mountains  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  the  army  to  follow,  wherefore,  as  the  way 
grew  long  and  lingering,  they  had  turned  back  after  reaching  a  little 
poor  town  where  the}'  saw  nothing  that  was  of  any  profit.  They 
brought  back  with  them  a  dressed  buffalo  skin  which  the  Indians  there 
had  given  them,  the  first  ever  obtained  by  white  men.  and  described  in 
the  quaint  old  chronicle  as  "  an  ox  hide  as  thin  as  a  calf's  skin,  and  the 
hair  like  a  soft  wool  between  the  coarse  and  tine  wool  of  sheep."1 

( rarcilaso's  glowing  narrative  gives  a  somewhat  different  impression. 
According  to  this  author  the  scouts  returned  full  of  enthusiasm  for 
the  fertility  of  the  country,  and  reported  that  the  mines  were  of  a  tine 
species  of  copper,  and  had  indications  also  of  gold  and  silver,  while 
their  progress  from  one  town  to  another  had  been  a  continual  series  of 
feastings  and  Indian  hospitalities.2  However  that  may  have  been, 
De  Solo  made  no  further  effort  to  reach  the  Cherokee  mines,  but  con- 
tinued his  course  westward  through  the  Creek  country,  having  spent 
altogether  a  month  in  the  mountain  region. 

There  is  no  record  of  any  second  attempt  to  penetrate  the  Cherokee 
country  for  twenty-six  years  (!l).  In  1561  the  Spaniards  took  formal 
possession  of  the  hay  of  Santa  Elena,  now  Saint  Helena,  near  Port 
Royal,  on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina.  The  next  year  the  French 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  at  settlement  at  the  same  place,  and  in 
1566  Menendez  made  the  Spanish  occupancy  sure  by  establishing  there 
a  fort  which  he  called  San  Felipe.3  In  November  of  that  year  Captain 
.1  uan  I'ai'do  was  sent  with  a  party  from  the  fort  to  explore  the  interior. 
Accompanied  by  the  chief  of  "Juada"  (which  from  Vandera's  narra- 
tive we  find  should  be  "Joara,"  i.e..  the  Sara  Indians  already  men- 
tioned in  the  De  Soto  chronicle),  he  proceeded  as  far  as  the  territory  of 
that  tribe,  where  he  built  a  fort,  hut  on  account  of  the  snow  in  the 
mountains  did  not  think  it  advisable  to  go  farther,  and  returned. 
leaving  a  sergeant  with  thirty  soldiers  to  garrison  the  post.  Soon 
after  his  return  he  received  a  letter  from  the  sergeant  stating  that  the 
chief  of  Chisca—  the  rich  mining  country  of  which  De  Soto  had  heard — 
was  very  hostile  to  the  Spaniards,  and  that  in  a  recent  battle  the  latter 
had  killed  a  thousand  of  his  Indians  and  burned  fifty  houses  with 
almost  no  damage  to  themselves.  Either  the  sergeant  or  his  chronicler 
must  have  been  an  unconscionable  liar,  as  it  was  asserted  that  all  this 
was  done  with  only  fifteen  men.  Immediately  afterward,  according 
to  the  same  story,  the  sergeant  marched  with  twenty  men  about  a  day's 


MYTH8    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [cth.aiih.19 

distance  in  the  mountains  against  another  hostile  chief,  whom  he  found 
in  a  Btrongly  palisaded  town,  which,  after  a  hard  fight,  he  and  his  men 
stormed  and  burned,  killing  fifteen  hundred  Indians  without  losing  a 
single  man  themselves.  Under  instructions  Erom  his  superior  officer, 
the  sergeant  with  his  small  party  then  proceeded  to  explore  what  lay 

bej I.  and.  taking  a  road  which  the}  were  told  led  to  the  territory 

of  a  ureal  chief,  after  lour  day-  of  hard  marching  they  came  to  his 
tow  ii.  called  Chiaha  (Chicha,  by  mistake  in  the  manuscript  transla- 
tion), the  same  where  De  Soto  had  rested.  It  i-  described  at  this  time 
as  palisaded  and  strongly  fortified,  with  a  deep  river  on  each  side,  and 
defended  by  over  three  thousand  fighting  men.  there  being  no  women 
or  children  among  them.  It  is  possible  that  in  view  of  their  former 
experience  with  the  Spaniards,  (lie  Indian-  had  sent  their  families 
awa\  from  the  town,  while  at  the  same  time  they  may  have  summoned 
warrior-  from  the  neighboring  Creek  town-  in  order  to  be  prepared 
for  any  emergency.  However,  as  before,  they  received  the  white 
men  with  the  greatest  kindness,  and  the  Spaniard-  continued  for 
twelve  day-  through  the  territories  of  the  same  tribe  until  thej  arrived 
at  the  principal  town  (Kusa?),  where.  by  the  imitation  of  the  chief, 
they  huilt  a  small  fort  and  awaited  the  coming  of  Pardo,  who  was 
expected  to  follow  with  a  larger  force  from  Santa  Elena,  as  he  did  in 
the  summer  of  1567,  being  met  on  hi-  arrival  with  every  -how  ,>i 
hospitality  from  the  Creek  chief  s.  This  second  fort  was  said  to  he  one 
hundred  and  fortj  leagues  distant  from  that  in  the  Sara  country,  which 
latter  was  called  one  hundred  and  twenty  Leagues  fr Santa  Ciena.3 

In  the  summer  of  1567,  according  to  previous  agreement,  Captain 
Pardo  left  the  fort  at  Santa  Elena  with  a  -mall  detachment  of  troops, 
and  after  a  week's  travel,  sleeping  each  night  at  a  different  Indian 
town,  arrived  at  "Canos,  which  the  Indian-  call  ( 'anosi.  and  by  another 
name,  Cofetacque"  (the  Cofitachiqui  of  the  De  Soto  chronicle), 
which  is  described  as  situated  in  a  favorable  location  for  a  large  city. 

fifty  leagues  from  Santa   Elena,  to  which  tl asiest   road  was  by  a 

river  (the  Savannah)  which  flowed  by  the  town,  or  by  another  which 
they  had  passed  ten  Leagues  farther  back.  Proceeding,  they  passed 
Jagaya,  Gueza,  and  Arauchi,  and  arrived  at  Otariyatiqui,  or  Otari, 
in  which  we- have  perhaps  the  Cherokee  d'tdri  or  d'tdli,  "mountain". 
It  may  have  been  a  frontier  Cherokee  settlement,  and.  according  to 
the  old  chronicler,  its  chief  and  Language  ruled  much  good  country. 
From  here  a  trail  went  northward  to  Cuatari.  Sauxpa.  and  L'si.  i.  e., 
the  Wateree,  Waxhaw  (or  Sissipahaw  'i.  and  l-'nerv  or  Catawba. 

Leaving  Otariyatiqui,  they  went  on  to  Quinahaqui,  and  then,  turn 
ing  to  the  Left,  to  [ssa,  where  they  found  mines  of  crystal  (mica;). 
Thev    came  nexl   to  Ae'uai'lliri  (the  Gruaquili  of  the  De  Solo  chronicle). 

and  then  to  Joara,  "near  to  the  mountain,  where  Juan  Pardo  arrived 

i  Narrative  of  Panto's  expedition  by  Martinez,  about  IS68,  Uruuks  manuscripts. 


mooney]  SPANISH    MINING    OPERATION'S  29 

with  his  sergeant  on  his  first  trip."  This,  us  has  been  noted,  was  the 
Xuala  of  the  De  Soto  chronicle,  the  territory  of  the  Sara  Indians,  in 
the  foothills  of  the  Blue  ridge,  southeast  from  the  present  Asheville, 
North  Carolina.  Vandera  makes  it  one  hundred  leagues  from  Santa 
Elena,  while  Martinez,  already  quoted,  makes  the  distance  one  hundred 
and  twenty  leagues.  The  difference  is  not  important,  as  both  state- 
ments were  only  estimates.  From  there  they  followed  "along  the 
mountains"  to  Tocax  (Toxaway?),  Cauchi  (Nacoochee?),  and  Tanas- 
qui — apparently  Cherokee  towns,  although  the  forms  can  not  be  iden- 
tified— and  after  resting  three  days  at  the  last-named  place  went  on 
"to  Solameco,  otherwise  called  Chiaha."  where  the  sergeant  met  them. 
The  combined  forces  afterward  went  on,  through  Cpssa  (Kusa),  Tas- 
quiqui  (Taskigi).  and  other  Creek  towns,  as  far  as  Tascaluza,  in  the 
Alabama  country,  and  returned  thence  to  Santa  Elena,  having  appar- 
ently met  with  a  friendly  reception  everywhere  along  the  route. 
From  Cofitachiqui  to  Tascaluza  they  went  over  about  the  same  road 
traversed  by  De  Soto  in  1540. " 

We  come  now  to  a  great  gap  of  nearly  a  century.  Shea  has  a  notice 
of  a  Spanish  mission  founded  among  the  Cherokee  in  1643  and  still 
flourishing  when  visited  by  an  English  traveler  ten  years  later.'  but  as 
his  information  is  derived  entirely  from  the  fraudulent  work  of  Davies, 
and  as  no  such  mission  is  mentioned  by  Barcia  in  any  of  these  years, 
we  may  regard  the  story  as  spurious  (10).  The  first  mission  work 
in  the  tribe  appears  to  have  been  that  of  Priber,  almost  a  hundred 
years  later.  Long  before  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  however, 
the  existence  of  mines  of  gold  and  other  metals  in  the  Cherokee  country 
was  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  among  the  Spaniards  at  St.  Augus- 
tine and  Santa  Elena,  and  more  than  one  expedition  had  been  fitted  out 
to  explore  the  interior. '  Numerous  traces  of  ancient  mining  opera- 
tions, with  remains  of  old  shafts  and  fortifications,  evidently  of  Euro- 
pean origin,  show  that  these 'discoveries  were  followed  up,  although 
the  policy  of  Spain  concealed  the  fact  from  the  outside  world.  How 
much  permanent  impression  this  early  Spanish  intercourse  made 
on  the  Cherokee  il  is  impossible  to  estimate,  but  it  must  have  been 
considerable  (11).    , 

The  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  Period—  i»>;>-L-1784 

It  was  not  until  1654  that  the  English  first  came  into  contact  with 
the  Cherokee,  called  in  the  records  of  the  period  Rechahecrians,  a  cor- 
ruption of  Rickahockan,  apparently  the  name  by  which  they  were 
known  to  the  Powhatan  tribes.  In  that  year  the  Virginia  colony, 
which  had  only  recently  concluded  a  long  and  exterminating  war  with 
the  Powhatan,  was  thrown  into  alarm  by  the  news  that  a  great  body  of 

1  Vandera  narrative,  1569,  in  French,  B.  F.,  Hist.  Colls. of  La.,  new  series  pp.  I'sy-^L';  New  York,  1875. 
2Shea,  J.  G.,  Catholic  Missions,  p.  72;  New  York,  1855. 

3See  Brooks  manuscripts,  in  the  archives  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 


•"•n  MYTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.akn.U 

six  or  seven  hundred  Rechabecrian  [ndians — by  which  is  probably 
meant  thai  number  of  warriors  from  the  mountains  had  invaded  the 
lower  country  and  established  themselves  at  the  falls  of  James  river, 
where  now  is  the  city  of  Richmond.  The  assembly  at  once  passed 
resolutions  "thai  these  new  come  Indians  be  in  no  sort  suffered  to  seal 
themselves  there,  or  any  place  near  us.  it  having  cost  so  much  blood 
to  expel  and  extirpate  those  perfidious  and  treacherous  Indians  which 
were  there  formerly."  It  was  therefore  ordered  that  a  force  of  at  least 
100  white  men  be  at  once  senl  against  them,  to  be  joined  by  the  war- 
riors of  all  the  neighboring  subject  tribes,  according  to  treaty  obliga- 
tion. The  Pamunkey  chief ,  with  a  hundred  of  his  men.  responded  to 
the  summons,  and  the  combined  force  marched  againsl  the  invaders. 
The  result  was  a  bloody  battle,  with  disastrous  outcome  to  the  Vir- 
ginians, the  Pamunkey  chief  with  most  ,,f  hi-  men  being  killed,  while 
the  whites  were  forced  to  make  such  terms  of  peace  with  the  Recha- 
hecrians  that  the  assembly  cashiered  the  commander  of  the  expedition 
and  compelled  him  to  pav  the  whole  cost  of  the  treatj  from  his  own 
estate.1  Owing  to  the  imperfection  of  the  Virginia  records  we  have 
no  means  of  knowing  the  causes  >d'  tin'  sudden  invasion  or  how  long 
the  invaders  retained  their  position  at  the  falls.  In  all  probability  it 
was  only  the  last  of  a  long  series  of  otherwise  unrecorded  irruptions 
by  the  mountaineers  on  the  more  peaceful  dwellers  in  the  lowlands. 
From  a  remark  in  Ledererit  is  probable  that  the  Cherokee  were  assisted 
also  by  some  of  the  piedmont  tribes  hostile  to  the  Powhatan.  The 
Peaks  of  Otter,  near  which  the  Cherokee  claim  to  have  once  lived,  as 
has  been  already  noted,  are  only  about  one  hundred  miles  in  a  straight 
line  from  Richmond,  while  the  burial  mound  and  town  site  near 
Charlottesville,  mentioned  by  Jefferson,  are  but  half  that  distance. 

In  L655  a  Virginia  expedition  sent  out  from  the  falls  of  James  river 
(Richmond)  crossed  over  the  mountains  to  the  large  streams  flowing 
into  the  Mississippi.  No  details  are  given  and  the  route  is  uncertain, 
hut  whether  or  not  they  met  Indians,  they  must  have  passed  through 
Cherokee  territory.2 

In  L670  the  German  traveler.  John  Lederer,  went  from  the  falls  of 
.lames  river  to  the  Catawba  country  in  South  Carolina,  following  for 
most  of  the  distance  the  path  used  by  the  Virginia  traders,  who  already 
had  regular  dealings  with  the  southern  tribes,  including  probably  the 
Cherokee,      lie  speaks  in  several  places  of  the  Riekahoekan,  which 

seems  to  he  a  re  correct  form  than  Rechahecrian.  and  his  narrative 

and  the  accompanying  map  put  them  in  the  mountains  of  North  Caro- 
lina, back  of  the  Catawba  and  the  Sara  and  southward  from  the  head 
of  Roanoke  river.  They  were  apparently  on  hostile  terms  with  the 
tribes  to  the  eastward,  and  while  the  traveler  was  stopping  at  an  Indian 

i  Burk,  John,  History  of  Virginia,  n.  pp  104-107;  Petersburg,  1805. 

s  Ramsey,  J.  G.  M.,  Annals  oi  Tennessee,  i».  87;  Charleston,  1853  (quoting  Man  in,  North  euro]  in  a.  r, 

p.  115,  lv..;,. 


mooney]  FIRST    TREATY    WITH    SOUTH    CAROLINA 1684  31 

village  on  Dan  river,  about  the  present  Clarksville,  Virginia,  a  delega- 
tion of  Rickahockan,  which  had  come  on  tribal  business,  was  barba- 
rously murdered  at  a  dance  prepared  on  the  night  of  their  arrival  by 
their  treacherous  hosts.  On  reaching  the  Catawba  country  he  heard 
of  white  men  to  the  southward,  and  incidentally  mentions  that  the 
neighboring  mountains  were  called  the  Suala  mountains  by  the  Span- 
iards.1 In  the  next  year.  1671,  a  party  from  Virginia  under  Thomas 
Batts  explored  the  northern  branch  of  Roanoke  river  and  crossed 
over  the  Blue  ridge  to  the  headwaters  of  New  river,  where  they  found 
trace-  of  occupancy,  but  do  Indians.  By  this  time  all  the  tribes  of 
this  section,  east  of  the  mountains,  were  in  possession  of  firearms.2 

The  first  permanent  English  settlement  in  South  Carolina  was  estab- 
lished in  L670.  In  L690  .lames  Moore,  secretary  of  the  colony,  made 
an  exploring  expedition  into  the  mountains  and  reached  a  point  at 
which,  according  to  his  Indian  guides,  he  was  within  twenty  miles  of 
where  the  Spaniards  were  engaged  in  mining  and  smelting  with  bel- 
lows and  furnaces,  but  on  account  of  some  misunderstanding  he 
returned  without  visiting  the  place,  although  he  procured  specimens 
of  ores,  which  he  sent  to  England  for  assay.3  It  may  have  been  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  presenl  Lincolnton,  North  Carolina,  where  a  dam 
of  cut  stone  and  other  remains  of  former  civilized  occupancy  have 
recently  been  discovered  (11).  In  this  year.  also.  ( 'ornelius  Dougherty', 
an  Irishman  from  Virginia,  established  himself  as  the  first  trader 
among  the  Cherokee,  with  whom  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life.'  Some 
of  his  descendants  still  occupy  honored  positions  in  the  tribe. 

Among  the  manuscript  archives  of  South  Carolina  there  was  said  to 
be, some  fifty  years  ago, a  treaty  or  agreement  made  with  the  govern- 
ment of  that  colony  by  the  Cherokee  in  L684,  and  signed  with  the 
hieroglyphics  of  eight  chiefs  of  the  lower  towns,  viz.  Corani.  the 
Raven  (Ka'lanii):  Sinnawa,  the  Hawk  (Tla'nuwa);  Nellawgitehi,  Gor- 
haleke.  and  Owasta,  all  of  Toxawa;  and  Canacaught,  the  great  Con- 
juror, Gohoma,  and  Caunasaita,  of  Keowa.  If  still  in  existence,  this 
is  probably  the  oldest  Cherokee  treaty  on  record.'' 

What  seems  to  be  the  next  mention  of  the  Cherokee  in  the  South 
Carolina  records  occurs  in  L691,  when  we  find  an  inquiry  ordered  in 
regard  to  a  report  that  some  of  the  colonists  "have,  without  any  proc- 
lamation of  war.  fallen  upon  and  murdered"  several  of  that  tribe.6 

In  1693  some  Cherokee  chiefs  went  to  Charleston  with  presents  for 
the  governor  and  offers  of  friendship,  to  ask  the  protection  of  South 
Carolina  against  their  enemies,  the  Esaw  (Catawba).  Savanna  (Shawano). 

'Lederer,  John,  Discoveries,  pp.  15,  26,  27,  29,  33,  and  map:  reprint.  Charleston,  1891;  Mooney,  Siouan 
Tribes  of  the  East  (bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Ethnology  i.  pp.  53-54,  1894. 
-Mooney.  op.cit.,  pp.  34-35. 

^Document  of  1699,  quoted  in  South  Carolina  Hist.  Soc.  Colls.,  i,  p.  209:  Charleston.  1857. 
*  Haywood,  Nat.  and  Aborig.  Hist.  Tennessee,  p.  233,  1823. 

5  Noted  in  Cherokee  Advocate,  Tahlequah,  Indian  Territory.  January  SO,  1845. 

6  Document  of  1691.  South  Carolina  Hist.  Soc.  Colls.,  I,  p.  126. 


1/ 


32  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  isw.U 

and  Congaree,  all  of  thai  colony,  who  bad  made  war  upon  them  and 
sold  a  number  of  their  tribesmen  into  slavery.  They  were  told  that 
their  kinsmen  could  not  n<>\\  be  recovered,  bul  that  the  English  desired 
friendship  with  their  tribe,  and  thai  the  Government  would  see  that 

there  would  be  no  future  ground  for  such  complaint.'  The  promise 
was  apparently  not  kept,  for  in  L705  we  find  a  bitter  accusation  brought 
against  Governor  Moore,  of  South  Carolina,  that  he  had  granted  com- 
missions to  a  number  of  persons  "to  set  upon,  assault,  kill,  destroy, 
ami  take  captive  as  many  Indians  as  they  possible  [sic]  could.'*  the 
prisoners  being  sold  into  slavery  for  his  and  their  private  profit.  By 
this  course,  it  was  asserted,  he  had  •"already  almost  utterly  ruined  the 
trade  for  skins  and  furs,  whereby  we  held  our  chief  correspondence 
with  England,  and  turned  it  into  a  trade  of  Indians  or  slave  making, 
whereby  the  Indians  to  the  south  and  west  of  us  are  alreadj  involved 
in  blood  and  confusion.'"  The  arraignment  concludes  with  a  warning 
that  such  conditions  would  in  all  probability  draw  down  upon  the  colony 
an  Indian  war  with  all  its  dreadful  consequences.2  In  view  of  what 
happened  a  few  years  later  this  reads  like  a  prophecy. 

Aliout  tin' year  L700the  first  guns  were  introduced  among  the  Cher- 
okee. th<'  event  being  fixed  traditionally  as  having  occurred  in  the  girl- 
hood of  an  old  woman  of  the  tribe  who  died  aliout  L775.s  In  17ns  we 
rind  them  described  as  a  numerous  people,  living  in  the  mountains 
northwest  from  the  Charleston  settlements  and  havingsixty  towns,  hut 
of  small  importance  in  the  Indian  trade,  being  "but  ordinary  hunters 
and  less  warriors."* 

In  the  war  with  the  Tuscarora  in  1711-171:'..  which  resulted  in  the 
expulsion  of  that  tribe  from  North  Carolina,  more  than  a  thousand 
southern  Indians  reenforced  the  South  Carolina  volunteers,  among 
them  being  over  two  hundred  Cherokee,  hereditary  enemies  of  the 
Tuscarora.  Although  these  Indian  allies  did  their  work  well  in  the 
actual  encounters,  their  assistance  was  of  doubtful  advantage,  as  they 
helped  themselves  freely  to  whatever  they  wanted  alone'  the  way.  so 
that  the  settlers  had  reason  to  fear  them  almost  as  much  as  the  hostile 
Tuscarora.  After  torturing  a  large  number  of  their  prisoners  in  the 
usual  savage  fashion,  they  returned  with  the  remainder,  whom  they 
afterward  sold  as  slaves  to  South  Carolina.' 

Having  wiped  out  old  scores  with  the  Tuscarora.  the  late  allies  of 
the  English  proceeded  to  discuss  their  own  grievances,  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  were  sufficiently  galling.     The  result  was  a  combination 


Hewat,  s.iuili  Carolina  and  Georgia,  i.  p.  127,  1778, 
s  Documents  of  1705,  in  North  Carolina  Colonial  Records,  n,  p.  904;  Raleigh.  1886 
Haywood,  Nat.  and  Aborig.  Tenn.,  p.  287,1823;  with  the  usual  idea  thai  Indians  live  to 
old  age,  Haywood  makes hei  LlOyearsold  at  her  death,  patting  back  the  introduction  of  Srearms 

i  .     m    hi  Rivers,  South  Carolina   p  288,  18  6, 

Royci    Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  "f  Etl logj .  p.  L40,  L888;  Hewat,op.  cit.,p.216 

et  passim. 


> key]  Mi  mirk's    EXPEDITION — 1715-16  33 

against  the  whites,  embracing  all  the  tribes  from  Cape  Fear  to  the 
Chattahoochee,  including  the  Cherokee,  who  thus  for  the  first  time 
raised  their  hand  against  the  English.  The  war  opened  with  a  terrible 
massacre  by  the  Yamassee  in  April,  1715,  followed  by  assaults  along 
the  whole  frontier,  until  for  a  time  it  was  seriously  feared  that  the 
colony  of  South  Carolina  would  lie  wiped  out  of  existence.  In  a 
contest  between  savagery  and  civilization,  however,  the  final  result  is 
inevitable.  The  settlers  at  last  rallied  their  whole  force  under  Gov- 
ernor Craven  and  administered  such  a  crushing  blow  to  the  Yamassee 
that  the  remnant  abandoned  their  country  and  took  refuge  with  the 
Spaniards  in  Florida  or  among  the  Lower  Creeks.  The  English  then 
made  short  work  with  the  smaller  tribes  along  the  coast,  while  those 
in  the  interior  were  soon  glad  to  sue  for  peace.1 

A  number  of  Cherokee  chiefs  having  come  down  to  Charleston  in 
company  with  a  trader  to  express  their  desire  for  peace,  a  force  of 
several  hundred  white  troops  and  a  number  of  negroes  under  Colonel 
Maurice  Moore  went  up  the  Savannah  in  the  winter  of  1715-16  and 
made  headquarters  among  the  Lower  Cherokee,  where  they  were 
met  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Lower  and  some  of  the  western  towns, 
who  reaffirmed  their  desire  for  a  lasting  peace  with  the  English,  but 
refused  to  fight  against  the  Yamassee,  although  willing  to  proceed 
against  some  other  tribes.  They  laid  the  blame  for  most  of  the 
trouble  upon  the  traders,  who  "had  been  very  abuseful  to  them  of  late." 
A  detachment  under  Colonel  George  Chicken,  sent  to  the  Upper 
Cherokee,  penetrated  to  "  Quoneashee "  (Tlanusi'yi.  on  Hiwassee, 
about  the  present.  Murphy)  where  they  found  the  chiefs  more  defiant, 
resolved  to  continue  the  war  against  the  ('reeks,  with  whom  the  Eng- 
lish were  then  trying  to  make  peace,  and  demanding  large  supplies  of 
guns  and  ammunition,  saying  that  if  they  made  a  peace  with  the  other 
tribes  they  would  have  no  means  of  getting  slaves  with  which  to  buy 
ammunition  for  themselves.  At  this  time  they  claimed  2,370  war- 
riors, of  whom  half  were  believed  to  have  guns.  As  the  strength  of 
the  whole  Nation  was  much  greater,  this  estimate  may  have  been  for 
the  Upper  and  Middle  Cherokee  only.  After  "abundance  of  per- 
suading" by  tin-  officers,  they  finally  '"told  us  they  would  trust  us 
once  again,"  and  an  arrangement  was  made  to  furnish  them  two  hun- 
dred guns  with  a  supply  of  ammunition,  together  with  fifty  white 
soldiers,  to  assist  them  against  the  tribes  with  which  the  English  were, 
still  at  war.  In  March,  171(5.  this  force  was  increased  by  one  hundred 
men.  The  detachment  under  Colonel  Chicken  returned  by  way  of  the 
towns  on  the  upper  part  of  the  Little  Tennessee,  thus  penetrating  the 
heart  of  the  Cherokee  country. ' 

iHewat,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  i,  p.  216  et  passim,  177s. 

2St*e  Journal  of  Colonel  'irorv..'  chicken.  1715-16,  with  notes,  in  Charleston   Yearbook,  pp     13-354 
1S94. 

19    ETH— 01 3 


■U  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  ink.19 

Steps  were  now  taken  to  secure  peace  bj  inaugurating  a  satisfactory 
trade  system,  for  which  purpose  a  large  quantity  of  suitable  goods 
was  purchased  at  the  public  expense  of  South  Carolina,  and  a  corre- 
spondingly large  partj  was  equipped  for  the  initial  trip.'  In  L721, 
in  order  still  more  to  systematize  Indian  affairs,  Governor  Nicholson 
of  South  Carolina  invited  the  chiefs  of  the  Cherokee  t"  a  conference, 
al  which  thirty-seven  towns  were  represented.  A  treat}  was  made 
|p\  which  trading  methods  were  regulated,  a  boundary  line  between 
their  territory  and  the  English  settlements  was  agreed  upon,  and  an 
agent  was  appointed  to  superintend  their  affairs-.  At  the  governor's 
suggestion,  one  chief,  called  WrosetasatoM  i  W  was  formally  commis- 
sioned as  supreme  head  of  the  Nation,  with  authority  to  punish  all 
offenses,  including  murder,  and  to  represent  all  Cherokee  claim-  to 
the  colonial  government.  Thus  were  the  ( Jherokee  reduced  from  their 
former  condition  of  a  free  people,  ranging  where  their  pleasure  led.  to 
that  of  dependent  vassals  with  hounds  fixed  by  a  colonial  governor. 
The  negotiations  were  accompanied  l>y  a  cession  of  land,  the  tirst  in 
the  bistorj  of  the  tribe.  In  little  more  than  a  century  thereafter  they 
had  signed  away  their  whole  original  territory.3 

The  document  of  1 71  ti  already  quoted  puts  the  strength  of  the  ( Jhero- 
kee at  that  time  at  2,370  warriors,  hut  in  this  estimate  the  Lower 
Cherokee  seem  not  to  have  been  included.  In  171-"'.  according  to  a 
trade  census  compiled  by  Governor  Johnson  of  South  Carolina,  the 
tribe  bad  thirty  towns,  with  4,000  warriors  and  a  total  population  of 
ll.i'lo.'  Another  census  in  L721  gives  them  fifty-three  towns  with 
3,510  warriors  and  a  total  of  L0,379,6  while  the  report  of  the  hoard  of 
trade  for  the  same  year  e-ives  them  3,800  warriors,6  equivalent,  by  the 
same  proportion,  to  nearly  L2,000  total.  Adair,  a  good  authority  on 
such  matters,  estimates,  about  the  year  L735,  when  the  country  was 
better  known,  that  they  had  "sixty-four  towns  and  villages,  populous 
and  full  of  children,"  with  more  than  6,000  fighting  men.  equivalent 
<>n  the  same  basis  of  computation  to  between  1.6,000  and  L7,000  souls. 
From  what  we  know  of  them  in  later  times,  it  is  probable  that  this 
last  estimate  is  very  nearly  correct. 

I>\  this  time  the  colonial  government  had  become  alarmed  at  the 
advance  of  the  French,  who  had  made  their  first  'permanent  establish- 
ment in  the  Gulf  states  at  Biloxi  hay.  Mississippi,  in  L699,  and  in 
1711    had    built    Fort   Toulouse,  known   to  the   English  as  "the  fort   at 


■     rolina  Assembly,  in  North  Carolina  Colonial  R ds,  n,  pp.  225-227, 

-'  For  liuiicr.  Bee  the  glossan 

South  Carolina  i    i,  pp.  297-298, 1778;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  in  F 

.hi  .ii  Ethnology,  p.  144  and  map,  1888, 
Ro     E   "p.  Hi.,  p.  1  12. 
Documenl  of  L724,  in  Fernow    Berthold,  Ohio  Valley  in  Colonial  liny-,  pp.  278-275;  Albao 

•  Report  of  Board  ot  Trade,  1721,  in  North  Carolina  Colonial  Rei  !   1886, 

•  Adair,  James,  American  Indians,  p.  JJ7.  London,  177'. 


cuming's  treaty — L730  35 

the  Alabamas,"  on  Coosa  river,  a  few  miles  above  the  present  Mont- 
gomery, Alabama.  From  this  central  vantage  point  they  had  rapidly 
extended  their  influence  among  all  the  neighboring  tribes  until  in 
1721  it  was  estimated  that  3,400  warriors  who  had  formerly  traded 
with  Carolina  had  been  ••entirely  debauched  to  the  French  interest," 
while  2,000  more  were  wavering,  and  only  the  Cherokee  could  still  be 
considered  friendly  to  the  English.1  From  this  time  until  the  final 
withdrawal  of  the  French  in  IT*'.:;  the  explanation  of  our  Indian  wars 
is  to  be  found  in  the  struggle  between  the  two  nations  for  territorial 
and  commercial  supremacy,  the  Indian  being  simply  the  cat's-paw  of 
one  o]-  the  other.  For  reasons  of  their  own.  the  Chickasaw,  whose 
territory  lay  within  the  recognized  limits  of  Louisiana,  soon  became  the 
uncompromising  enemies  of  the  French,  and  as  their  position  enabled 
them  in  a  measure  to  control  the  approach  from  the  Mississippi,  the 
Carolina  government  saw  to  it  that  they  were  kept  well  supplied  with 
guns  and  ammunition.  British  traders  were  in  all  their  towns,  and 
on  one  occasion  a  French  force,  advancing  against  a  Chickasaw 
palisaded  village,  found  it  garrisoned  by  Englishmen  flying  the  British 
flag.2  The  Cherokee,  although  nominally  allies  of  the  English,  were 
strongly  disposed  to  favor  the  French,  and  it  required  every  effort  of 
the  Carolina  government  to  hold  them  to  their  allegiance. 

In  1730,  to  further  lix  the  Cherokee  in  the  English  interest,  Sir 
Alexander  Cuming  was  dispatched  on  a  secret  mission  to  that  tribe, 
which  was  again  smarting  under  grievances  and  almost  ready  to  join 
witli  the  Creeks  in  an  alliance  with  the  French.  Proceeding  to  the 
ancient  town  of  Nequassee  (Nikwasi',  at  the  present  Franklin,  North 
Carolina),  lie  so  impressed  the  chiefs  by  his  bold  bearing  that  they 
conceded  without  question  all  his  demands,  submitting  themselves 
and  their  people  for  the  second  time  to  the  English  dominion  and 
designating  Moytoy,3  of  Tellico,  to  act  as  their  "emperor"  and  to 
represent  the  Nation  in  all  transactions  with  the  whites.  Seven  chiefs 
were  selected  to  visit  England,  where,  in  the  palace  at  Whitehall, 
they  solemnly  renewed  the  treaty,  acknowledging  the  sovereignty  of 
England  and  binding  themselves  to  have  no  trade  or  alliance  with  any 
other  nation,  not  to  allow  any  other  white  people  to  settle  among 
thein.  and  to  deliver  up  any  fugitive  slaves  who  might  seek  refuge 
with  them.  To  confirm  their  words  they  delivered  a  "crown",  five 
eagle-tails,  and  four  scalps,  which  they  had  brought  with  them.  In 
return  they  received  the  usual  glittering  promises  of  love  and  per- 
petual friendship,  together  with  a  substantial  quantity  of  guns,  ammu- 
nition, and   red   paint.     The  treaty  being  concluded  in    September, 

''Board  of  Trade  report,  1721.  North  Carolina  Colonial  Records,  n,  p.  422, 1886. 
spiekett.H.  A.,  History  of  Alabama, pp.  234, 280, 288;  reprint,  Sheffield,  1896. 
3  For  notice,  see  the  glossary. 


36  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ann.19 

they  took  ship  for  Carolina,  where  they  arrived,  as  we  are  told  by 
(he  governor,  "in  good  health  and  mightily  well  satisfied  with  His 
Majestj  '-  bounty  to  them."  ' 

In  the  next  year  some  action  was  taken  to  use  the  Cherokee  and 
Catawba  to  subdue  the  refractory  remnant  of  the  Tuscarora  in  North 
Carolina,  but  when  it  was  found  that  this  was  liable  t<>  bring  down  the 
wrath  of  the  Iroquois  upon  the  Carolina  settlements,  more  peaceable 
methods  were  used  instead. ' 

In  L738  or  17:;'.'  the  smallpox,  brought  to  Carolina  by  slave  ships, 
broke  out  among  the  ( Iherokee  with  such  terrible  effect  that,  according 
to  Adair,  nearly  half  the  tribe  was  swept  away  within  a  year.  The 
awful  mortality  was  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  as  it  was  a  new  and 
strange  disease  to  the  Indian-  they  had  no  proper  remedies  against  it. 
and  therefore  resorted  to  the  universal  Indian  panacea  for  "strong" 
sickness  of  almost  any  kind.  viz.  cold  plunge  baths  in  the  running 
stream,  the  worst  treatment  that  could  possibly  !»•  devised.  A>  the 
pestilence  spread  unchecked  from  town  to  town,  despair  fell  upon  the 
nation.  The  priests,  believing  the  visitation  a  penalty  for  violation  of 
the  ancient  ordinances,  threw  away  their  sacred  paraphernalia  as  things 
which   had   lost   their  protecting   power.      Hundreds  of   the   warriors 

committed  suicide  on  beholding  their  frightful  disfigurement.    "So 

shot  themselves,  others  cut  their  throats,  some  stabbed  themselves 
with  knives  and  others  with  sharp-pointed  canes:  many  threw  them- 
sel\  es  with  sullen  madness  into  the  tire  and  there  slowly  expired,  a-  ii 
they  hail  been  utterly  divested  of  the  native  power  of  feeling  pain."3 
Another  authority  estimates  their  loss  at  a  thousand  warriors,  partly 
from  smallpox  and  partly  from  rum  brought  in  by  the  traders.1 

A 1  >■  nit  the  year  L 740  a  trading  path  for  horsemen  was  marked  out 
by  the  Cherokee  from  the  new  settlement  of  Augusta,  in  Georgia,  to 
their  towns  on  the  headwaters  of  Savannah  river  and  thence  on  to  the 
west.  This  road,  which  went  up  the  south  side  of  the  river,  soon 
became  much  frequented.*  Previous  to  this  time  most  of  the  trading 
goods  had  been  transported  on  the  backs  of  Indians.  In  the  same 
year  a  party  of  Cherokee  under  the  war  chief  Ka'lanu.  •"The  Raven," 
took  part  in  Oglethorpe's  expedition  against  the  Spaniards  of  Saint 
Augustine. 

In  L736  Christian  Priber,  said  to  be  a  Jesuit  acting  in  the  French 
interest,  had  come  among  the  ( iherokee,  and.  by  the  facility  with  which 
he  learned   the    language  and   adapted    himself  to   the  native  dress  and 


'Hewat, S Ii  Carolina  and  Georgia,  n,pp.S-ll,  L779;  treat;  documei '  1730,  North  Carolina 

Colonial  Ri  — Is,  ru,  pp.  128  L33    1886;   lenkinson,  Collection  of  Treaties,  n,  pp.  315-318;  Drake,  S.G.. 
Early  History  of  Georgia:  Cuming's  Embassy;  Boston, 1872;  letter  of  Governor  Johnson,  Dei 
1780.  noted  In  South  Carolina  Hist  Soc.  Colls.,  i   p.  246,  1857. 

a  of  1781  and  1732,  North  Carolina  Col I  Records,  III  pp.153 

\<i. ur    American  Indians  pp.  232  234,  1775. 
•  Meadows  (?),  State  of  the  Province  ol  Georgia,  p   .    1742,  in  Force  Tracts,  I    1831 
I    C     Historj  "i  L-i.i    i    pp  !  -    B i    L883, 


kooney]  PKIBER'S    WORK 1736-41  87 

mode  of  life,  had  quickly  acquired  a  Leading  influence  among  them. 
He  drew  up  for  their  adoption  a  scheme  of  government  modeled  after 
the  European  plan,  with  the  capital  at  Great  Tellico,  in  Tennessee, 
the  principal  medicine  man  as  emperor,  and  himself  as  the  emperor's 
secretary.  Dnder  this  title  he  corresponded  with  the  South  Carolina 
government  until  it  began  to  be  feared  that  he  would  ultimately  win 

over  the  whole  tribe  to  the  French  side.     A  commissi r  was  sent  to 

arrest  him,  but  the  Cherokee  refused  to  give  him  up.  and  the  deputy 
was  obliged  to  return  under  safe-conduct  of  an  escort  furnished  by 
Priber.  Five  years  after  the  inauguration  of  his  work,  however,  he 
was  seized  by  some  English  traders  while  on  his  way  to  Fort  Toulouse, 
and  brought  as  a  prisoner  to  Frederica,  in  Georgia,  where  he  soon 
afterward  died  while  under  confinement.  Although  his  enemies  had 
represented  him  as  a  monster,  inciting  the  Indians  to  the  grosses! 
immoralities,  he  proved  to  be  a  gentleman  of  polished  address,  exten- 
sive learning,  and  rare  courage,  as  was  shown  later  on  the  occasion  of 
an  explosion  in  the  barracks  magazine.  Besides  Greek,  Latin.  French, 
German,  Spanish,  and  fluent  English,  he  spoke  also  the  Cherokee, 
and  among  his  papers  which  were  seized  was  found  a  manuscript 
dictionary  of  the  language,  which  he  had  prepared  for  publication  - 
the  first,  and  even  yet,  perhaps,  the  most  important  study  of  the  lan- 
guage ever  made.  Says  Adair:  "As  he  was  learned  and  possessed 
of  a  very  sagacious  penetrating  judgment,  and  had  every  qualification 
that  was  requisite  for  his  bold  and  difficult  enterprise,  it  was  not  to  be 
doubted  that,  as  he  wrote  a  Cheerake  dictionary,  designed  to  be 
published  at  Paris,  he  likewise  set  down  a  great  deal  that  would  have 
been  very  acceptable  to  the  curious  and  serviceable  to  the  representa- 
tives of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  which  may  be  readily  found  in 
Frederica  if  the  manuscripts  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  the 
despoiling  hands  of  military  power."  He  claimed  to  be  a  Jesuit,  acting 
under. orders  of  his  superior,  to  introduce  habits  of  steady  industry, 
civilized  arts,  and  a  regular  form  of  government  among  the  southern 
tribes,  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  founding  of  an  independent  Indian 
state.  From  all  that  can  be  gathered  of  him.  even  though  it  comes 
from  hi-  enemies,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  was  a  worthy 
member  of  that  illustrious  order  whose  name  has  been  a  >\  nonym  for 
scholarship,  devotion,  and  courage  from  the  days  of  Jogues  and  Mar- 
quette down  to  De  Smet  ami  Mengarini.1 

I'p  to  this  time  no  civilizing  or  mission  work  had  been  undertaken 
by  either  of  the  Carolina  governments  among  any  of  the  tribes  within 
their  borders.  As  one  writer  of  the  period  quaintly  puts  it.  "The 
gospel  spirit  is  not  yet  so  gloriously  arisen  as  to  seek  them  more  than 
theirs."  while  another  in  stronger  terms  affirms.  "To  the   shame  of 


can  Indians, pp.  240-243,  1775;  Stevens,  W;B.,  History  of  Georgia,  r,  pp.  104-107;  I'hiln., 


MYTHS    01    THE    I  HEROKEE  inn.19 

the  Christian  name,  no  pains  have  ever  been  taken  to  convert  them  to 
Christianity;  on  the  contrary,  their  morals  are  perverted  and  cor 
rupted  da  the  sad  example  they  daily  have  of  its  depraved  professors 
residing  in  their  towns."'  Readers  of  Lawson  and  other  narratives 
of  the  period  will  feel  the  force  of  the  rebuke. 

Throughout  the  eighteenth  century  the  Cherokee  were  engaged  in 
chronic  warfare  with  their  Indian  neighbors.  As  these  quarrels  con- 
cerned thr  whites  but  little,  however  UK mieiiti hi-  they  may  have  been 
to  the  principals,  we  have  but  few  details.  The  war  with  the  Tusca- 
rora  continued  until  the  outbreak  of  the  latter  tribe  against  Carolina 
in  171  1  gave  opportunity  to  the  Cherokee  to  cooperate  in  striking  the 
blow  which  drove  the  Tuscarora  from  their  ancient  homes  to  seek 
refuge  in  the  north.  The  Cherokee  then  turned  their  attention  to  the 
Shawano  on  the  ( 'uniberland.  and  with  the  aid  of  the  ( 'hiekasaw  finally 
expelled  theiu  from  that  region  about  the  year  L715.  Inroads  upon 
the  Catawba  were  probably  kept  up  until  the  latter  had  become  so  far 
reduced  by  war  and  disease  as  to  be  mere  dependent  pensioners  upon 
the  whites.  The  former  friendship  with  the  Chickasaw  was  at  last 
broken  through  the  overbearing  conduct  of  the  Cherokee,  and  a  war 
followed  of  which  we  find  incidental  notice  in  L757,8  and  which  termi- 
nated in  a  decisive  victory  for  the  Chickasaw  about  L768.  The  bitter 
war  with  the  Iroquois  of  the  far  north  continued,  in  spite  of  all  the 
efforts  of  the  colonial  governments,  until  a  formal  treaty  of  peace  was 
brought  about  by  the  efforts  of  Sir  William  Johnson  (12)  in  the  same 
year. 

The  hereditary  war  with  the  Creeks  for  possession  id'  upper  Georgia 
continued,  with  brief  intervals  of  peace,  or  even  alliance,  until  the 
United  States  finally  interfered  as  mediator  between  the  rival  claimants. 
In  L718  we  find  notice  of  a  large  Cherokee  war  party  moving  against 
the  Creek  tow  n  of  i  loweta,  on  the  lower  ( lhattahoocbee,  but  dispersing 
on  learning  of  the  presence  there  of  some  French  and  Spanish  officers, 
a-  well  a-  some  English  traders,  all  bent  on  arranging  an  alliance  with 
the  Creeks.  The  Creeks  themselves  had  declared  their  willingness  to 
be  :it  peace  with  the  English,  while  still  determined  to  keep  the  bloody 
hatchet  uplifted  against  the  Cherokee.3      The  most  important  incident 

of    the    Struggle    between    the    two    tribes    was    probably    the    battle    of 
Tali'wa  about  the  year  1755. ' 

By  this  time  the  weaker  coast  tribes  had  become  practically  extinct. 
and  the  more  powerful  tribes  of  the  interior  were  beginning  to  take 
the  alarm,  as  they  saw  the  restless  borderers  pushing  every  \  ear  farther 
into  the  Indian  country.  As  early  as  174S  Dr  Thomas  Walker,  with  a 
company  of  hunters  and  woodsmen  from  Virginia,  crossed  the  moun- 

1  Anonymous  writer  in  Carroll,  Hist. Colls. of  South  Carolina,  a,  pp  97-98,  517, 
Buckle,  Journal,  1757,  in  Rivers,  South  Carolina,  p.57, 1856. 

i Barcia,  A. G-,  Ensayo Cbronologico  para  la   Historia  General  rti    In   Florida   pp.  ...;..  ..i-    Madrid, 
1728. 
'  For  more  mi  regard  to  these  intertribal  wars  see  the  historical  traditions 


MOONEY]  FRENCH    AND    INDIAN"     W'aI! 1754-6]  39 

tains  to  the  southwest,  discovering  and  naming  the  celebrated  Cumber- 
land gap  and  passing  on  to  the  headwaters  of  Cumberland  river. 
Two  years  later  he  made  a  second  exploration  and  penetrated  to  Ken- 
tucky  river,  but  on   account  of  the    Indian   troubles   no  permanent 

settlement  was  then  attempted."  This  invasion  of  their  territory 
awakened  a  natural  resentment  of  the  native  owners,  and  we  rind 
proof  also  in  the  Virginia  records  that  the  irresponsible  borderers 
seldom  let  pass  an  opportunity  to  kill  and  plunder  any  stray  Indian 
found  in  their  neighborhood. 

In  1755  the  Cherokee  were  officially  reported  to  number  2,590  war- 
riors, as  against  probably  twice  that  number  previous  to  the  great 
smallpox  epidemic  sixteen  years  before.  Their  neighbors  and  ancient 
enemies,  the  Catawba,  had  dwindled  to  240  men.2 

Although  war  was  not  formally  declared  by  England  until  L756, 
hostilities  in  tiie  seven  year's  struggle  between  France  and  England, 
commonly  known  in  America  as  the  "  French  and  Indian  war."  began 
in  April,  1754.  when  the  French  seized  a  small  postwhich  the  English 
had  begun  at  tile  present  site  of  Pittsburg,  and  which  was  afterward 
finished  by  the  French  under  the  name  of  Fort  Du  Quesne.  Strenuous 
efforts  were  made  by  the  English  to  secure  the  Cherokee  to  their 
interest  against  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies,  and  treaties  were 
negotiated  by  which  they  promised  assistance.3  As  these  treaties. 
however,  carried  the  usual  cessions  of  territory,  and  stipulated  for 
the  building  of  several  forts  in  the  heart  of  the  Cherokee  country,  it 
is  to  be  feared  that  the  Indians  were  not  duly  impressed  by  tin  disin- 
terested character  of  the  proceeding.  Their  preference  for  the  French 
was  but  thinly  veiled,  and  only  immediate  policy  prevented  them  from 
throwing  their  whole  force  into  the  scale  on  that  side.  The  reasons 
for  this  preference  are  given  by  Timberlake,  the  young  Virginian 
officer  who  visited  the  tribe  on  an  embassy  of  conciliation  a  few  years 
later: 

I  found  the  nation  much  attached  to  the  French,  who  have  the  prudence,  by 
familiar  politeness — which  costs  hut  little  ami  often  does  a  great  deal — ami  conform- 
ing themselves  to  their  ways  and  temper,  to  conciliate  the  inclinations  of  almost  all 
the  Indians  they  are  acquainted  with,  while  the  pride  of  our  officers  often  disgusts 
them.  Nay,  they  did  net  scruple  to  own  to  me  that  it  was  the  trade  alone  that 
induced  them  to  make  peace  with  us,  ami  net  any  preference  to  the  French,  whom 
they  loved  a  great  deal  better.  .  .  .  The  English  are  now  so  nigh,  and  encroached 
daily  so  far  upon  them,  that  they  u^t  only  felt  the  had  effects  of  it  ill  their  hunting 
grounds,  which  were  spoiled,  hut  had  all  the  reason  in  the  world  to  apprehend  being 
swallowed  up  by  so  potent  neighbors  or  driven  from  the  country  inhabited  by  their 
fathers,  in  which  they  were  horn  ami  brought  up,  in  tine,  their  native  soil,  for  which 
all  men  have  a  particular  tenderness  and  affection. 

i  Walker,  Thomas,  Journal  of  an  Exploration,  etc.,  pp.  8,  35-37;  Boston,  1888;  Monette 
the  Me-,  i.  p.  317;  New  York.  1848    erroneously  makes  the  second  date  L758. 

2 Letter  of  Governor  Dobbs,  1755,  in  North  Carolina  Colonial  Records,  v,  pp.  320,321,  1887. 

'Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  50-52  L8S  Royce  i  herokee  Nation,  in  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bur.  of  Eth- 
nology,  ]'■  145,  iv^s 


40  MYTH-    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.akn.1S 

He  adds  that  only  dire  necessity  had  induced  them  to  make  peace 
with  the  English  in  I  761.' 

In  accordance  with  the  treaty  stipulations  Fori  Prince  George  was 
built  in  L756  adjoining  the  important  Cherokee  town  of  Keowee,  on 
the  headwaters  of  the  Savannah,  and  Fort  Loudon  near  the  junction 
of  Tellico  river  with  the  Little  Tennessee,  in  the  center  of  the 
Cherokee  towns  beyond  the  mountains.2  By  special  arrangement  with 
the  influential  chief,  Ata-kullakulla  (Ata'-uul'kaliV).  Fort  Dobbs  was 
also  built  in  the  same  year  about  -Jo  mile-  west  of  the  present  Salis- 
bury. North  ( larolina.4 

The  Cherokee  had  agreed  to  furnish  four  hundred  warriors  to 
cooperate  against  the  French  in  the  north,  but  before  Fort  Loudon 
had  been  completed  it  was  very  evident  that  they  had  repented  of 
their  promise,  as  their  great  council  at  Echota  ordered  the  work 
stopped  and  the  garrison  on  the  wax  to  turn  hack,  plainly  telling  the 
officer  in  charge  that  they  did  not  want  so  many  white  people  among 
them.  Ata-kullakulla,  hitherto  supposed  to  he  one  of  the  stanchest 
friendsof  the  English,  was  now  one  of  the  most  determined  in  the  oppo- 
sition. It  was  in  evidence  also  that  they  were  in  constant  communi- 
cation with  the  French.  By  much  tact  and  argument  their  objec- 
tions were  at  last  overcome  for  a  time,  and  they  very  unwillingly  set 
about  raising  the  promised  force  of  warriors.  Major  Andrew  Lewi-, 
who  superintended  the  building  of  the  fort,  became  convinced  that 
the  Cherokee  were  really  friendly  to  the  French,  and  that  all  their 
professions  of  friendship  and  assistance  were  ■•only  to  put  a  gloss  on 
their  knavery."  The  fort  was  finally  completed,  and.  on  his  suggestion, 
wag  garrisoned  with  a  strong  force  of  two  hundred  men  under  Captain 
Demere\5  'There  was  strong  ground  for  believing  that  some  depreda- 
tions committed  about  this  time  on  the  heads  of  Catawba  and  Broad 
rivers,  in  North  ( 'arolina.  were  the  joint  work  id'  ( 'herokee  and  northern 
Indians."  Notwithstanding  all  this,  a  considerable  body  of  Cherokee 
joined  the  British  forces  on  the  Virginia  frontier. 

Fort  I  >u  Quesne  was  taken  by  the  American  provincials  under  Wash- 
ington, November  25,  17-Vs.  Quebec  was  taken  September  L3,  1759, 
and  by  the  final  treaty  of  peace  in  I  7b:!  the  war  ended  with  the  transfer 
of  Canada  and  the  Ohio  valley  to  the  crown  of  England.  Louisiana 
had  already  been  ceded  by  France  to  Spain. 

Although  France  was  thus  eliminated  from  the  Indian  problem,  the 

'Timberlake,  Henry,  Memeirs,  pp.  7:;.  74;  London,  1765 
Ramsi       i    nm     -     p    ■•    1853    Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  in  Fifth  Ann. Rept.  Bur.  of  Ethnology, 
p.  145,  1888. 

i  ,,,  notice  -  i    \iv  sul"WUn',  in  the  jlossarj 

1 1: se]    op  ell  .  p   50. 

Letters  ol  Majoi  Indrev  Lewis  and  Governor  Dinwiddle,  17:«;.  in  North  Carolina  Colonial  Records 
v,  pp    i85  612-614  685,687,1887:  Ramsey,  op.  clt.,  pp.  61,  52. 

s  Letter  of  Governor  Dobbs,  1756,  in  North  Carolina  Colonial  Rei Is,  V,  p.  604,  1887 

:  Dinw  iddle  letter,  I7~>7.  ibid.,  p 


J key]  LEWIS'  EXPEDITION — 175(5  41 

Indians  themselves  were  not  ready  to  accept  the  settlement.  In  the 
north  the  confederated  tribes  under  Pontiac  continued  to  war  on  their 
own  account  until  17<'>5.  In  the  South  the  very  Cherokee  who  had 
acted  a^  allies  of  the  British  against  Fort  DuQuesne,  and  had  volun- 
tarily offered  to  guard  the  frontier  south  of  the  Potomac,  returned 
to  rouse  their  tribe  to  resistance. 

The  immediate  exciting  cause  of  the  trouble  was  an  unfortunate  expe- 
dition undertaken  against  the  hostile  Shawano  in  February,  L756,  by 
Major  Andrew  Lewi--  (the  same  who  had  built  Fort  Loudon)  withsome 
two  hundred  Virginia  troops  assisted  by  about  one  hundred  Cherokee. 
After  -i\  weeks  of  fruitless  tramping  through  tin'  woods,  with  the 
ground  covered  with  snow  and  the  streams  s,,  swollen  by  rains  that 
they  lost  their  provisions  and  ammunition  in  crossing,  they  were  obliged 
to  return  to  the  settlements  in  a  starving  condition,  having  killed  their 
horses  on  the  way.  The  Indian  contingent  had  from  the  first  been 
disgusted  at  the  contempt  and  neglect  experienced  from  those  whom 
they  had  conn1  to  assist.  The  Tuscarora  and  others  had  already  gone 
home,  and  the  Cherokee  now  started  to  return  on  foot  to  their  own 
country.  Finding  some  horses  running  loose  on  the  range,  they 
appropriated  them,  on  the  theory  that  as  they  had  lost  their  own 
animals,  to  say  nothing  of  having  risked  their  lives,  in  the  service 
of  the  colonists,  it  was  only  a  fair  exchange.  The  frontiersmen 
took  another  view  of  the  question  however,  attacked  the  returning 
Cherokee,  and  killed  a  number  of  them,  variously  stated  at  from 
twelve  to  forty,  including  several  of  their  prominent  men.  Accord- 
ing to  Adair  they  also  scalped  and  mutilated  the  bodies  in  the  savage 
fashion  to  which  they  had  become  accustomed  in  the  border  wars,  and 
bi'ought  the  scalps  into  the  settlements,  where  they  were  represented 
as  those  of  French  Indians  and  sold  at  the  regular  price  then  estab- 
lished by  law.  The  young  warriors  at  once  prepared  to  take  revenge, 
but  were  restrained  by  the  chief s  until  satisfaction  could  be  demanded 
in  the  ordinary  way.  according  to  the  treaties  arranged  with  the  colonial 
governments.  Application  was  made  in  turn  to  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  and  South  Carolina,  but  without  success.  While  the  women 
were  still  wailing  night  and  morning  for  their  slain  kindred,  and  the 
Creeks  were  taunting  the  warriors  for  their  cowardice  in  thus  quietly 
submitting  to  the  injury,  some  lawless  officers  of  Fort  Prince  George 
committed  an  unpardonable  outrage  at  the  neighboring  Indian  town 
{_^^while  most  of  the  men  were  away  hunting.1  The  warriors  could  no 
longer  be  restrained.  Soon  there  was  news  of  attacks  upon  the  back 
settlements  of  Carolina,  while  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains  two 
soldiers  of  the  Fort  Loudon  garrison  were  killed.  War  seemed  at 
hand. 

1  Adair.  American  Indians,  245-246, 177a;  North  Carol  inn  Colonial  Records,  v,  p.  xlviii,  1887;  I  lew  at, 
quoted  in  Ramsey, Tennessee,  p. 54,  1853 


42  MYTHS    OB     llli     l  HEROKEE 

At  ihi-  juncture,  in  November,  1758,  a  party  of  influential  chiefs, 
having  first  ordered  back  a  war  party  ju-t  aboul  in  set  mil  from  the 
western  towns  against  the  Carolina  settlements,  came  down  toChai-les- 
ton  and  succeeded  in  arranging  the  difficulty  upon  a  friendly  basis. 
The  assembly  had  officially  declared  peace  with  (lie  <  !herokee,  \\  hen,  in 
M;i\  of  1759,  Governor  Lyttleton  unexpectedly  came  forward  with  a 
demand  for  the  surrender  I'm-  execution  of  every  Indian  who  had  killed 
a  white  man  in  tin'  recent  skirmishes,  among  these  being  t } » « -  chiefs  of 
Citieo  and  Tellico.  At  the  same  time  the  commanderal  Fori  Loudon, 
forgetful  of  the  fact  that  In'  had  but  a  -mall  garrison  in  the  midst  of 
several  thousands  of  restless  savages,  made  a  demand  for  twentj  four 
other  chiefs  whom  he  suspected  of  unfriendly  action.  Tocompel  their 
surrender  orders  were  given  to  stop  all  trading  supplies  intended  for 
i  he  upper  ( Iherokee. 

This  roused  tin'  whole  Nation,  and  a  delegation  representing  everj 
town  came  down  to  Charleston,  protesting  the  de-ire  of  the  Indian-  lor 
peace  and  friendship,  but  declaring  their  inability  to  surrender  their  own 
chiefs.  The  governor  replied  by  declaring  war  in  November,  1759, at 
once  callingout  troops  and  sending  messengers  to  secure  the  aid  of  all 
the  surrounding  tribes  against  the  Cherokee,  [n  the  meantime  asecond 
delegation  of  thirty -two  of  the  most  prominent  men.  led  by  the  young 
war  chief  Oconostota  (Agan-st&ta),1  arrived  t<>  make  a  further  efforl 
for  peace,  Imt  the  governor,  refusing  to  listen  to  them,  seized  the 
whole  party  and  confined  them  as  prisoners  at  Fort  Prince  George,  in 
a  room  large  enough  for  only  six  soldiers,  while  at  the  same  time  he 
set  fourteen  hundred  troops  in  motion  to  invade  the  Cherokee  country. 
On  further  representation  by  Ata-kullakulla (Ata'-gul''kfilu'),  the  civil 
chief  of  the  Nation  and  well  known  as  a  friend  of  the  English,  the  gov- 
ernor released  Oconostota  and  two  others  after  compelling  some  half 
do/en  of  the  delegation  to  sign  a  paper  by  which  they  pretended  to 
agree  lor  their  tribe  to  kill  or  seize  any  Frenchmen  entering  their 
countrj  .  and  consented  to  the  imprisonment  of  the  parly  until  all  the 
warriors  demanded  had  been  surrendered  for  execution  <>r  otherwise. 
At  this  stage  of  affairs  the  smallpox  broke  out  in  the  Cherokee  towns. 
rendering  a  further  stay  in  their  neighborhood  unsafe,  and  thinking 
the  whole  matter  now  settled  on  his  own  basis,  Lyttleton  returned 
to  ( 'harleston. 

The  event  soon  proved  how  little  he  knew  of  Indian  temper,  <  Ocono- 
stota at  once  laid  siege  to  Fort  1'rince  George,  completely  cutting  off 
communication  at  a  time  when,  as  it  was  now  winter,  no  help  could 
well  be  expected  from  below.  In  February,  L 760,  after  having  kept 
the  fort  thus  closely  invested  for  some  weeks,  he  sent  word  one  day 
by  an  Indian  woman  that  he  \\  ished  to  speak  to  the  commander,  Lieut- 
enant Coytmore.     As  the  lieutenant  stepped  out   from  the  stockade 

1  Fur  notices  Bee  I  he  fi : 


i  Montgomery's  expedition — 1760  43 

to  see  what  was  wanted,  Oconostota,  standing  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  swung  a  bridle  above  his  head  as  a  signal  to  his  warriors 
concealed  in  the  bushes,  and  the  officer  was  at  once  shot  down.  The 
soldiers  immediately  broke  into  the  room  where  the  hostages  were 
confined,  every  cue  being  a  chief  of  prominence  in  the  tribe,  and 
butchered  them  to  the  last  man. 

It  was  now  war  to  the  end.  Led  by  Oconostota,  the  Cherokee 
descended  upon  the  frontier  settlements  of  ( iarolina,  while  the  warriors 
across  the  mountains  laid  close  siege  to  Fort  London.  In  June,  L760, 
a  strong  force  of  over  L,600  men.  under  Colonel  Montgomery,  started 
to  reduce  the  Cherokee  towns  and  relieve  the  beleaguered  garrison. 
Crossing  the  Indian  frontier.  Montgomery  quickly  drove  the  enemy 
from  about  Fort  Prince  George  and  then,  rapidly  advancing,  surprised 
Little  Keow'ee,  killing  every  man  of  the  defenders,  and  destroyed  in 
succession  every  one  of  the  Lower  Cherokee  towns,  burning  them  to 
the  ground,  cutting  down  the  cornfields  and  orchards,  killing  and 
taking  more  than  a  hundred  of  their  men.  and  driving  the  whole  popu- 
lation into  the  mountains  before  him.  His  own  loss  was  very  slight. 
He  then  sent  messengers  to  the  .Middle  and  Upper  towns,  summoning 
them  to  surrender  on  penalty  of  the  like  fate,  but,  receiving  no  reply, 
he  led  his  men  across  the  divide  to  the  waters  of  the  Little  Tennessee 
and  continued  down  that  stream  without  opposition  until  he  came  in 
the  vicinity  of  Ephoee  (Itse'yi),  a  few  mile-  above  the  sacred  town  of 
Nikwasi',  the  present  Franklin.  North  Carolina.  Here  the  Cherokee 
had  collected  their  full  force  to  resist  his  progress,  and  the  result  was 
a  desperate  engagement  on  dune  27,  LTtio.  by  which  Montgomery  was 
compelled  to  retire  to  Fort  Prince  George,  after  losing  nearly  one 
hundred  men  in  killed  and  wounded.     The  Indian  loss  is  unknown. 

His  retreat  sealed  the  fate  of  Fort  Loudon.  The  garrison,  though 
hard  pressed  and  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  eating  horses  and  dogs, 
had  been  enabled  to  hold  out  through  the  kindness  of  the  Indian 
women,  many  of  whom,  having  found  sweethearts  among  the  soldiers, 

brought  them  supplies  of  f 1  daily.     When  threatened  by  the  chiefs 

the  women  boldly  replied  that  the  soldiers  were  their  husbands  and  it 
was  their  duty  to  help  them,  and  that  if  any  harm  came  to  themselves 
for  their  devotion  their  English  relatives  would  avenge  them.1  The 
end  was  only  delayed,  however,  and  on  August  8,  1760,  the  garrison 
of  about  two  hundred  men,  under  Captain  Demere,  surrendered  to 
Oconostota  on  promise  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  retire  unmo- 
lested with  their  arms  and  sufficient  ammunition  for  the  march,  on 
condition  of  delivering  up  all  the  remaining  warlike  stores. 

The  troops  marched  out  and  proceeded  far  enough  to  camp  for  the 
night,  while  the  Indians  swarmed  into  the  fort  to  see  what  plunder 
they  might  hud.      "By  accident  a  discovery  was  made  of  ten  bags  of 

J  Tunberlake,  Memoirs,  p.  65,  1765. 


44  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.ih 

powder  and  a  large  quantity  of  ball  thai  had  been  secretly  buried  in 
the  fort,  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the  enemy's  hands"  (Hewat). 
It  i-  said  also  that  cannon,  small  arm-,  and  ammunition  had  been 
thrown  into  the  river  with  the  same  intention  (Haywood).  Em-aged 
al  this  breach  of  the  capitulation  the  Cherokee  attacked  the  soldiers 
next  morning  at  daylight,  killing  Deniere"  and  twenty-nine  others  at 
the  first  fire.  The  rest  were  taken  ami  held  as  pris »rs  until  ran- 
somed some  time  after.  The  second  officer,  Captain  Stuart  (13),  for 
whom  the  Indian-  had  a  high  regard,  was  claimed  by  Ata-kullakulla. 
who  soon  after  took  him  into  the  woods,  ostensibly  on  a  hunting 
excursion,  and  conducted  him  for  nine  days  through  the  wilderness 
until  he  delivered  him  safely  into  the  hands  of  friends  in  Virginia. 
The  chief's  kindness  was  well  rewarded,  and  it  was  largely  through 
his  influence  that  peace  was  finally  brought  about. 

It  was  now  too  late,  and  the  settlements  were  too  much  exhausted, 
for  another  expedition,  so  the  fall  and  winter  were  employed  by  the 
English  in  preparations  for  an  active  campaign  the  next  year  in  force 
to  crush  out  all  resistance.  In  June  1761,  Colonel  Grant  with  an 
army  of  2,600  men.  including  a  number  of  Chickasaw  and  almost 
every  remaining  warrior  of  the  Catawba,1  set  out  from  Fort  Prince 
George.  Refusings  request  from  Ata-kullakulla  foi  a  friendly  accom- 
modation, he  crossed  Rabun  yap  and  advanced  rapidly  down  the 
Little  Tennessee  alone-  the  same  trail  taken  by  the  expedition  of  the 
previous  year.  On  June  10,  when  within  two  miles  of  Montgomery's 
battlefield,  he  encountered  the  Cherokee,  whom  he  defeated,  although 
with  considerable  loss  to  himself,  after  a  stubborn  engagement  lasting 
several  hours.  Having  repulsed  the  Indians,  he  proceeded  on  his 
way,  sending  out  detachments  to  the  outlying  settlements,  until  in 
the  course  of  a  month  he  had  destroyed  every  one  of  the  Middle 
town-.  I.',  in  all.  with  all  their  granaries  and  cornfields,  driven  the 
inhabitants  into  the  mountain-,  and  "pushed  the  frontier  seventy 
miles  farther  to  the  west." 
y1^  The  Cherokee  were  now    reduced  to  the  greatest   extremity.      With 

some  of  their  best  towns  in  ashes,  their  fields  and  orchards  wasted  for 
two  successive  years,  their  ammunition  nearly  exhausted,  many  of 
their  bravest  warriors  dead,  their  people  fugitives  in  the  mountains, 
hiding  in  caves  and  living  like  beasts  upon  roots  or  killing  their 
horses  for  food,  with  the  terrible  scourge  of  smallpox  adding  to  the 
mi-eric-  of  starvation,  and  withal  torn  by  factional  differences  which 
had  existed  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  ii  wa-  impossible 
for  even  brave  men  to  resist  longer.  In  September  Ata-kullakulla, 
who  had  all  alone-  done  everything  in  his  power  to  stay  the  disaffec- 
tion, came  down   to  Charleston,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  made,  and  the 

i Catawba  reference  from  Milligan,  171;:;,  in  Carroll,  South  Carolina  Historical  Collections,  11,  p. 
519 


M....NKV]  AUGUSTA    TREATY ADVANCE    OF    SETTLEMENTS  45 

war  was  ended.  From  an  estimated  population  of  at  least  5,000  war- 
riors some  years  before,  the  Cherokee  had  now  been  reduced  to  about 
2,300  men.1 

In  the  meantime  a  force  of  Virginians  under  Colonel  Stephen  had 
advanced  as  far  as  the  Great  island  of  the  Holston  -now  Klingsport, 
Tennessee — where  they  were  met  by  a  large  delegation  of  Cherokee, 
who  sued  for  peace,  which  was  concluded  with  them  by  Colonel 
Stephen  on  November  19,  1761,  independently  of  what  was  being  done 
in  South  Carolina.  On  the  urgent  request  of  the  chief  that  an  officer 
might  visit  their  people  for  a  short  time  to  cement  the  new  friendship, 
Lieutenant  Henry  Timberlake,  a  young  Virginian  who  had  already  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  active  service,  volunteered  to  return  with  them  to 
their  towns,  where  he  spent  several  months.  He  afterward  conducted 
a  delegation  of  chiefs  to  England,  where,  as  they  had  come  without 
authority  from  the  Government,  they  met  such  an  unpleasant  recep- 
tion that  they  returned  disgusted.  ' 

On  the  conclusion  of  peace  between  England  and  France  in  1  T •  *► : ; .  by 
which  the  whole  western  territory  was  ceded  to  England,  a  great 
council  was  held  at  Augusta,  which  was  attended  by  the  chiefs  and 
principal  men  of  all  the  southern  Indians,  at  which  Captain  John 
Stuart,  superintendent  for  the  southern  tribes,  together  with  the  colo- 
nial governors  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  ( reor 
gia,  explained  fully  to  the  Indians  the  new  condition  of  affairs,  and  a 
treaty  of  mutual  peace  and  friendship  was  concluded  on  November  10 
of  that  year.  : 

Under  several  leaders,  as  Walker,  W alien,  Smith,  and  Boon,  the  tide 
of  emigration  now  surged  across  the  mountains  in  spite  of  every  efforl 
to  restrain  it.4  and  the  period  between  the  end  of  the  Cherokee  war 
and  the  opening  of  the  Revolution  is  principally  notable  for  a  number 
of  treaty  cessions  by  the  Indians,  each  in  fruitless  endeavor  to  tix  a 
permanent  barrier  between  themselves  and  the  advancing  wave  of 
white  settlement.  Chief  among  these  was  the  famous  Henderson  pur- 
\/  chase  in  1775,  which  included  the  whole  tract  between  the  Kentucky 
and  Cumberland  rivers,  embracing  the  greater  part  of  the  present 
state  of  Kentucky.  By  these  treaties  the  Cherokee  were  shorn  of 
practically  all  their  ancient  territorial  claims  north  of  the  present 
Tennessee  line  and  east  of  the  Blue  ridge  and  the  Savannah,  including 
much  of  their  best  hunting  range;  their  home  settlements  were,  how- 
ever, left  still  in  their  possession. ' 

1  Figures  from  Adair,  American  Indians,  p.  227,  177"'.    When  not  otherwise  

the  Cherokee  war  •  <(  1760-61  is  compiled  chiefly  from  the  contemporarj  dispatches  in  the  Gi  rifleman's 
Magazine,  supplemented  from  Hewat's  Historical  account  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  177s:  with 
additional  details  from  Adair.  American  Indians;  Ramsej  , Tennessei  ;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation;  North 
Carolina  Colonial  Records,  v,  documents  and  introduction;  etc. 

-Timberlake.  Memoirs,  p.  9  et  passim,  1765. 

'Stevens,  Georgia,  II,  pp.  26-29,  1859,  'Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  65-70,  1853 

sRoycc  Cherokei   Nation,  in  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bur.  of  Ethnology,  pp.  146-149,  1888. 


.. 


46  MYTHS    OK    THE    CHEROKEI  [bih.ann.19 

As ■  consequence  of  the  late  Cherokee  war,  a  royal  proclamation 

had  been  issued  in  L 763,  with  a  view  of  checking  future  encroachments 
l>\  the  whites,  which  prohibited  any  private  land  purchases  from  the 
Indians,  or  an}  granting  of  warrants  for  lands  wesl  of  the  sources 
of  the  streams  flowing  into  the  Atlantic.1  In  L 768,  on  the  appeal  of 
the  Indians  themselves,  the  British  superintendent  for  the  southern 
tribes,  Captain  John  Stuart,  had  negotiated  a  treaty  at  Hani  Labor 
in  South  Carolina  by  which  Kanawha  and  New  rivers,  along  their 
whole  course  downward  from  the  North  Carolina  line,  were  Sxed  as 
the  boundary  between  the  Cherokee  and  the  whites  in  that  direction. 
In  two  years,  however,  so  many  borderers  had  crossed  into  the  Indian 
country,  where  thej  were  evidently  determined  to  remain,  thai  it  was 
found  necessary  to  substitute  another  treaty,  by  which  the  line  was 
made  to  nm  due  south  from  t  he  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  to  the  Hols  ton, 
thus  cutting  off  from  the  Cherokee  almost  the  whole  of  their  hunting 
grounds  in  Virginia  and  West  Virginia.  Two  years  later,  in  I77l'. 
the  Virginians  demanded  a  further  cession,  by  which  everything  east 
of  Kentucky  river  was  surrendered;  and  finally,  on  March  17.  177.">. 
the  great  Henderson  purchase  was  consummated,  including  the  whole 
tract  between  the  Kentucky  and  Cumberland  rivers.  By  this  last  i/ 
cession  the  Cherokee  were  at  last  cut  otl'  from  Ohio  river  and  all  their 
rich  Kentucky  hunting  grounds.8 

While  these  transactions  were  called  treaties,  they  were  really 
forced  upon  the  native  proprietors,  who  resisted  each  in  turn  and 
finally  signed  only  under  protest  and  on  most  solemn  assurances  that 
no  further  demands  would  be  made.  Even  before  the  purchases  were 
made,  intruders  in  large  numbers  had  settled  upon  each  of  the  tracts 
in  question,  and  they  refused  to  withdraw  across  the  boundaries  now 
established,  but  remained  on  one  pretext  or  another  to  await  a  new 
adjustment.  This  was  particularly  the  case  on  Watauga  and  upper 
Holston  rivers  in  northeastern  Tennessee,  where  the  settlers,  finding 
themselves  still  within  the  Indian  boundary  and  being  resolved  to 
remain,  effected  a  temporary  lease  from  (he  Cherokee  in  177l'.  As 
was  expected  and  intended,  the  lease  beca a  permanent  occupancy, 

the   nucleus  settlement  of  the   future  State  of  Tenne  — er. 

Just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  the  botanist.  William 
Hart  ram.  made  an  extended  tour  of  the  Cherokee  country,  anil  has  left 
US  a  pleasant  account  of  the  hospitable  character  ami  friendly  dispo- 
sition of  the  Indians  at  that  time.  He  gives  alist  of  forty-three  towns 
then  inhabited  by  the  tribe.' 

The  opening  of  the  great  Revolutionary  struggle  in  1 T T * ">  found  the 
Indian  tribes  almost  to  a  man  ranged  on   the   British  side  against  the 


R03  •'    <  Iherokee  Nation,  op.  cit.,  p.  1 19;  Eta 
2  Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  pp.  98  122;  Royce,  op.  cit.  pp.  146-149. 
>  Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  pp.  109  122;  Royce,. op,  cit.  p.  U6et  pa 
<  Bartram,  Travels,  pp    166   i"  !   1792 


hoo.\-f.i-  BEGINNING    OF    THE    REVOLUTION  4i 

Americans.  There  was  good  reason  for  this.  Since  the  fall  of 
the  French  power  the  British  government  had  stood  to  them  as  the 
sole  representative  of  authority,  and  the  guardian  and  protector  of 
their  rights  against  constant  encroachments  by  the  American  borderers. 
Licensed  British  traders  were  resident  in  every  tribe  and  many  had 
intermarried  and  raised  families  among  them,  while  the  bonier  man 
looked  upon  the  Indian  only  as  a  cumberer  of  the  earth.  The  British 
superintendents,  Sir  William  Johnson  in  the  north  and  Captain  John 
Stuart  in  the  south,  they  knew  as  generous  friends,  while  hardly  a 
warrior  of  them  all  was  without  some  old  cause  of  resentment  against 
their  backwoods  neighbors.  They  felt  that  the  only  barrier  between 
themselves  and  national  extinction  was  in  the  strength  of  the  British 
government,  and  when  the  final  severence  came  they  threw  their 
whole  power  into  the  British  scale.  They  were  encouraged  in  this 
resolution  by  presents  of  clothing  and  other  Moods,  with  promises  of 
plunder  from  the  settlement-  and  hopes  of  recovering  a  portion  of  their 
lost  territories.  The  British  government  having  determined,  as  early 
as  June,  1775.  to  call  in  the  Indians  against  the  Americans,  supplies 
of  hatchets,  guns,  and  ammunition  were  issued  to  the  warriors  of  all 
the  tribes  from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf,  and  bounties  were  offered  for 
American  scalps  brought  in  to  the  commanding  officer  at  Detroit  or 
Oswego.1  Even  the  Six  Nations,  w  ho  had  agreed  in  solemn  treaty  to 
remain  neutral,  were  won  over  by  these  persuasions.  In  August,  177">. 
an  Indian  "talk"  was  intercepted  in  which  the  Cherokee  assured  Cam- 
eron, the  resident  agent,  that  their  warriors,  enlisted  in  the  service  of 
the  king,  were  ready  at  a  signal  to  tall  upon  the  back  settlements  of 
Carolina  and  Georgia.2  Circular  letters  were  sent  out  to  all  those 
persons  in  the  back  country  supposed  to  he  of  royalist  sympathies, 
directing  them  to  repair  to  Cameron's  headquarters  in  the  Cherokee 
country  to  join  the  Indians  in  the  invasion  of  the  settlements." 

In  .Tune.  1776,  a  British  fleet  under  command  of  Sir  Peter  Parker, 
with  a  large  aavaland  military  force,  attacked  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, both  by  land  and  sea.  and  simultaneously  a  body  of  ( 'herokee,  led 
by  Tories  in  Indian  disguise,  came  down  from  the  mountains  and  ravaged 
the  exposed  frontier  of  South  Carolina,  killing  and  burning  as  they 
went.  After  a  gallant  defense  by  the  garrison  at  Charleston  the  British 
were  repulsed,  whereupon  their  Indian  and  Tory  allies  withdrew.' 

About  the  same  time  the  warning  came  from  Nancy  Ward  114).  a 
noted  friendly  Indian  woman  of  "teat  authority  in  the  ( 'herokee  Nation. 
that  seven  hundred  Cherokee  warriors  were  advancing  in  two  divisions 
against    the   Watauga  and    Holston    settlements,  with    the  design   of 

'Kin:  [>p  ii.    L.'iu     s.v.;  Mi  >notte,  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  I,  pp.  400,  401, 431, 432,  and 

II,  pp.  33.  34,  1846;  Roosevelt.  Winning  of  the  West,  I.  pp.  276-281,  and  II,  pp.  1-6,  1889. 
op.  'it.,  p.  143. 
'Quoted  from  Stedman,  in  Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  \>.  162. 
*  Ramsey,op.  cit., p.  162. 


48  .MYTHS    01    THE    CHEROKEE 


IKTH. 


destroying  everything  as  far  up  as  New  river.  The  Holston  men 
from  b'oth  sides  of  the  Virginia  line  hastily  collected  under  Captain 
Thompson  and  marched  againsl  the  Indians,  whom  they  met  and 
defeated  with  signal  loss  after  a  hard-foughl  battle  near  the  Long 
island  in  the  rlolston  (Kingsport,  Tennessee),  on  Augusl  20.  The 
nexl  da\  the  second  division  of  the  Cherokee  attacked  the  fori  at 
Watauga,  garrisoned  by  only  forty  men  under  ( Japtain  .lame-  Robert- 
son (15),  but  was  repulsed  without  loss  to  the  defenders,  the  Indians 
withdrawing  on  news  of  the  result  ai  the  Long  island.  A  Mrs.  Bean 
and  a  boy  named  Moore  were  captured  on  this  occasion  and  carried  to 
one  of  the  Cherokee  towns  in  the  neighborhood  of  Tellico,  where  the 
boj  was  burned,  hut  tin'  woman,  after  she  had  been  condemned  to 
death  and  everything  was  in  readiness  for  the  tragedy,  was  rescued  by 

the  interpositi f  Nancy  Ward.     Two  other  Cherokee  detachments 

moved  against  the  upper  settlements  at  the  same  time.  One  of  these. 
finding  all  the  inhabitants  securely  shut  up  in  forts,  returned  without 
doing  much  damage.  The  other  ravaged  the  country  on  Clinch  river 
almost  to  its  head,  and  killed  a  man  and  wounded  other-  at  Black's 
station,  now  Abingdon,  Virginia.1 

At  the  same  time  that  one  pari  of  the  Cherokee  were  raiding  the 
Tennessee  settlements  others  came  down  upon  the  frontiers  of  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia.  On  the  upper  Catawba  they  killed  many  people,  hut 
the  whites  took  refuge  in  the  stockade  stations,  where  they  defended 
themselves  until  General  Rutherford  (hi)  came  to  their  relief.  In 
Georgia  an  attempt  had  been  made  by  a  small  party  of  Americans  to 
seize  Cameron,  who  lived  in  one  of  the  Cherokee  towns  with  his  Indian 
\\  ife.  hut.  as  was  to  have  been  expected,  the  Indians  interfered,  killing 
several  of  the  party  and  capturing  others,  who  were  afterward  tortured 
lo  death.  The  Cherokee  of  the  Upper  and  Mid. lie  town-,  with  some 
Creeks  and  Tories  of  the  vicinity, led  by  Cameron  himself,  at  once 
began  ravaging  the  South  Carolina  border,  burning  houses,  driving  off 
cattle,  and  killing  men,  women,  and  children  without  distinction,  until 
the  whole  country  was  in  a  wild  panic,  tin1  people  abandoning  their 
farms  to  seek  safety  in  the  garrisoned  forts.  On  one  occasion  an 
at  t  aids  by  two  hundred  of  the  enemy,  half  of  them  being  Tories,  stripped 
and  painted  like  Indians,  was  repulsed  by  the  timely  arrival  of  a  body 
of  Americans,  who  succeeded  in  capturing  thirteen  of  the  Tories.  The 
invasion  extended  into  Georgia,  where  also  property  was  destroyed 
and  the  inhabitants  were  driven  from  their  homes.' 

Realizing  their  common  danger,  the  border  states  determined  to 
strike  such  a  concerted  blow  at  the  Cherokee  as  should  render  them 
passive  while  the  struggle  with  England  continued.     In  accord  with 

this  plan  of  cooperation  tin;  frontier  forces  were  quickly  mobilized  and 

Ramse)    Tenne ■.  pp    L50-159    1858 

Eto  aevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  I,  pp.  293-297,  1889. 


i nkv]       RUTHERFORD  AND  WILLIAMSON  EXPEDITIONS 177«>  49 

in  the  summer  of  1776  four  expeditions  were  equipped  from  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  to  enter  the  Cherokee 
territory  simultaneously  from  as  many  different  directions. 

In  August  of  that  year  the  army  of  North  Carolina,  2,400  strong, 
under  General  Griffith  Rutherford,  crossed  the  Blue  ridge  at  Swan- 
nanoa  gap,  and  following  the  main  trail  almost  along  the  present  line 
of  the  railroad,  struck  the  first  Indian  town,  Stika'yi,  or  Stecoee,  on 
the  Tuekasegee,  near  the  present  Whittier.  The  inhabitants  having 
fled,  the  soldiers  burned  the  town,  together  with  an  unfinished  town- 
house  ready  for  the  roof,  cut  down  the  standing  corn,  killed  one  or 
twostraggling  Indians,  and  then  proceeded  on  their  mission  of  destruc- 
tion. Every  town  upon  Oconaluftee,  Tuekasegee,  and  the  upper 
part  of  Little  Tennessee,  and  on  Hiwassee  to  below  the  junction  of 
Valley  river — thirty-six  towns  in  all — was  destroyed  in  turn,  the  corn 
cut  down  or  trampled  under  the  hoofs  of  the  stock  driven  into  the 
fields  for  that  purpose,  and  the  stock  itself  killed  or  carried  off.  Before 
such  an  overwhelming  force,  supplemented  as  it  was  by  three  others 
simultaneously  advancing  from  other  directions,  the  Cherokee  made 
but  poor  resistance,  and  tied  with  their  women  and  children  into  the 
fastnesses  of  the  Great  Smoky  mountains,  leaving  their  desolated  fields 
and  smoking  towns  behind  them.  As  was  usual  in  Indian  wars,  the 
actual  number  killed  or  taken  was  small,  but  the  destruction  of  pro- 
perty was  beyond  calculation.  At  Sugartown  (Kulsetsi'yi,  east  of  the 
present  Franklin)  one  detachment,  sent  to  destroy  it.  was  surprised, 
and  escaped  only  through  the  aid  of  another  force  sent  to  its  rescue. 
Rutherford  himself,  while  proceeding  to  the  destruction  of  the  Hiwas- 
see towns,  encountered  the  Indians  drawn  up  to  oppose  his  progress  in 
the  Wayagap  of  the  Nantahala  mountains,  and  one  of  the  hardest  tights 
of  the  campaign  resulted,  the  soldiers  losing  over  forty  killed  and 
wounded,  although  the  Cherokee  were  finally  repulsed  (17).  One  of 
the  Indians  killed  on  this  occasion  was  afterward  discovered  to  be  a 
woman,  painted  and  armed  like  a  warrior.1 

On  September  M  the  South  Carolina  army,  1,860  strong,  under 
Colonel  Andrew  Williamson,  and  including  a  number  of  Catawba 
Indians,  effected  a  junction  with  Rutherford's  forces  on  Hiwassee 
river,  near  the  present  Murphy.  North  Carolina.  It  had  been  expected 
that  Williamson  would  join  the  northern  army  at  Cowee,  on  the  Little 
Tennessee,  when  they  would  proceed  together  against  the  western 
towns,  but  he  had  been  delayed,  and  the  work  of  destruction  in  that 
direction  was  already  completed,  so  that  after  a  short  rest  each  army 
returned  home  along  the  route  by  which  it  had  come. 

The  South  Carolina  men  had  centered  by  different  detachments  in 

'See  no.  110,  "Incidents of  Personal  Heroism."  For  Rutherford's  expedition,  see  Moore,  Rutherford's 
Expedition,  in  North  Carolina  University  Magazine,  February,  1888;  Swain,  Sketch  of  the  Indian  War 
in  1776,  ibid.,  May,  1852,  reprinted  in  Historical  Magazine,  November,  1867;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  p.  164, 
1853;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  I,  pp.  294-302,  1889,  etc. 

19    ETH      01 4 


50  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.anu.m 

the  lower  Cherokee  town-  about  the  head  of  Savannah  river,  burning 

one  town  after  another,  cutting  down  the  peach  trees  and  ripened 
corn,  and  having  an  occasional  brush  with  the  Cherokee,  who  hung  con- 
stantly 141011  their  flanks.  At  the  town  of  Seneca,  near  which  they 
encountered  ( 'aineron  witti  his  Indian-  and  Tories,  they  had  destroyed 
six  thousand  bushels  of  corn,  besides  other  food  stores,  after  burning  all 
the  houses,  the  Indians  having  retreated  after  a  -tout  resistance.  The 
most  serious  encounter  had  taken  place  at  Tomassee,  where  several 
whites  and  sixteen  ( 'hcrokec  wen- killed,  the  latter  being  all  scalped 
afterward.  Having  completed  the  ruin  of  the  Lower  town-.  Wil- 
liamson had  cros-ed  over  Rabun  gap  and  descended  into  the  valley  of  the 
Little  Tennessee  to  cooperate  with  Rutherford  in  the  destruction  of  the 
Middleand  Valley  town-.  As  the  army  advanced  every  house  in  every 
settlement  met  was  burned  ninety  houses  in  one  settlement  alone  and 
detachments  were  sent  into  the  fields  to  destroy  the  corn,  of  which  the 
smallest  town  was  estimated  to  have  two  hundred  acre-,  besides  pota- 
toes, beans,  and  orchards  of  peach  trees.  The  store-  of  dressed  deer- 
skins and  other  valuables  were  carried  off.  Everything  was  swept  clean, 
and  the  Indians  who  were  not  killed  or  taken  were  driven,  homeless 
refugees,  into  the  dark  recesses  of  Nantahala  or  painfully  made  their 
way  across  to  the  Overhill  towns  in  Tennessee,  which  were  already 
menaced  by  another  invasion  from  the  north.' 

In  -Inly,  while  Williamson  was  engaged  on  the  the  upper  Savannah, 
a  force  of  two  hundred  Georgians,  under  Colonel  Samuel  .lack,  had 
marched  in  the  same  direction  ami  succeeded  in  burning  two  towns  on 
the  heads  of  ( 'hat t ahoochee  and  Tugaloo  rivers,  destroying  the  corn 
ami  driving  oil'  the  cattle,  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  the  Cherokee 
having  apparently  fallen  hack  to  concentrate  for  resistance  in  the 
mountains. 2 

The  Virginia  army,  about  two  thousand  strong,  under  Colonel 
William  Christian  (18),  rendezvoused  in  August  at  the  Long  island 
of  the  Ilolston.  the  regular  gathering  place  on  the  Tennessee  side  of 
the  mountains.  Among  them  were  several  hundred  men  from  North 
Carolina,  with  all  who  could  he  spared  from  the  garrisons  on  the 
Tennessee  side.  Paying  hut  little  attention  to  small  bodies  of  Lndi 
ans,  who  tried  to  divert  attention  ortodelay  progress  by  flankattacks, 
they  advanced  steadily,  hut  cautiously,  along  the  great  Indian  war- 
path (19)  toward  the  crossing  id'  the  French  Broad,  where  a  strong 
force  of  ( 'hcrokec  was  reported  to  he  in  waiting  to  dispute  their  pas- 
sage,    .lust  before  reaching  the  river  the  Indians  sent  a  Tory  trader 

1  For  Williamson's  expedition,  ••<■<■  Ross  Journal,  with  Rockwell's  notes,  in  Historical  Magazine, 
October,  1876;  Swain.Sketch  of  the  rndian  War  in  n~u,  in  North  Carolina  University  Magazine  for 
May,  1852,  reprinted  in  Historical  Magazine,  November,  1867;  Jones,  Georgia,  11,  p.  246et  passim, 
1883    1:  unsey,  Tennessee,  168  164,  1858;  1: evelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  1,  pp.  296  308,  1889. 

;.i 9,  op. cit., p.  246;  Ramsey,  op. cit.,  p.  163;  Roosevelt,  op. cit., p. 295. 


mooney]  christian's  expedition — 1776  51 

with  a  flag  of  truce  to  discuss  tonus.  Knowing  that  his  own  strength 
was  overwhelming.  Christian  allowed  the  envoy  to  go  through  the 
whole  camp  and  then  sent  him  back  with  the  message  that  there  could 
be  no  terms  until  the  Cherokee  towns  had  been  destroyed.  Arriving 
at  the  ford,  he  kindled  fires  and  made  all  preparations  as  if  intending 
to  camp  there  for  several  days.  As  soon  as  night  fell,  however,  he 
secretly  drew  off  half  his  force  and  crossed  the  river  lower  down,  to 
come  upon  the  Indians  in  their  rear.  This  was  a  work  of  great  diffi- 
culty; as  the  water  was  so  deep  that  it  came  up  almost  to  the  shoulders 
of  the  men,  while  the  current  was  so  rapid  that  they  were  obliged  to 
support  each  other  four  abreast  to  prevent  being  swept  off  their  feet. 
However,  they  kept  their  guns  and  powder  dry.  On  reaching  the 
other  side  they  were  surprised  to  find  no  enemy.  Disheartened  at  the 
strength  of  the  invasion,  the  Indians  had  fled  without  even  a  show  of 
resistance.  It  is  probable  that  nearly  all  their  men  and  resources  had 
been  drawn  off  to  oppose  the  Carolina  forces  on  their  eastern  border. 
and  the  few  who  remained  felt  themselves  unequal  to  the  contest. 

Advancing  without  opposition,  Christian  reached  the  towns  on 
Little  Tennessee  early  in  November,  and,  finding  them  deserted,  pro- 
ceeded to  destroy  them,  one  after  another,  with  their  outlying  fields. 
The  few  lingering  warriors  discovered  were  all  killed.  In  the  mean- 
time messages  had  been  sent  out  to  the  farther  towns,  in  response  to 
which  several  of  their  head  men  came  into  Christian's  camp  to  treat 
for  peace.  On  their  agreement  to  surrender  all  the  prisoners  and 
captured  stock  in  their  hands  and  to  cede  to  the  whites  all  the  disputed 
territory  occupied  by  the  Tennessee  settlements,  as  soon  as  represent- 
atives of  the  whole  tribe  could  be  assembled  in  the  spring,  Christian 
consented  to  suspend  hostilities  and  retire  without  doing  further 
injury.  An  exception  was  made  against  Tuskegee  and  another  town, 
which  had  been  concerned  in  the  burning  of  the  boy  taken  from 
Watauga,  already  noted,  and  these  two  were  reduced  to  ashes.  The 
sacred  "peace  town,'"  Echota  (20),  had  not  been  molested.  Most  of 
the  troops  were  disbanded  on  their  return  to  the  Long  island,  but  a 
part  remained  and  built  Fort  Patrick  Henry,  where  they  went  into 
winter  quarters.1 

From  incidental  notices  in  narratives  written  by  some  of  the  partici- 
pants, we  obtain  interesting  side-lights  on  the  merciless  character  of  this 
old  border  warfare.  In  addition  to  the  ordinary  destruction  of  war — the 
burning  of  towns,  the  wasting  of  fruitful  fields,  and  the  killing  of  the 
defenders — we  find  that  every  Indian  warrior  killed  was  scalped,  when 
opportunity  permitted;  women,  as  well  as  men,  were  shot  down  and 
afterward  ''helped  to  their  end";  and  prisoners  taken  were  put  up  at 
auction  as  slaves  when  not  killed  on  the  spot.     Near  Tomassee  a  small 

1  For  the  Virginia-Tennessee  expedition  see  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  i,  pp.  308-305,  1889; 
Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  165-170,1853. 


;>'-  MVTHs    OF    THE    CHEBOKJEE  [cth.anh.19 

party  of  Indian-,  was  surrounded  and  entirely  cut  <>tl'.  "Sixteen  were 
found  dead  in  the  valley  when  the  battle  ended.  These  our  men 
scalped."  In  a  personal  encounter  "a  stout  Indian  engaged  a  sturdy 
young  white  man.  who  was  a  good  bruiser  and  expert  at  gouging. 
After  breaking  their  guns  on  each  other  they  laid  hold  of  one  another, 
when  the  cracker  had  bis  thumbs  instantly  in  the  fellow's  eyes,  who 
roared  and  cried  iccmaly''  -enough,  in  English.  •Damn  you,' says 
the  white  man.  'you  can  never  have  enough  while  you  are  alive.*  He 
then  threw  him  down,  set  his  foot  upon  his  head,  and  scalped  him 
alive;  then  took  up  one  of  the  broken  guns  and  knocked  out  hi.-  brains. 
It  would  have  been  fun  if  he  had  let  the  latter  action  alone  and  sent 
him  home  without  his  nightcap,  to  tell  his  countrymen  how  he  had 
been  treated."  Later  on  some  of  the  same  detachment  (Williamson's) 
seeing  a  woman  ahead,  fired  on  her  and  brought  her  down  with  two 
serious  wounds,  hut  yet  able  to  speak.  After  getting  what  informa- 
tion she  could   give  them,   through  a  half-breed   interpreter,    ■"the 

informer  being  unable  to  travel,  8 !  of  our  men   favored   her  so  far 

that  they  killed  her  there,  to  put  her  out  of  pain."      A  few  days   later 

••a  party  of  Colonel  Thomas's  regiment,  being  on  a  hunt  of  plunder. 
or  Mime  such  thing,  found  an  Indian  squaw  and  took  herprisoner,  -he 
being  lame,  was  unable  to  go  with  her  friends.  She  was  so  sullen 
that  -he  would,  as  an  old  saying  is.  neither  lead  nor  drive,  and  by  their 
account  she  died  in  their  hand-;  hut  I  suppose  they  helped  her  to  her 
end."  At  this  place — on  the  Hiwassee  -they  found  a  large  town. 
having  ••upwards  of  ninety  houses,  and  large  quantities  of  corn."  and 
"we  encamped  among-  the  corn,  where  we  had  a  great  plenty  of  corn. 
peas,  beans,  potatoes,  and  hogs."  and  on  the  next  day  "we  were 
ordered  to  assemble  in  companies  to  spread  through  the  town  to 
destroy,  cut  down,  and  burn  all  the  vegetables  belonging  to  our 
heathen  enemies,  which  was  no  small  undertaking,  they  being  so 
plentifully  supplied."  Continuing  to  another  town,  "we  engaged  in 
our  former  labor,  that  is,  cutting  and  destroying  all  things  that  might 
be  of  advantage  to  our  enemies.  Finding  here  curious  building-. 
great  apple  trees,  and  white-man-like  improvements,  these  we 
destroyed."  ' 

While  crossing  over  the  mountains  Rutherford's  men  approached  a 
house  belonging  to  a  trader,  when  one  of  his  negro  slaves  ran  out  and 
'"was  shot  by  the  Reverend  .lames  Hall,  the  chaplain,  as  he  ran.  mis- 
taking him  for  an  Indian."'  Soon  after  they  captured  two  women 
and  a  boy.  It  was  proposed  to  auction  them  off  at  once  to  the  highest 
bidder,  and  when  one  of  the  officers  protested  that  the  matter  should 
be  left  to  the  disposition  of  Congress.  ••  the  greater  part  swore  bloodily 
that  if  they  were  not  sold  for  slaves  upon  the  spot  they  would  kill  and 

1  Ross  Journal,  in  Historical  Magazine,  October,  lsr.7. 

"Swain,  sketch  ol  the  Indian  War  ..f  1776,  in  Historical  Magazine,  November,  1867. 


mooney]     TREATIES    OF    DE    WITTS    CORNERS    AND    LONG    ISLAND       53" 

scalp  them  immediately."  The  prisoners  were  accordingljr  sold  for 
about  twelve  hundred  dollars.1 

At  the  Wolf  Hills  settlement,  now  Abingdon,  Virginia,  a  party  sent 
out  from  the  fort  returned  with  the  scalps  of  eleven  warriors.  Having 
recovered  the  books  which  their  minister  had  left  behind  in  his  cabin, 
they  held  a  service  of  prayer  for  their  success,  after  which  the  fresh 
scalps  were  hung  upon  a  pole  above  the  gate  of  the  fort.  The  barba- 
rous custom  of  scalping  to  which  the  border  men  had  become  habitu- 
ated in  the  earlier  wars  was  practiced  upon  every  occasion  when 
opportunity  presented,  at  least  upon  the  bodies  of  warriors,  and  the 
South  Carolina  legislature  offered  a  bounty  of  seventy-five  pounds  for 
every  warrior's  scalp,  a  higher  reward,  however,  being  offered  for 
prisoners.'-  In  spite  of  all  the  bitterness  which  the  war  aroused  there 
seems  to  be  no  record  of  any  scalping  of  Tories  or  other  whites  by  the 
Americans  (-1). 

The  effect  upon  the  Cherokee  of  this  irruption  of  more  than  six 
thousand  armed  enemies  into  their  territory  was  well  nigh  paralyzing. 
More  than  fifty  of  their  towns  had  been  burned,  their  orchards  cut 
down,  their  lields  wasted,  their  cattle  and  horses  killed  or  driven  off. 
their  stores  of  buckskin  and  other  personal  property  plundered. 
Hundreds  of  their  people  had  been  killed  or  had  died  of  starvation 
and  exposure,  others  were  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans, 
and  some  had  been  sold  into  slavery.  Those  who  had  escaped  were 
fugitives  in  the  mountains,  living  upon  acorns,  chestnuts,  and  wild 
game,  or  were  refugees  with  the  British.'1  From  the  Virginia  line  to 
the  Chattahoochee  the  chain  of  destruction  was  complete.  For  the 
present  at  least  any  further  resistance  was  hopeless,  and  they  were 
compelled  to  sue  for  peace. 

By  a  treaty  concluded  at  De Witts  Corners  in  South  Carolina  on  May 
•Jo.  1777.  the  first  ever  made  with  the  new  states,  the  Lower  Cherokee 
surrendered  to  the  conqueror  all  of  their  remaining  territory  in  South 
Carolina,  excepting  a  narrow  strip  along  the  western  boundary.  Just 
two  months  later,  on  July  20,  by  treaty  at  the  Long  island,  as  had  been 
arranged  by  Christian  in  the  preceding  fall,  the  Middle  and  Upper 
Cherokee  ceded  everything  east  of  the  Blue  ridge,  together  with  all 
the  disputed  territory  on  the  'Watauga.  Nolichucky,  upper  Holston, 
and  New  rivers.  By  this  second  treaty  also  Captain  James  Robertson 
was  appointed  agent  for  the  Cherokee,  to  reside  at  Echota.  to  watch 
their  movements,  recover  any  captured  property,  and  prevent  their 
correspondence  with  persons  unfriendly  to  the  American  cause.  As 
the  Federal  government  was  not  yet  in  perfect  operation  these  treaties 

i  Moore's  narrative,  in  North  Carolina  University  Magazine.  February,  1888. 

^Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  i.  pp.  285,  290,  303,  1889. 

'About  rive  hundred  sought  refuge  with  Stuart,  the  British  Indian  superintendent  in  Florida, 
where  they  were  fed  for  some  time  at  the  expense  of  the  British  government  (Jones,  Georgia,  II, 
p.  246,  1S83). 


54  MYTHS    OF    THE    OHEEOKEE  bth.akii.19 

were  negotiated  by  commissioners  from  the  four  states  adjoining  the 
Cherokee  country,  the  territory  thus  acquired  being  parceled  oul  to 
Sou tli  ( iarolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee.1 

While  tlif  Cherokee  Nation  had  thus  been  compelled  to  a  treaty  of 
peace,  a  very  considerable  portion  of  the  tribe  was  irreconcilably  hos- 
tile to  the  Americans  and  refused  to  be  a  party  to  the  late  cessions, 
especially  on  the  Tennessee  side.  Although  Ata-kullakulla  sen!  word 
that  he  was  readj  with  five  hundred  young  warriors  to  fighl  for  the 
Americans  against  the  English  or  Indian  enemy  whenever  called  upon, 
Dragging-canoe  (Tsiyu-gunsi'ni),  who  had  led  the  opposition  against 
the  Watauga  settlements,  declared  that  he  would  holdfast  to  Cameron's 
talk  and  continue  to  make  war  upon  those  who  had  taken  his  hunting 
grounds.  Under  his  leadership  some  hundreds  id'  the  most  warlike 
and  implacable  warriors  of  the  tribe,  with  their  families,  drew  out 
from  the  Upper  and  Middle  towns  and  moved  far  down  upon  Tennes- 
see river,  where  thej  established  new  settlements  on  Chickamauga 
creek,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present  Chattanooga.  The  locality 
appears  to  have  been  already  a  rendezvous  for  a  sort  of  Indian  ban- 
ditti, who  sometimes  plundered  boats  disabled  in  the  rapids  at  this 
point  while  descending  the  river.  Under  the  name  "Chickamaugas" 
they  >oon  became  noted  for  their  uncompromising  and  never-ceasing 
hostility.  In  ITs-J.  in  consequence  of  the  destruction  of  their  towns 
liv  Sevier  and  Campbell,  they  abandoned  this  location  and  moved 
farther  down  the  river,  where  they  built  what  were  afterwards  known 
as  the  ••five  lower  towns."  viz.  Running  Water,  Nickajack,  Long 
Island.  Crow  town,  and  Lookout  Mountain  town.  These  were  all  on 
the  extreme  western  Cherokee  frontier,  near  where  Tennessee  river 
crosses  the  state  line,  the  first  three  being  within  the  present  limits' of 
Tennessee,  while  Lookout  Mountain  town  and  Crow  town  were 
respectively  in  the  adjacent  corners  of  Georgia  and  Alabama.  Their 
population  was  recruited  from  Creeks.  Shawano,  and  white  Tories,  until 
they  were  estimated  at  a  thousand  warriors.  Here  they  remained, 
a  constant  thorn  in  the  side  of  Tennessee,  until  their  towns  were 
destroyed  in  L794.' 

The  expatriated  Lower  Cherokee  also  removed  to  the  farthest  west- 
tern  border  of  their  tribal  territory,  where  they  might  hope  to  be 
secure  from  encroachment  for  a  time  at  least,  and  built  new"  towns  for 
themselves  on   the  upper  waters  of   the   Coosa.      Twenty  years  after- 

i  Royce,  Cherol Nation,  in  Fifth  Ann. Rep. Bureau  of  Ethnology,  i>   160 and  map,  1888;  Ramsey, 

rennessee   pp    172-1  ens,  G gia,  II,  p.  144,  1859;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  tin-  West,  i.  i>. 

806, 1889. 

i  Ramsey,  "p.  eit.,  pp.  171-177.  186-186,  610  el  passim;  Royce,  op.  ■■it.,  p,  160;  Campbell  letter,  17sj. 
mill  other  documents  in  Virginia  state  Papers,  in.  pp.  J7!.  571,  699,  1888,  and  tv.  pp  n\  286,  1884; 
Hi. unit  letter,  January  14,  179:;.  American  State  Papers;  Indian  Iffairs,  i.  p.  Bl,  1882.    Campbell  says 

thej  abandoned  their  first  location  on  account  oi  the  invasion  from  Tenne Governor  Blount 

says  they  left  on  account  of  witches. 


mooney]  DESTRUCTION    OF    CHICKAMAUGA    TOWNS 1779  55 

ward  Hawkins  found  the  population  of  Willstown,  in  extreme  western 
Georgia,  entirely  made  up  of  refugees  from  the  Savannah,  and  the 
children  so  familiar  from  their  parents  with  stories  of  Williamson's 
invasion  that  they  ran  screaming  from  the  face  of  a  white  man  (i^l').1 

In  April.  1777.  the  legislature  of  North  Carolina,  of  which  Tennes- 
see was  still  a  part,  authorized  bounties  of  land  in  the  new  territory  to 
all  able-bodied  men  who  should  volunteer  against  the  remaining  hostile 
Cherokee.  Under  this  act  companies  of  rangers  were  kept  along  the 
exposed  border  to  cut  off  raiding  parties  of  Indians  and  to  protect  the 
steady  advance  of  the  pioneers,  with  the  result  that  the  Tennessee  set- 
tlements enjoyed  a  brief  respite  and  were  even  able  to  send  some  assist- 
ance to  their  brethren  in  Kentucky,  who  were  sorely  pressed  by  the 
Shawano  and  other  northern  tribes.2 

The  war  between  England  ami  the  colonies  still  continued,  however, 
and  the  British  government  was  unremitting  in  its  effort  to  secure  the 
active  assistance  of  the  Indians.  With  the  Creeks  raiding  the  Georgia 
ami  South  Carolina  frontier,  and  with  a  British  agent,  Colonel  Brown, 
and  a  number  of  Tory  refugees  regularly  domiciled  at  Chickamauga,3 
it  was  impossible  for  the  Cherokee  lone'  to  remain  quiet.  In  the 
spring  of  177'.»  the  warning  came  from  Robertson,  stationed  at  Echota, 
that  three  hundred  warriors  from  Chickamauga  had  started  against  the 
back  settlements  of  North  Carolina.  Without  a  day's  delay  the  states 
of  North  Carolina  (including  Tennessee)  and  Virginia  united  to  send  a 
strong  force  of  volunteers  against  them  under  command  of  Colonels 
Shelby  and  Montgomery.  Descending  the  Holston  in  April  in  a  fleet 
of  canoes  built  for  tin1  occasion,  they  took  the  Chickamauga  towns  so 
completely  by  surprise  that  the  few  warriors  remaining  fled  to  the 
mountains  without  attempting  to  give  battle.  Several  were  killed, 
Chickamauga  and  the  outlying  villages  were  burned,  twenty  thousand 
bushels  of  corn  were  destroyed  and  large  numbers  of  horses  and  cattle 
captured,  together  with  a  great  quantity  of  goods  sent  by  the  British 
Governor  Hamilton  at  Detroit  for  distribution  to  the  Indians.  The 
success  of  this  expedition  frustrated  the  execution  of  a  project  by 
Hamilton  for  uniting  all  the  northern  and  southern  Indians,  to  lie 
assisted  by  British  regulars,  in  a  concerted  attack  along  the  whole 
American  frontier.  ( )n  learning,  through  runnel's,  of  the  blow  that 
had  befallen  them,  the  Chickamauga  warriors  gave  up  all  idea  of 
invading  the  settlements,  and  returned  to  their  wasted  villages.1  They, 
as  well  as  the  Creeks,  however,  kept  in  constant  communication  with 

1  Hawkins,  manuscript  journal,  1796,  with  Georgia  Historical  Socii  ty. 

2Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  174-178, 1S53. 

3t'ampbell  letter,  1782,  Virginia  State  Papers,  ill,  p.  271, 1883. 

<  Ramsey,  op.  eit,  pp.  186-188;  Roosevelt.  Winning  of  the  West,  II,  pp.  236-238,  1889.  Ramsey's  state- 
ments, chiefly  on  Haywood's  authority,  of  the  strength  of  the  expedition,  the  number  of  warriors 
killed,  etc.,  are  so  evidently  overdrawn  that  they  are  here  omitted. 


56  MYTHS    ok    THE    CHEROKEE 


the  British  commander  in  Savannah.  In  this  year  also  a  delegation  of 
Cherokee  \  isited  the  Ohio  towns  to  offer  condolences  on  the  death  of 
the  noted  I  Delaware  chief,  White  ej  es.1 

In  tlic  early  spring  of  L780  a  large  company  of  emigrants  under 
Colonel  John  Donelson  descended  the  Holston  and  the  Tennessee  to 
the  Ohio,  whence  they  ascended  the  Cumberland,  effected  a  junction 
with  another  party  under  Captain  James  Robertson,  which  hud  just 
arrived  by  a  toilsome  overland  route,  and  made  the  ti i-t  settlement  on 
the  present  site  of  Nashville.  In  passing  the Chickamauga  towns  they 
had  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  hostile  Cherokee,  who  pursued  them  for  a 
considerable  distance  beyond  the  whirlpool  known  as  the  Suck,  where 
the  river  breaks  through  the  mountain.  The  family  of  a  man  named 
Stuart  being  infected  with  the  smallpox,  his  boat  dropped  behind,  and 
all  on  board,  twenty-eight  in  number,  were  killed  or  taken  by  the 
Indians,  their  cries  being  distinctly  heard  by  their  friends  ahead  who 
were  unable  to  help  them.  Another  boat  having  run  upon  the  rocks, 
the  three  women  in  it,  one  of  whom  had  become  a  mother  the  night 
before,  threw  the  cargo  into  the  river,  and  then,  jumping  into  the 
water,  succeeded  in  pushing  the  boat  into  the  current  while  the  hus- 
band of  one  of  them  kept  the  Indians  at  bay  with  his  rifle.  The  infant 
was  killed  in  the  confusion.  Three  cowards  attempted  to  escape, 
without  thought  of  their  companions.  One  was  drowned  in  the  river; 
the  other  two  were  captured  and  carried  to  Chickamauga.  where  one 
was  burned  and  the  other  was  ransomed  by  a  trader.  The  rest  went 
on  their  way  to  found  the  capital  of  a  new  commonwealth.2  As  if  in 
retributive  justice,  the  smallpox  broke  out  in  the  Chickamauga  band  in 
consequence  of  the  capture  of  Stuart's  family,  causing  the  death  of 
a  great  number.' 

The  British  having  reconquered  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  and 
destroyed  all  resistance  in  the  south,  early  in  L780 Cornwallis,  with  his 
subordinates,  Ferguson  and  the  merciless  Tarleton,  prepared  to  invade 
North  Carolina  and  sweep  the  country  northward  to  Virginia.  The 
Creeks  under  McGillivray  (S\).  and  a  number  of  the  Cherokee  under 
various  local  chiefs,  together  with  the  Tories,  at  once  joined  his 
standard. 

While  the  Tennessee  backwoodsmen  were  gathered  at  a  barbecue  to 
contest  for  a  shooting  prize,  a  paroled  prisoner  brought  a  demand 
from  Ferguson  for  their  submission;  with  the  threat,  if  they  refused, 
that  he  would  cross  the  mountains,  hang  their  leaders,  kill  every  man 
found  in  arms  and  burn  every  settlement.  Up  to  this  time  the  moun- 
tain men  had  confined  their  effort  to  holding  in  check  the  Indian 
enemy,  but  now,  with  the   fate  of  the  Revolution  at  stake,  they  felt 

Bei  kewelder,  [ndian  Nations,  p.  327,  reprint  oi  1876. 
*Donelson's  Journal,  etc.,  in  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  197-208,  L853;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  tin-  West, 
ii,  pp.  ::ji  ::i".  1889. 
•Ibid.,  ii.  p  ;:.;7. 


mooney]  THE    BORDER    FIGHTERS  57 

that  the  time  for  wider  action  had  come.  They  resolved  not  to  await 
the  attack,  hut  to  anticipate  it.  Without  order  or  authority  from 
Congress,  without  tents,  commissary,  or  supplies,  the  Indian  fighters 
of  Virginia.  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee  quickly  assembled  at  the 
Svcamore  shoals  of  the  Watauga  to  the  number  of  about  one  thousand 
men  under  Campbell  of  Virginia,  Sexier  (24)  and  Shelby  of  Tennessee, 
and  McDowell  of  North  Carolina.  Crossing  the  mountains,  they  met 
Ferguson  at  Kings  mountain  in  South  Carolina  on  October  7.  1780, 
and  gained  the  decisive  victory  that  turned  the  tide  of  the  Revolution 
in  the  South.1 

It  is  in  place  here  to  quote  a  description  of  these  men  in  buckskin, 
white  by  blood  and  tradition,  but  half  Indian  in  habit  and  instinct, 
who,  in  half  a  century  of  continuous  conflict,  drove  back  Creeks, 
Cherokee,  and  Shawano,  and  with  one  hand  on  the  plow  and  the  other 
on  the  rifle  redeemed  a  wilderness  and  carried  civilization  and  free 
government  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

"They  were  led  by  leaders  they  trusted,  they  were  wonted  to  Indian 
warfare,  they  were  skilled  as  horsemen  and  marksmen,  they  knew  how 
to  face  every  kind  of  danger,  hardship,  and  privation.  Their  fringed 
and  tasseled  hunting  shirts  were  girded  by  bead-worked  belts,  and  the 
trappings  of  their  horses  were  stained  red  and  yellow.  On  their  heads 
they  wore  caps  of  coon  skin  or  mink  skin,  with  the  tails  hanging 
down,  or  else  felt  hats,  in  each  of  which  was  thrust  a  buck  tail  or  a 
sprig  of  evergreen.  Every  man  carried  a  small-bore  rifle,  a  toma- 
hawk, and  a  scalping  knife.  A  very  few  of  the  officers  had  swords, 
and  there  was  not  a  bayonet  nor  a  tent  in  the  army."2 

To  strike  the  blow  at  Kings  mountain  the  border  men  had  been 
forced  to  leave  their  own  homes  unprotected.  Even  before  they  could 
cross  the  mountains  on  their  return  the  news  came  that  the  Cherokee 
were  again  out  in  force  for  the  destruction  of  the  upper  settlements, 
and  their  numerous  small  bauds  were  killing,  burning,  and  plundering 
in  the  usual  Indian  fashion.  Without  loss  of  time  the  Holston  settle- 
ments of  Virginia  and  Tennessee  at  once  raised  seven  hundred  mounted 
riflemen  to  march  against  the  enemy,  the  command  being  assigned  to 
Colonel  Arthur  Campbell  of  Virginia  and  Colonel  John  Sexier  of 
Tennessee. 

Sevier  started  first  with  nearly  three  hundred  men,  going  south 
along  the  great  Indian  war  trail  and  driving  small  parties  of  the 
Cherokee  before  him,  until  he  crossed  the  French  Broad  and  came 
upon  seventy  of  them  on  Boyds  creek,  not  far  from  the  present  Sex  in  - 
ville,  on  December  16,  1780.  Ordering  his  men  to  spread  out  into  a 
half  circle,  he  sent  ahead  some  scouts,  who,  by  an  attack  and  feigned 
retreat,  managed  to  draw  the  Indians  into  the  trap  thus  prepared, 

1  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  II,  pp.  241-294,  1SS9;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  208-249, 1853. 
-  Roosevelt,  op.  cit.,  p.  256. 


58  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ajih.19 

with  the  result  that  they  lefl  thirteen  dead  ;m<l  all  their  plunder,  while 
not  nnc  of  the  whites  was  even  wounded.1 

A  few  days  later  Sevier  was  joined  by  ( ampbell  with  1 1 1  *  -  remainder 
of  tin'  force.  Advancing  to  the  Little  Tennessee  with  but  slight 
resistance,  thej  crossed  three  miles  below  Echota  while  the  Indians 
were  watching  for  them  at  the  f oi'd  above.  Then  dividing  into  two 
bodies,  thej  proceeded  to  destroy  the  town-  along  the  river.  The 
chiefs  sent  peace  talks  through  Nancy  Ward,  the  Cherokee  woman 
who  had  so  befriended  the  whites  in  177H.  but  to  these  overtures 
Campbell  returned  an  evasive  answer  until  he  could  first  destroy 
the  town-  on  lower  Hiwassee,  whose  warriors  had  been  particularly 
hostile.  Continuing  southward,  the  troops  destroyed  these  town-. 
Hiwassee  and  Chestuee,  with  all  their  stoic-  of  provisions,  finishing 
the  work  on  the  last  day  of  the  year.  The  Indians  had  lied  before 
them,  keeping  -pie-  out  to  watch  their  movements.  One  of  these, 
while  giving  signals  from  a  ridge  by  beating  a  drum,  was  -hot  by  the 
white-.  The  soldiers  lost  only  one  man.  who  was  buried  in  an  Indian 
cabin  which  was  then  burned  down  to  conceal  the  trace  of  the  inter- 
ment. The  return  march  was  begun  on  New  Year's  day.  Ten  prin- 
v  cipal  towns,  including  Echota,  the  capital,  had  been  destroyed,  besides 
several  smaller  villages,  containing  in  the  aggregate  over  one  thousand 
house-,  and  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  bushels  of  corn  and  large  stores 
of  other  provision.  Everything  not  needed  on  the  return  march 
was  committed  to  the  flames  or  otherwise  wasted.  Of  all  the  towns 
west  of  the  mountains  only  Talassee,  and  one  or  two  about  Chicka- 
mauga  or  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Coosa,  escaped.  The  whites  had 
lost  only  one  man  killed  and  two  wounded.  Before  the  return  a 
proclamation  was  sent  to  the  Cherokee  chief-,  warning  them  to  make 
peace  on  penalty  of  a  worse  visitation." 

Some  Cherokee  who  met  them  at  Echota.  on  the  return  march,  to 
talk  of  peace,  brought  in  and  surrendered  several  white  prisoners.1 
One  rea-on  for  the  slight  resistance  made  by  the  Indians  was  prob- 
ably the  fact  that  at  the  very  time  of  the  invasion  many  of  their 
warriors  were  away,  raiding  on  the  Upper  Holston  and  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Cumberland  gap.' 

Although  the  Upper  or  Overhill  Cherokee  were  thus  humbled, 
those  of  the  middle  towns,  on  the  head  waters  id'  Little  Tennessee,  still 
continued  to  send  out  parties  against  the  back  settlements.     Sevier 

■  Roosevelt  Winning  of  the  West,  II,  pp.  298-800, 1889;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  261  264  1858  There 
is  great  discrepancy  in  the  various  accounts  of  this  fight,  from  the  attempts  of  interested  historians 
to  magnify  the  size  of  the  victory.  One  writei  gives  the  Indians  1,000  warriors.  Bere,  us  elsewhere, 
Roosevelt  is  .-i  more  reliable  guide,  his  state nts  being  usually  from  official  documents. 

s  Roosevelt,  op.  '-it.,  pp.  300-304;  K sej    op  cit,  pp.  265  268;  Campbell,  report,  January  16,  1781,  in 

Virginia  State  Papers,  i,  p.  486.    Hayw l  and  others  after  him  make  (lie  expedition  go  as  fur  as 

Chickamauga  and  C a  river,  but  Campbell's  report  express!}  denies  this. 

Ramsey    op  cit  .  p  266 

I  Roose>  'It    "p.  '-it..  |i.302. 


mooney]  TREATY    OF    LONG    ISLAND 1781  59 

determined  to  make  a  sudden  stroke  upon  them,  and  early  in  March 
of  the  same  year.  1781,  with  150  picked  horsemen,  he  started  to  cross 
the  Great  Smoky  mountains  over  trails  never  before  attempted  by 
white  men.  and  so  rough  in  places  that  it  was  hardly  possible  to  lead 
horses.  Falling  unexpectedly  upon  Tuckasegee,  near  the  present 
Webster,  North  Carolina,  he  took  the  town  completely  by  surprise, 
killing  several  warriors  and  rapturing- a  number  of  women  and  chil- 
dren. Two  other  principal  towns  and  three  smaller  .settlements  were 
taken  in  the  same  way.  with  a  quantity  of  provision  and  about  200 
horses,  the  Indians  being  entirely  off  their  guard  and  unprepared  to 
make  any  effective  resistance.  Having  spread  destruction  through 
the  middle  towns,  with  the  loss  to  himself  of  only  one  man  killed  and 
another  wounded,  he  was  off  again  as  suddenly  as  he  had  come,  moving 
so  rapidly  that  he  was  well  on  his  homeward  way  before  the  Cherokee 
could  gather  for  pursuit.1  At  the  same  time  a  smaller  Tennessee  expe- 
dition wrent  out  to  disperse  the  Indians  who  had  been  making  head- 
quarters in  the  mountains  about  Cumberland  gap  and  harassing  travelers 
along  the  road  to  Kentucky.-  Numerous  indications  of  Indians  were 
found,  hut  none  were  met, although  the  country  was  scoured  for  a  con- 
siderable distance.3  In  summer  the  Cherokee  made  another  incursion, 
this  time  upon  the  new  settlements  on  the  French  Broad,  near  the  present 
Newport,  Tennessee.  With  a  hundred  horsemen  Sexier  fell  suddenly 
upon  their  camp  on  Indian  creek,  killed  a  dozen  warriors,  ami  scat- 
tered the  rest.1  By  these  successive  blows  the  Cherokee  were  so  worn 
out  and  dispirited  that  they  were  forced  to  sue  for  peace,  and  in  mid- 
summer of  1781  a  treaty  of  peace  -doubtful  though  it  might  be — was 
negotiated  at  the  Long  island  of  the  Holston.5  Tin'  respite  came  just 
in  time  to  allow  the  Tennesseeaus  to  send  a  detachment  against  Corn- 
wallis. 

Although  there  was  truce  in  Tennessee,  there  was  none  in  the  South. 
In  November  of  this  year  the  Cherokee  made  a  sudden  inroad  upon 
the  Georgia  settlements,  destroying  everything  in  their  way.  In 
retaliation  a  force  under  General  Pickens  marched  into  their  country, 
destroying  their  towns  as  far  as  Valley  river.  Finding  further  prog- 
ress blocked  by  heavy  snows  and  learning  through  a  prisoner  that  the 
Indians,  who  had  retired  before  him,  were  collecting  to  oppose  him  in 
the  mountains,  he  withdrew,  as  he  says,  "through  absolute  necessity," 
having  accomplished  very  little  of  the  result  expected.  Shortly  after- 
ward the  Cherokee,  together  with  some  ( 'reeks,  again  invaded  ( leorgia, 

'Campbell,  letter,  March  28, 1781,  in  Virgin  in  slate  Papers,  t,  p.  602,  1875;  Martin,  letter,  Marcb.31,1781, 
ibid.,  p.  613;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  p.  268,  1853;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  II,  pp.  305-307,  1889. 
^Campbell,  letter,  March  28,  1781,  in  Virginia  State  Papers,  I,  p.  602,  1S75. 

3  Ramsey,  op.  eit..  p.  269. 

4  Ibid.;  Roosevelt,  op.  eit..  p.  307. 

5Ibid.;  Ramsey,  op.  eit.,  pp.  267.  268.    The  latter  authority  seems  i ate  it  1782,  which  is  evidently 

a  mistake. 


60  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.amh.19 

but  were  met  on  Ocoi river  and  driven  back  by  a  detachment  of 

American  troops.1 

The  Overhill  Cherokee,  on  lower  Little  Tennessee,  seem  to  have  been 

trying  in  g I  faith  to  bold  t<>  the  peace  established  at  the   Long 

island.  Early  in  17^1  the  government  land  office  had  been  closed  to 
further  entries,  no!  to  be  opened  again  until  peace  had  been  declared 
with  England,  bul  the  borderers  paid  little  attention  t<>  the  law  in 
such  matters,  and  the  rage  t'<>r  speculation  in  Tennessee  land-  gre^ 
stronger  daily.8  In  the  fall  of  L 782  the  chief,  Old  Tassel  of  Echota, 
<in  behalf  of  all  the  friendly  child's  and  towns,  sent  a  pathetic  talk 
tn  the  governors  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  complaining  that 
in  spite  of  all  their  efforts  to  remain  quiet  the  settlers  were  constantly 
encroaching  upon  them,  and  had  built  houses  within  a  day's  walk  of 
the  Cherokee  towns.  They  asked  that  all  those  whites  who  had  settled 
beyond  the  boundary  last  established  should  be  removed.'  A-  was 
to  have  been  expected,  tin-  was  never  dour. 

The  Chickamauga  band,  however,  and  those  farther  to  the  south. 
were  still  Unit  on  war.  being  actively  encouraged  in  that  disposition 
by  the  British  agents  and  refugee  loyalists  living  among  them.  They 
continued  to  raid  both  north  and  south,  and  in  September,  1782, 
Sevier,  with  200  mounted  men,  again  made  a  descent  upon  their  towns. 
destroying  several  of  their  settlements  about  Chickamauga  creek,  and 
penetrating  as  far  as  the  important  town  of  Ustana'li,  on  the  head- 
waters of  Coosa  river,  near  the  present  Calhoun.  Georgia.  This  also 
he  destroyed.  Every  warrior  found  was  killed,  together  with  a  white 
man  found  in  one  of  the  towns,  whose  papers  showed  that  he  had  been 
active  in  inciting  the  Indians  to  war.  On  the  return  the  expedition 
halted  at  Echota.  where  new  assurances  were  received  from  the 
friendly  element.*  In  the  meantime  a  Georgia  expedition  of  over  -loo 
men.  under  General  Pickens,  had  been  ravaging  the  Cherokee  towns 
in  the  same  quarter,  with  such  effect  that  the  Cherokee  were  forced  to 
purchase  peace  by  a  further  surrender  of  territory  on  the  head  of 
Broad  river  in  Georgia.5  This  cession  was  concluded  at  a  treaty  of 
peace  held  with  the  Georgia  commissioners  at  Augusta  in  the  next 
year,  and  was  confirmed  later  by  the  Creeks,  who  claimed  an  interest 
in  the  same  lands,  hut  was  never  accepted  by  either  as  the  voluntary 
,  act  of  their  tribe  as  a  whole." 

By  the  preliminary  treaty  of  Paris.  November  30,  17nl'.  the  long 
Revolutionary  Si  ruggle  for  independence  was  brought  toa  (dose,  and  the 

Cherokee,  a-  well  as  the  other  tribes,  seeing  the  hopelessness  of  con- 

>Steven9,  G £ia,  H,  pp.  282-285,  1859;  Jones,  Georgia,  n.  p. 603, 1888. 

= Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  ti,  \>.  811,  1889. 

•  Old  Tassel's  iulk,  in  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  p.  271, 1858,  and  In  Roosevelt,  op.  cit., p.  816. 

1  Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  p.  272;  Roosevelt,  op. cit.,  i>.  :si7  el  passim. 

^Stevens  "i>.  cit.,  pp.  411-415. 

tRoyce,  Cherokee  Nation,  in  Fifth  Aim.  Rep.  Bureau  "i  Ethnology,  \:  151, 1888. 


L- 


mooney]  TREATY    OF    HOPEWELL 1785  61 

tinning  the  contest  alone,  began  to  sue  for  peace.  By  seven  years  of 
constant  warfare  they  had  been  reduced  to  the  lowest  depth  of  misery, 
almost  indeed  to  the  verge  of  extinction.  Over  and  over  again  their 
towns  had  been  laid  in  ashes  and  their  fields  wasted.  Their  best  war- 
riors had  been  killed  and  their  women  and  children  had  sickened  and 
starved  in  the  mountains.  Their  great  war  chief.  Oconostota,  who 
had  led  them  to  victory  in  1780,  was  now  a  broken  old  man.  and  in 
this  year,  at  Echota,  formally  resigned  his  office  in  favor  of  his  son, 
The  Terrapin.  To  complete  their  brimming  cup  of  misery  the  small- 
pox again  broke  out  among  them  in  1783.1  Deprived  of  the  assistance 
of  their  former  white  allies  they  wee  left  to  their  own  cruel  fate, 
the  last  feeble  resistance  of  the  mountain  warriors  to  the  advancing 
tide  of  settlement  came  to  an  end  with  the  burning  of  ( 'owee  town,8  and 
the  way  was  left  open  to  an  arrangement.  In  the  same  year  the  North 
Carolina  legislature  appointed  an  agent  for  the  Cherokee  and  made 
regulations  for  the  government  of  traders  among  them.' 

Relations  with  the  United  States 
from  the  first  treaty  to  the  removal — 1785-1838 

Passing  over  several  unsatisfactory  and  generally  abortive  negotia- 
tions conducted  by  the  various  state  governments  in  L783-84,  includ- 
ing' the  treaty  of  Augusta  already  noted.4  we  come  to  the  turning- 
point  in  the  history  of  the  Cherokee,  their  first  treaty  with  the  new 
government  of  the  United  States  for  peace  and  boundary  delimitation, 
concluded  at  Hopewell  (25)  in  South  Carolina  on  November  28,  17s.">. 
Nearly  one  thousand  Cherokee  attended,  the  commissioners  for  the 
United  States  being  Colonel  Benjamin  Hawkins  (liti).  of  North  Caro- 
lina; General  Andrew  Pickens,  of  South  Carolina;  Cherokee  Agent 
Joseph  Martin,  of  Tennessee,  and  Colonel  Lachlan  Mcintosh,  of 
Georgia.  The  instrument  was  signed  by  thirty-seven  chiefs  and  prin- 
cipal men.  representing  nearly  as  many  different  towns.  The  negotia- 
tions occupied  ten  days,  being  complicated  by  a  protest  on  the  part  of 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia  against  the  action  of  the  government  com- 
missioners in  confirming  to  the  Indians  some  lands  which  had  already 
been  appropriated  as  bounty  lands  for  state  troops  without  the  consent 
of  the  Cherokee.  On  the  other  hand  the  Cherokee  complained  that 
3,000  white  settlers  were  at  that  moment  in  occupancy  of  unceded  land 
between  the  Holston  and  the  French  Broad.  In  spite  of  their  protest 
these  intruders  were  allowed  to  remain,  although  the  territory  was 
not  acquired  by  treaty  until  some  years  later.  As  finally  arranged 
the  treaty  left  the  Middle  and  Upper  towns,  and  those  in  the  vicinity 

1  Sec  documents  in  Virginia  State  Papers,  ill.  pp. 234. 39S, S27. 1883. 

-  Ramsey.  Tennessee,  p.  280, 1853.  3  Ibid.,  p.  271. 

*See  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  op.cit,,  pp.151,152;  Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  p.299et  passim. 


62  MVI'HS    mf    TIIK    CHEROKEE  [*th. 


of  Coosa  river,  undisturbed,  while  the  whole  country  east  of  the  Blue 
ridge,  with  tin-  Watauga  ai  'I  ( "uni Ucrhi m I  settlements,  was  given  over 
to  the  white-.  The  general  boundary  followed  the  dividing  ridge 
between  Cumberland  river  and  the  more  southern  waters  of  the  Ten- 
nessee eastward  to  the  junction  of  the  two  forks  of  Holston,  near  the 
present  Kingsport,  Tennessee,  thence  southward  to  the  Blue  ridge 
and  southwestward  to  a  point  not  far  from  the  present  Atlanta. 
Georgia,  thence  westward  to  the  Coosa  river  and  northwestward  to  a 
creek  running  into  Tennessee  river  a<  the  western  line  of  Alabama. 
thence  northward  with  the  Tennessee  river  to  the  beginning.  The 
lands  south  and  west  of  these  lines  were  recognized  as  belonging  to  the 
Creeks  and  Chickasaw.  Hostilities  were  to  cease  and  the  Cherokee 
were  taken  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States.  The  proceed- 
ings ended  with  the  distribution  of  a  few  presents.1 

While  the  Hopewell  treaty  defined  the  relations  of  the  Cherokee  to 
the  general  government  and  furnished  a  safe  basis  for  future  negotia- 
tion, it  yet  failed  to  bring  complete  peace  and  security.  Thousands 
of  intruders  were  still  settled  on  Indian  lands,  and  minor  aggressions 
and  reprisals  were  continually  occurring.  The  Creeks  and  the  north- 
ern tribes  were  still  hostile  and  remained  so  for  some  years  later,  and 
their  warriors,  cooperating  with  those  of  the  implacable  Chickamauga 

towns,  continued  to  annoy  the  exposed  settlements,  particularly  on  the 
Cumberland.  The  British  had  withdrawn  from  the  South,  but  the 
Spaniards  and  French,  who  claimed  the  lower  Mississippi  and  the 
Gulf  region  and  had  their  trading  posts  in  west  Tennessee,  took  every 
opportunity  to  encourage  the  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  Americans. ' 
But  the  spirit  of  the  Cherokee  nation  was  broken  and  the  Holston 
settlements  were  now  too  surely  established  to  be  destroyed. 

The  Cumberland  settlements  founded  by  Robertson  and  Donelson  in 
the  winter  of  1779-80  had  had  but  short  respite.  Early  in  spring  the 
Indians  Cherokee.  Creeks.  Chickasaw,  and  northern  Indians  had 
begun  a  scries  of  attacks  with  the  design  of  driving  these  intruders 
from  their  lands,  and  thenceforth  for  years  no  man's  life  was  safe  out- 
side the  stockade.  The  long  list  of  settlers  shot  down  at  work  or  while 
hunting  in  the  woods,  of  stock  stolen  and  property  destroyed,  while 
of  sorrowful  interest  to  those  most  nearly  concerned,  is  too  tedious  for 
recital  here,  and  only  leading  events  need  be  chronicled.  Detailed 
notice  may  be  found  in  the  works  of  local  historians. 

On  the  night  of  January  L5,  L781,  a  band  of  Indians  stealthily 
approached    Freelaud's  station  and    had  even  succeeded  in  unfastening 

1  Indian  Treaties,  p.  8  el  passim,  i- ;:.  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  Hopewell  treaty,  from  official  docu- 
ments, see  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  in  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  1  >2  158, 1888,  with  map; 
Treaty  Journal,  etc.,  American  State  Papers;  Indian  AfTnirs,  i,  pp.  38-44,  1832;  also  Stevens,  Georgia, 
n,  pp.  117  129,1859;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  336,337,  1853;  see  also  the  map  accompanying  this  work. 

-  I',:i \ ,  op.  'it.  it    169  H'l.  Agent  Martin  and  Hopewell  commissioners,  ibid.,  pp,  31f 

Bledsoe  and  Robertson  letter,  ibid.,  p.  165;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West.  it.  p.Stts,  l«w. 


MOONEY]     HOSTILITY  OF  HIWASSEE  AND  CHICK  All  AUG  A  TOWNS  63 

the  strongly  barred  gate  when  Robertson,  being  awake  inside,  heard 
the  noise  and  sprang  up  just  in  time  to  rouse  the  garrison  and  beat  off 
the  assailants,  who  continued  to  fire  through  the  loopholes  after  they 
had  been  driven  out  of  the  fort.  Only  two  Americana  were  killed, 
although  the  escape  was  a  narrow  one.1 

About  three  months  later,  on  April  2,  a  large  body  of  Cherokee 
approached  the  fort  at  Nashville  (then  called  Nashborough,  or  simply 
'"the  Bluff"),  and  by  sending  a  decoy  ahead  succeeded  in  drawing  a 
large  part  id'  the  garrison  into  an  ambush.  It  seemed  that  they  would 
be  cut  otl'.  as  the  Indians  were  between  them  and  the  fort,  when  those 
inside  loosed  the  dogs,  which  rushed  so  furiously  upon  the  Indians 
that  the  latter  found  work  enough  to  defend  themselves,  and  were 
finally  forced  to  retire,  carrying  with  them,  however,  five  American 
scalps. 2 

The  attacks  continued  throughout  this  and  the  next  year  to  such  an 
extent  that  it  seemed  at  one  time  as  if  the  Cumberland  settlements 
must  be  abandoned,  but  in  June.  1783,  commissioners  from  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  arranged  a  treaty  near  Nashville  (Nashborough) 
with  chiefs  of  the  Chickasaw,  Cherokee,  and  Creeks.  Tjiis  treaty. 
although  it  did  not  completely  stop  the  Indian  inroads,  at  least  greatly 
diminished  them.  Thereafter  the  Chickasaw  remained  friendly,  and 
only  the  Cherokee  and  <  'reeks  continued  to  make  trouble. 

The  valley  towns  on  Hiwassee,  as  well  as  those  of  Chickamauga, 
seem  to  have  continued  hostile.  In  L786a  large  body  of  their  warriors. 
led  by  the  mixed-blood  chief.  John  Watts,  raided  the  new  settlements 
in  the  vicinity  of  the,  present  Knoxville,  Tennessee.  In  retaliation 
Sevier  again  marched  his  volunteers  across  the  mountain  to  the  valley 
towns  and  destroyed  three  of  them,  killing  a  number  of  warriors;  but  he 
retired  on  learning  that  the  Indians  were  gathering  to  give  him  battle.4 
In  the  springof  this year  Agent  Martin,  stationedat  Echota,  had  made 
a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  Cherokee  towns  and  reported  that  they 
were  generally  friendly  and  anxious  for  peace,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Chickamauga  band,  under  Dragging-canoe,  who,  acting  with  the 
hostile  ('reeks  and  encouraged  by  the  French  and  Spaniard-,  were 
making  preparations  to  destroy  the  Cumberland  settlements.  Not- 
withstanding the  friendly  professions  of  the  others,  a  party  sent  out 
to  obtain  satisfaction  for  the  murder  of  four  Cherokee  by  the  Tennes- 
seeans  had  come  back  with  fifteen  white  scalps,  and  sent  word  to  Sevier 
that  they  wanted  peace,  but  if  the  whites  wanted  war  they  would  get 
it.5  "With  lawdess  men  on  both  sides  it  is  evident  that  peace  was  in 
jeopardy.  In  August,  in  consequence  of  further  killing  and  reprisals, 
commissioners  of  the  new  "state  of  Franklin."  as  Tennessee  was  now 

1  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  n,  p.353,  1889. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  :;.».  1889;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  452-454,  1853. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  358-366,  1889.  *  Ibid.,  p.  341,  1853. 
"Martin  k-tu-r  of  Miiy  11,  1786,  ibid.,  p.    142 


64  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  ink.U 

called,  concluded  a  negotiation,  locally  known  as  the  "treat}'  of 
Coyatee,"  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Overhill  towns.  In  spite  of  references 
to  peace,  love,  and  brotherly  friendship,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  the  era 
of  good  will  was  in  any  wise  hastened  by  the  so-called  treaty,  as  the 
Tennesseeans,  who  bad  just  burned  another  Indian  town  in  reprisal  for 
the  killing  of  a  white  man.  announced,  without  mincing  words,  that 
they  had  been  given  by  North  Carolina  against  which  state,  l>\  the 
way,  they  were  then  in  organized  rebellion  the  whole  country  north 
of  the  Tennessee  river  as  far  west  as  the  Cumberland  mountain,  and 
that  they  intended  to  take  it  "by  the  -word,  which  is  the  best  right  to 
all  countries."      As  the  whole  of  this  country  was  within  the  limits  of 

the  territory  solemnly  guaranteed  to  the  Cherokee  by  the   Hopewell 

treaty  only  the  year  before,  the  chiefs  simply  replied  that  Congress 
had  -aid  nothing  to  them  on  the  subject,  and  SO  the  matter  rested.1 
The  theory  of  state's  rights  was  too  complicated  for  the  Indian  under- 
standing. 

While  this   conflict   between  state   and    federal   authority  continued, 
with   the    Cherokee   lands   as   the   prize,    there  could   lie  no   peace.       In 

March,   L787,  a   letter  from   Echota,  apparently  written    by  Agent 

Martin,  speaks  of  a  recent  expedition  against  the  Cherokee  towns, 
and  the  confusion  and  alarm  among  them  inconsequence  of  the  daily 
encroachments  of  the  "Franklinites"  or  Tennesseeans,  who  had  pro- 
ceeded to  make  good  their  promise  by  opening  ;i  hind  office  for  the  sale 
of  all  the  lands  southward  to  Tennessee  river,  including  even  apart  id' the 
beloved  town  of  Echota.  At  the  same  time  messengers  were  coming 
to  the  Cherokee  from  traders  in  the  foreign  interest,  telling  them  that 
England,  France,  and  Spain  had  combined  against  the  Americans  and 
urging  them  with  promises  of  c-uns  and  ammunition  to  join  in  the 
war. '  As  a  result  each  further  advance  of  the  Tennessee  settlements, 
in  defiance  as  it  was  of  any  recognized  treaty,  was  stubbornly  con- 
tested by  the  Indian  owners  of  the  land.  The  record  of  these  encoun- 
ters, extending  over  a  period  of  several  years,  is  too  tedious  for  recital. 
"Could  a  diagram  he  drawn,  accurately  designating  every  spot  sig- 
nalized by  an  Indian  massacree,  surprise,  or  depredation,  or  courageous 
attack,  defense,  pursuit,  or  victory  by  the  whites,  or  station  or  fort 
or  battlefield,  or  personal  encounter,  the  whole  of  that  section  of 
country  would  lie  studded  over  with  delineations  of  such  incidents. 
Every  spring,  every  ford,  every  path,  every  farm,  every  trail,  every 
house  nearly,  in  its  first  settlement,  was  once  the  scene  of  danger, 
exposure,  attack,  exploit,  achievement,  death."'1  The  end  was  the 
winning  of  Tennessee. 

In  the  meantime  the  inroads  of  the  Creeks  and  their  Chickamauga 

>  Reports  of  Tennessee  commissioners  unci  replies  by  Cherokee  chiefs,  etc.,  1786,  in  Ramsey,  Tennes- 
see, pp.  843  846,  1853. 
•Martin  (?)  letter  of  March  25,  lTsv,  ibid.,  i>.  869. 
•  Ibid.,  p.  870. 


moonet]  DEFEAT    OF    GENERAL    MARTIN 1788  65 

allies  upon  the  Georgia  frontier  and  the  Cumberland  settlements 
around  Nashville  became  so  threatening  that  measures  were  taken  for 
a  joint  campaign  by  the  combined  forces  of  Georgia  and  Tennessee 
("Franklin").  The  enterprise  came  to  naught  through  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  federal  authorities.1  All  through  the  year  1788  we  hear 
of  attacks  and  reprisals  along  the  Tennessee  border,  although  the 
agent  for  the  Cherokee  declared  in  his  official  report  that,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Chickamauga  band,  the  Indians  wished  to  lie  at 
peace  if  the  whites  would  let  them.  In  March  two  expeditions  under 
Sevier  and  Kennedy  set  out  against  the  towns  in  the  direction  of  the 
French  Broad.  In  May  several  persons  of  a  family  named  Kirk  were 
murdered  a  few  miles  south  of  Knoxville.  In  retaliation  Sevier 
raised  a  large  party  and  marching  against  a  town  on  Hiwassee  river — 
one  of  those  which  had  been  destroyed  some  years  before  and  rebuilt — 
and  burned  it.  killing  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  river  while 
they  were  trying  to  escape.  lie  then  turned,  and  proceeding  to  the 
towns  on  Little  Tennessee  burned  several  of  them  also,  killing  a  num- 
ber of  Indians.  Here  a  small  party  of  Indians,  including  Abraham 
and  Tassel,  two  well-known  friendly  chiefs,  was  brutally  massacred 
by  one  of  the  Kirks,  no  one  interfering,  after  they  had  voluntarily 
come  in  on  request  of  one  of  the  officers.  This  occurred  during  the 
temporary  absence  of  Sevier.  Another  expedition  under  Captain 
Favne  was  drawn  into  an  ambuscade  at  Citico  town  and  lost  several 
in  killed  and  wounded.  The  Indians  pursued  the  survivors  almost  to 
Knoxville,  attacking  a  small  station  near  the  present  Maryville  by 
the  way.  They  were  driven  off  by  Sevier  and  others,  who  in  turn 
invaded  the  Indian  settlements,  crossing  the  mountains  and  penetra- 
ting as  far  as  the  valley  towns  on  Hiwassee.  hastily  retiring  as  they 
found  the  Indians  gathering  in  their  front.2  In  the  same  summer 
another  expedition  was  organized  against  the  Chickamauga  towns. 
The  chief  command  was  given  to  General  Martin,  who  left  White's 
fort,  now  Knoxville.  with  four  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  made  a 
rapid  inarch  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  present  Chattanooga,  where 
the  main  force  encamped  on  the  site  of  an  old  Indian  settlement.  A 
detachment  sent  ahead  to  surprise  a  town  a  few  miles  farther  down 
the  river  was  fired  upon  and  driven  back,  and  a  general  engagement 
took  place  in  the  narrow  pass  between  the  bluff  and  the  river,  with 
such  disastrous  results  that  three  captains  were  killed  and  the  men 
so  badly  demoralized  that  thejr  refused  to  advance.  Martin  was 
compelled  to  turn  back,  after  burying  the  dead  officers  in  a  large 
townhouse,  which  was  then  burned  down  to  conceal  the  grave.3 

In  October  a  large  party  of  Cherokee  and  Creeks  attacked  Gilles- 
pie's station,  south  of  the  present  Knoxville.     The  small  garrison  was 

1  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  393-399,  1853.  =  Ibid.,  pp.  417-423,  1853. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  517-519,  and  Brown's  narrative,  ibid.,  p.  515. 

19    ETH — 01 5 


66  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


overpowered  af  ter  a  shorl  resistance,  and  twenty-eight  persons,  includ- 
ing several  women  and  children,  were  killed.  The  Indians  left  behind 
a  Letter  signed  by  four  chiefs,  including  John  Watts,  expressing 
regret  for  what  they  called  the  accidental  lolling  of  the  women  and 
children,  reminding  the  whites  of  their  own  treachery  in  killing 
Abraham  and  the  Tassel,  and  defiantly  concluding,  "When  you  move 
off  the  land,  then  we  will  make  peace."  Other  exposed  stations  were 
attacked,  until  at  last  Sevier  again  mustered  a  force,  cleared  the 
enemy  from  the  frontier,  and  pursued  the  Indians  as  far  as  their 
towns  on  the  head  waters  of  Coosa  river,  in  such  vigorous  fashion  that 
they  were  compelled  to  ask  for  terms  of  peace  and  agree  to  a  surrender 
of  prisoners,  which  was  accomplished  at  Coosawatee  town,  in  upper 
Georgia,  in  the  following  April.1 

Among  the  captives  thus  restored  to  their  friends  were  Joseph 
Brown,  a  boy  of  sixteen,  with  his  two  younger  sisters,  who,  with 
several  others,  had  been  taken  at  Nickajack  town  while  descending 
the  Tennessee  in  a  fiatboat  nearly  a  year  before.  His  father  and  the 
other  men  of  the  party,  about  ten  in  all,  had  been  killed  at  the  time. 
while  the  mother  and  several  other  children  were  carried  to  various 
Indian  towns,  some  of  them  going  to  the  Creeks,  who  had  aided  the 
Cherokee  in  the  capture.  Young  Brown,  whose  short  and  simple 
narrative  is  of  vivid  interest,  was  at  first  condemned  to  death,  but  was 
rescued  by  a  white  man  living  in  the  town  and  was  afterward  adopted 
into  the  family  of  the  chief,  in  spite  of  the  warning  of  an  old  Indian 
woman  that  if  allowed  to  live  he  would  one  day  guide  an  army  to 
destroy  them.  The  warning  was  strangely  prophetic,  for  it  was 
Brown  himself  who  guided  the  expedition  that  finally  rooted  out  the 
Chickamauga  towns  a  few  years  later.  When  rescued  at  Coosawatee 
he  was  in  Indian  costume,  with  shirt,  breechcloth,  scalp  lock,  and 
holes  bored  in  his  ears.  His  little  sister,  five  years  old.  had  become 
so  attached  to  the  Indian  woman  who  had  adopted  her.  that  she 
refused  to  go  to  her  own  mother  ami  had  to  be  pulled  alone-  by  force.3 
The  mother  and  another  of  the  daughters,  who  had  been  taken  by  the 
Creeks,  were  afterwards  ransomed  by  McGillivray,  head  chief  of  the 
Creek  Nation,  who  restored  them  to  their  friends,  generously  refusing 
any  compensation  for  his  kindness. 

An  arrangement  had  been  made  with  the  Chickasaw,  in  1783,  by 
which  they  surrendered  to  the  Cumberland  settlement  their  own  claim 
to  the  lands  from  the  Cumberland  river  south  to  the  dividing  ridge  of 
Duck  river.3  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  two 
years  later,  that  the  Cherokee  surrendered  their  claim  to  the  same 
region,  and  even  then  the  Chickamauga  warriors,  with  their  allies,  the 

1  Ramsey, Tennessee,  pp.516, 519. 

■  Brown's  narrative, etc., ibid.. pp. .308-516. 

a  Ibid.,  pp.  159, 489. 


hookey]  DESTRUCTION    OF    COLDWATER — 1787  <'>" 

hostile  Creeks  and  Shawano,  refused  to  acknowledge  the  cession  and 
continued  their  attacks,  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  destroying  the  new 
settlements.  Until  the  final  running  of  the  boundary  line,  in  1797, 
Spain  claimed  all  the  territory  west  of  the  mountains  and  south  of 
Cumberland  river,  and  her  agents  were  accused  of  stirring  up  the 
Indians  against  the  Americans,  even  to  the  extent  of  offering  rewards 
for  American  scalps.1  One  of  these  raiding  parties,  which  had  killed 
the  brother  of  Captain  Robertson,  was  tracked  to  Coldwater,  a  small 
mixed  town  of  Cherokee  and  Creeks,  on  the  south  side  of  Tennessee 
river,  about  the  present  Tuscumbia,  Alabama.  Robertson  determined 
to  destroy  it,  and  taking  a  force  of  volunteers,  with  a  couple  of  Chick- 
asaw guides,  crossed  the  Tennessee  without  being  discovered  and 
surprised  and  burnt  the  town.  The  Indians,  who  numbered  less  than 
fifty  men,  attempted  to  escape  to  the  river,  but  were  surrounded  and 
over  twenty  of  them  killed,  with  a  loss  of  but  one  man  to  the  Tennes- 
seeans.  In  the  town  were  found  also  several  French  traders.  Three 
of  these,  who  refused  to  surrender,  were  killed,  together  with  a  white 
woman  who  was  accidentally  shot  in  one  of  the  boats.  The  others 
were  afterward  released,  their  large  stock  of  trading  goods  having 
been  taken  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  troops.  The  affair  took 
place  about  the  end  of  June.  1787.  Through  this  action,  and  an  effort 
made  by  Robertson  about  the  same  time  to  come  to  an  understanding 
with  the  Chickaniauga  band,  there  was  a  temporary  cessation  of 
hostile  inroads  upon  the  Cumberland,  but  long  before  the  end  of  the 
year  the  attacks  were  renewed  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  found 
necessary  to  keep  out  a  force  of  rangers  with  orders  to  scour  the 
country  and  kill  every  Indian  found  east  of  the  Chickasaw  boundary.2 
The  Creeks  seeming  now  to  be  nearly  as  much  concerned  in  these 
raids  as  the  Cherokee,  a  remonstrance  was  addressed  to  McGillivray, 
their  principal  chief,  who  replied  that,  although  the  Creeks,  like  the 
other  southern  tribes,  had  adhered  to  the  British  interest  during  the 
Revolution,  they  had  accepted  proposals  of  friendship,  but  while 
negotiations  were  pending  six  of  their  people  had"  been  killed  in  the 
affair  at  Coldwater.  which  had  led  to  a  renewal  of  hostile  feeling.  He 
promised,  however,  to  use  his  best  efforts  to  bring  about  peace,  and 
seems  to  have  kept  his  word,  although  the  raids  continued  through 
this  and  the  next  year,  with  the  usual  sequel  of  pursuit  and  reprisal. 
In  one  of  these  skirmishes  a  company  under  Captain  Murray  followed 
some  Indian  raiders  from  near  Nashville  to  their  camp  on  Tennessee 
river  and  succeeded  in  killing  the  whole  party  of  eleven  warriors.1 
A  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  with  the  Creeks  in  1790,  but,  owing  to 
the  intrigues  of  the  Spaniards,  it  had  little  practical  effect,4  and  not 

i  Bledsoe  and  Robertson  letter  of  June  12, 1787.  in  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  p.  465, 1853. 
2  Ibid.,  with  Robertson  tetter,  pp.  465-476. 
a  Ibid.,  pp. 479-486. 

4 Monette,  Valley  of  tin-  Mi^i-Mppi,  i.  p  ■■"'•  lMr;. 


68  MTTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ass.19 

until  Wayne'-  decisive  victory  over  the  confederated  northern  tribes 
in  L 794  and  the  final  destruction  of  the  Nickajack  towns  in  tin-  same 
\  ear  did  real  peace  came  to  the  frontier. 

I!v  deed  of  cession  of  February  .!•">.  17'.»n.  Tennessee  ceased  to  be  a 
pari  of  North  <  larolina  and  was  organized  under  federal  laws  as  "  The 
Territory  of  the  United  Mate-  south  of  the  <  >hio  river,"  preliminary 
to  taking  full  rank  as  a  state  six  year-  later.  William  Blount  (27) 
was  appointed  lir-t  territorial  governor  and  also  superintendent  for  the 
southern  Indian-,  with  a  deputy  resident  with  each  of  the  four  prin- 
cipal tribes.1  Pensacola,  Mobile,  St.  Louis,  and  other  southern  posts 
were  -till  held  by  the  Spaniard-,  who  claimed  the  whole  country  south 
of  the  Cumberland,  while  the  British  garrisons  had  not  yet  been  with- 
drawn from  the  north.  The  resentment  of  the  Indians  at  the  occupancy 
of  their  reserved  and  guaranteed  lands  by  the  whites  was  sedulously 
encouraged  from  both  quarters,  and  raids  alone-  the  Tennessee  fron- 
tier were  of  common  occurrence.  At  this  time,  according  to  the 
official  report  of  President  Washington,  over  five  hundred  families  of 
intruders  were  settled  upon  lands  belonging  rightly  to  the  Cherokee. 
in  addition  to  those  between  the  French  Broad  and  the  Holston.2 
More  than  a  year  before  the  Secretary  of  War  had  stated  that  "the 
disgraceful  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Hopewell  with  the  Cherokee 
requires  the  serious  consideration  of  Congress.  If  so  direct  and  man- 
ifest contempt  of  the  authority  of  the  United  States  tie  suffered  with 
impunity,  it  will  he  in  vain  to  attempt  to  extend  the  arm  of  govern- 
ment to  the  frontiers.  The  Indian  tribes  can  have  no  faith  in  such 
imbecile  promises,  and  the  lawless  whites  will  ridicule  a  government 
which  shall  on  paper  only  make  Indian  treaties  and  regulate  Indian 
boundaries."3  To  prevent  any  increase  of  the  dissatisfaction,  the 
general  government  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding  any  further 
encroachment  upon  the  Indian  kinds  on  Tennessee  river;  notwith- 
standing which,  early  in  L791,  a  party  of  men  descended  the  river  in 
boats,  and.  landing  on  an  island  at  the  Muscle  shoals,  near  the  present 
ruscumbia,  Alabama,  erected  a  blockhouse  and  other  defensive  works. 
Immediately  afterward  the  Cherokee  chitd'.  Class,  with  about  sixty 
warriors,  appeared  and  quietly  informed  them  that  if  they  did  notat 
once  withdraw  he  would  kill  them.  After  some  parley  the  intruders 
retired  to  their  boats,  when  the  Indians  set  tire  to  the  buildings  and 
reduced  them  to  ashes.' 

To  forestall  more  serious  difficulty  it  was  necessary  to  negotiate  a 
new  treaty  with  a  view  to  purchasing  the  disputed  territory.  Accord- 
ingly, through  the  efforts  of  Governor  Blount,  a  convention  was  held 
with  the  principal   men  of  the  Cherokee  at  White's  fort,  now  Knox- 


1  Ramseyj  Tennessee,  pp.  522,  ~<M  ,56] .  1853. 

» Washington  to  the  Si  nate,  lugusl  11, 1790,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Airuir*.  [,p.83  1832 

Knox  to  Presldenl  Washington,  July  7, 1789, ibid.,  p.58. 
*  Ramsey,  op.  clt.,  pp.  550, 551. 


moosey]  TREATY    OF    HOLSTON 1791  69 

ville,  Tennessee,  in  the  summer  of  1791.  AYith  much  difficulty  the 
Cherokee  were  finally  brought  to  consent  to  a  cession  of  a  triangular 
section  in  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina  extending  from  Clinch  river 
almost  to  the  Blue  ridge,  and  including  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
French  Broad  and  the  lower  Holston,  with  the  sites  of  the  present 
Knoxville,  Greenville,  and  Asheville.  The  whole  of  this  area,  with  a 
considerable  territory  adjacent,  was  already  fully  occupied  by  the 
whites.  Permission  was  also  given  for  a  road  from  the  eastern 
settlements  to  those  on  the  Cumberland,  with  the  free  navigation  of 
Tennessee  river.  Prisoners  on  both  sides  were  to  be  restored  and 
perpetual  peace  was  guaranteed.  In  consideration  of  the  lands  sur- 
rendered the  Cherokee  were  to  receive  an  annuity  of  one  thousand 
dollars  with  some  extra  goods  and  some  assistance  on  the  road  to 
civilization.  A  treaty  was  signed  by  forty-one  principal  men  of  the 
tribe  and  was  concluded  July  2, 1791.  It  is  officially  described  as  being 
held  "on  the  bank  of  the  Holston,  near  the  mouth  of  the  French 
Broad."  and  is  commonly  spoken  of  as  the  "treaty  of  Holston." 

The  Cherokee,  however,  were  dissatisfied  with  the  arrangement, 
and  before  the  end  of  the  year  a  delegation  of  six  principal  chiefs 
appeared  at  Philadelphia,  then  the  seat  of  government,  without  any 
previous  announcement  of  their  coming,  declaring  that  when  they  had 

1 n  summoned  by  Governor  Blount  to  a  conference  they  were  not 

aware  that  it  was  to  persuade  them  to  sell  lands;  that  they  had 
resisted  the  proposition  for  days,  and  only  yielded  when  compelled 
by  the  persistent  and  threatening  demands  of  the  governor;  that  the 
consideration  was  entirely  too  small;  and  that  they  had  no  faith  that 
the  whites  would  respect  the  new  boundary,  as  they  were  in  fact 
already  settling  beyond  it.  Finally,  as  the  treaty  had  been  signed, 
they  asked  that  these  intruders  be  removed.  As  their  presentation  of 
the  case  seemed  a  just  one  and  it  was  desirable  that  they  should  carry 
home  with  them  a  favorable  impression  of  the  government's  attitude 
toward  them,  a  supplementary  article  was  added,  increasing-  the 
annuity  to  eight  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  On  account  of  renewed 
Indian  hostilities  in  Ohio  valley  and  the  desire  of  the  government  to 
keep  the  good  will  of  the  Cherokee  long  enough  to  obtain  their  help 
against  the  northern  tribes,  the  new  line  was  not  surveyed  until  17'.*7.' 

As  illustrating  Indian  custom  it  may  be  noted  that  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal signers  of  the  original  treaty  was  among  the  protesting  delegates, 
but  having  in  the  meantime  changed  his  name,  it  appears  on  the 
supplementary  paragraph  as  "Iskagua.  or  Clear  Sky,  formerly 
Nenetooyah,  or  Bloody  Fellow.'"'     As  he  had  been  one  of  the  prin- 

i  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  34-38,  1837;  Secretary  of  War,  report,  January  5,  1798,  in  American  State 
Papers,  I,  pp.  628-631,  1832;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  554-560,  1853;  Etoyee,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth 
Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  158-170.  with  full  discussion  and  map,  1888. 

'-  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  37,  38,  1837. 


Til  MTTH8    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.akn.19 

cipal  raiders  on  the  Tennessee  frontier,  the  new  name  may  have  been 
symbolicof  bis  change  of  bear!  at  the  prospectof  a  return  of  peace. 

The  treaty  seems  to  have  bad  little  effect  in  preventing  Indian  hos- 
tilities, probabrj  because  the  intruders  still  remained  upon  the  Indian 
lands,  and  raiding  still  continued.  The  Creeks  were  known  to  be 
responsible  for  someof  the  mischief,  and  the  hostile  Chickamaugas 
were  supposed  to  be  the  chief  authors  of  the  rest.1  Even  while  the 
Cherokee  delegates  were  negotiating  the  treaty  in  Philadelphia  a  boat 
which  had  accidentally  run  aground  on  the  Muscle  shoals  was  attacked 
by  a  party  of  Indians  under  the  pretense  of  offering  assistance,  one 
man  being  killed  and  another  severely  wounded  with  a  hatchet.' 

While  these  negotiations  had  been  pending  at  Philadelphia  a  young- 
man  named  Leonard  D.  Shaw,  a  student  at  Princeton  college,  had 
expressed  to  the  Secretary  of  War  an  earnest  desire  lor  a  commission 
which  would  enable  him  to  accompany  the  returning  Cherokee  dele- 
gates to  their  southern  home,  there  to  study  Indian  life  and  charac- 
teristics. As  the  purpose  seemed  a  useful  one.  and  he  appeared  well 
qualified  tor  such  a  work,  he  was  accordingly  commissioned  as  deputy 
agent  to  reside  among-  the  Cherokee  to  observe  and  report  upon  their 
movements,  to  aid  in  the  annuity  distributions,  and  to  render  other 
assistance  to  Governor  Blount,  superintendent  for  the  southern  tribes, 
to  study  their  language  and  home  life,  and  to  collect  materials  for  an 
Indian  history.  An  extract  from  the  official  instructions  under  which 
this  first  Tinted  States  ethnologist  began  his  work  will  he  of  interest. 
After  defining  his  executive  duties  in  connection  with  the  annuity 
distributions,  the  keeping  of  accounts  and  the  compiling  of  official 
reports.  Secretary  Knox  continues — 

A  ilin-  performance  of  your  duty  will  probably  require  the  exercise  of  all  your 
patience  ami  fortitude  ami  all  your  knowledge  of  the  human  character.  Tin-  school 
will  1  ie  a  severe  but  interesting  one.  [f  you  should  succeed  in  acquiring  the  affections 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  characters  of  the  southern  Indians,  yon  may  lie  at  once  use- 
ful to  the  United  States  ami  advance  your  own  interest. 

You  will  endeavor  to  learn  their  languages;  this  is  essential  to  your  communica- 
tions. You  will  collect  materials  for  a  history  of  all  the  southern  tribes  and  all 
things  thereunto  belonging.  You  will  endeavor  to  ascertain  their  respective  limits. 
make  a  vocabulary  of  their  respective  languages,  teach  them  agriculture  and  such 
useful  arts  as  you  may  know  or  can  acquire.  You  will  correspond  regularly  with 
Governor  Blount,  who  is  superintendent  fur  Indian  affairs,  ami  inform  him  of  all 
occurrences.  You  will  also  cultivate  a  correspondence  with  Brigadier-General 
McGillivray  [the  Creek  chief],  ami  you  will  also  keep  a  journal  of  your  proceedings 
and  transmit  them  to  the  War  Office.  .  .  .  You  are  to  exhibit  to  Governor 
Blount  the  Cherokee  hook  and  all  the  writings  therein,  the  messages  to  the  several 
tribes' of  Indians,  ami  these  instructions. 

Your  route  will  he  hence  to  Reading;  thence  Harris's  ferry  [Harrisburg,  Penn- 
sylvania] to  Carlisle;  to ferry  on  the  Potomac;  to  Winchester;   to  Staunton:  to 

■  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  p.  557,  is",:;. 

2 Abel  deposition,  April  16,  1792,  American  state  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i,  p.  274,  1882. 


mooney]  RENEWAL    OF    WAR 17112  71 

,  and  t<i  Holston.     I  should  hope  that  you  would  travel  upwards  of  twenty 

mile*  each  day,  and  that  you  would  reach  Holaton  in  about  thirty  days.' 

The  journey,  which  seemed  then  so  long,  was  to  be  made  by  wagons 
from  Philadelphia  to  the  head  of  navigation  on  Holston  fiver,  thence  by 

boats  to  the  Cherokee  towns.  Shaw  seems  to  have  taken  up  his  resi- 
dence at  Ustanali,  which  had  superseded  Echota  as  the  ( Iherokee  capital. 
We  hear  of  him  as  present  at  a  council  there  in  June  of  the  same  year. 
with  no  evidence  of  unfriendliness  at  his  presence."  The  friendly  feel- 
ing was  of  short  continuance,  however,  for  a  few  months  later  we  find 
him  writing  from  Ustanali  to  Governor  Blount  that  on  account  of  the 
aggressive  hostility  of  the  Creeks,  whose  avowed  intention  was  to  kill 
every  white  man  they  met,  he  was  not  safe  50  yards  front  the  house. 
Soon  afterwards  the  Chickamauga  towns  again  declared  war,  on  which 
account,  together  with  renewed  threats  by  the  ('recks,  he  was  advised 
by  the  Cherokee  to  leave  Ustanali,  which  he  did  early  in  September, 
1792,  proceeding  to  the  home  of  General  Pickens,  near  Seneca,  South 
Carolina,  escorted  by  a  guard  of  friendly  Cherokee.  In  the  follow- 
ing  winter  he  was  dismissed  front  the  service  on  serious  charges,  and 
his  mission  appears  to  have  been  a  failure.3 

To  prevent  an  alliance  of  the  Cherokee,  Creeks,  and  other  south- 
ern Indians  with  the  confederated  hostile  northern  tribes,  the  govern- 
ment had  endeavored  to  persuade  the  former  to  furnish  a  contingent 
of  warriors  to  act  with  the  army  against  the  northern  Indians,  and 
special  instruction  had  been  given  to  Shaw  to  use  his  efforts  for  this 
result.  Nothing,  however,  came  of  the  attempt.  St  Clair's  defeat 
turned  the  scale  against  the  United  States,  and  in  September,  1792, 
the  Chickamauga  towns  formally  declared  war.1 

In  November  of  this  year  the  governor  of  Georgia  officially  reported 
that  a  party  of  lawless  Georgians  had  gone  into  the  Cherokee  Nation, 
and  had  there  burned  a  town  and  barbarously  killed  three  Indians, 
while  about  the  same  time  two  other  Cherokee  had  been  killed  within 
the  settlements.  Fearing  retaliation,  he  ordered  out  a  patrol  of  troops 
to  guard  the  frontier  in  that  direction,  and  sent  a  conciliatory  letter  to 
the  chiefs,  expressing  his  regret  for  what  had  happened.  No  answer 
was  returned  to  the  message,  but  a  few  days  later  an  entire  family  was 
found  murdered — four  women,  three  children,  and  a  young  man — all 
scalped  and  mangled  and  witlt  arrows  sticking  in  the  bodies,  while, 
according  to  old  Indian  war  custom,   two  war  clubs   were  left  upon 

1  Henry  Kii.'\.  Secretary  of  War.  Instructions  to  Leonard  Shaw,  temporary  agent  to  the  Cherokee 
Nation  of  Indians,  February  17, 1792.  in  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i.  217.  1832;  also  Knox. 
letters  to  Governor  Blount,  January  ;;i  ami  February  16,  1792,  ibid.,  pp.  245,  246. 

-  Estanaula  conference  report,  June  26,  1792,  ibid.,  i>.  271;  Deraque  deposition,  September  15,  1792, 
ibid.,  p.  292;  Pickens,  letter,  September  12,  1792,  ibid.,  p.317. 

8See  letters  of  Shaw,  Casey,  Pickens,  and  Blount.  1792-93,  ibid.,  pp.  .'77,  278,  317,  136,  137,  140. 

■"Knox,  instructions  to  Shaw,  February  17,  1792,  ibid.,  p.  247;  Blount,  letter,  March  20,  1792,  ibid., 
p.  263;  Knox,  letters,  October  9,  1792,  ibid.,  pp.  261,  2U2. 


72  SIXTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [kth.ami.19 

the  ground  to  -how  by  whom  the  deed  wasd -.     So  swift  was  savage 

vengeance.' 

Early  in  1792  a  messenger  who  had  been  sent  on  business  for  Gov- 
ernor Blount  to  the  Chickamauga  towns  returned  with  the  report  thai 
a  party  had  just  come  in  with  prisoners  and  some  fresh  scalps,  over 
which  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  two  towns  were  then  dancing;  that 
the  SI  ia\\  aiio  were  urging  the  Cherokee  to  join  them  against  the  Ameri- 
cans; that  a  strong  body  of  Creeks  was  on  it-  way  against  the  Cum- 
berland settlements,  and  that  the  ( 'reck  chief.  Met  rillivray,  was  trying 
to  form  a  general  confederacy  of  all  the  Indian  tribes  against  the 
whites.  To  understand  this  properly  it  must  lie  remembered  that  at 
this  time  all  the  tribes  northwest  of  the  Ohio  and  as  far  as  the  heads 
of  the  Mississippi  were  banded  together  in  a  grand  alliance,  headed 
l>\  the  warlike  Shawano,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  Ohio  river  as 
the  Indian  boundary  against  the  advancing  tide  of  white  settlement. 
They  had  just  cut  to  pieces  one  of  the  finest  armies  ever  sent  into  the 
West,  under  the  veteran  General  St  Clair  (28),  and  it  seemed  for  the 
moment  a-  if  the  American  advance  would  he  driven  hack  behind  the 
Alleghenies. 

In  the  emergency  the  Secretary  of  War  directed  Governor  Blount 
to  hold  a  conference  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Chickasaw.  Choctaw,  and 
Cherokee  at  Nashville  in  dune  to  enlist  their  warriors,  if  possible,  in 
active  service  against  the  northern  tribes.  The  conference  was  held 
as  proposed,  in  August,  but  nothing  seems  to  have  come  of  it,  although 
the  child's  seemed  to  lie  sincere  in  their  assurances  of  friendship. 
Very  few  of  the  Choctaw  or  Cherokee  were  in  attendance.  At  the 
annuity  distribution  of  the  Cherokee,  shortly  before,  the  chiefs  had 
also  been  profuse  in  declarations  of  their  desire  for  peace.'  Notwith- 
standing all  this  the  attacks  along  the  Tennessee  frontier  continued  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  blockhouses  were  again  put  in  order  ami  gar- 
risoned. Soon  afterwards  the  governor  reported  to  the  Secretary  of 
War  that  the  five  lower  Cherokee  towns  on  the  Tennessee  (the  Chicka- 
mauga), headed  by  John  Watts,  had  finally  declared  war  against  the 
United  State-,  and  that  from  three  to  six  hundred  warriors,  including 
a  hundred  Creeks,  had  started  against  the  settlements.  The  militia 
was  at  once  called  out.  both  in  eastern  Tennessee  and  on  the  Cumber- 
land. On  the  Cumberland  side  it  was  directed  that  no  pursuit  should 
he  continued  beyond  the  Cherokee  boundary,  the  ridge  between  the 
waters  of  Cumberland  and  Duck  rivers.  The  order  issued  by  Colonel 
White,  of  Knox  county,  to  each  of  his  captains  shows  how  great  was 
the  alarm: 

■  Governor  Telfair's  letters  of  November  n  ami  December  5,  with  inclosure,  1792,  American  State 
Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i,  pp.332,  336, 887,  1832. 

2Rainwy,  Trancm1,  i.|..;,r,_'-.«,:;,-V.is,  is:,:;. 


mooney]  ATTACK    ON     BUCHANAN'S    STATION  —  L792  73 

Knoxville,  September  n.  1792. 
Sir:  You  arc  hereby  commanded   to    repair  with   your  company  to  Knoxville, 
equipped,  to  protect  the  frontiers;  there  is  imminent  danger.     Bring  with  you  two 
days'  provisions,  if  possible;  but  you  are  not  to  delay  an  hour  on  that  head. 

I  am.  sir.  yours, 

James  White.1 

About  midnight  on  the  30th  of  September,  1792,  the  Indian  force, 
consisting  of  several  hundred  Chickamaugas  and  other  Cherokee, 
("reeks,  and  Shawano,  attacked  Buchanan's  station,  a  few  miles  south 
of  Nashville.  Although  numbers  of  families  had  collected  inside  the 
stockade  for  safety,  there  were  less  than  twenty  able-bodied  men 
among  them.  The  approach  of  the  enemy  alarmed  the  cattle,  by 
which  the  garrison  had  warning  just  in  time  to  close  the  gate  when 
the  Indians  were  already  within  a  few  yards  of  the  entrance.  The 
assault  wtis  furious  and  determined,  the  Indians  rushing  up  to  the 
stockade,  attempting  to  set  tire  to  it.  and  aiming  their  guns  through 
the  port  holes.  One  Indian  succeeded  in  climbing  upon  the  roof  with 
a  lighted  torch,  but  was  shot  and  fell  to  the  ground,  holding  his  torch 
against  the  logs  as  he  drew  his  last  breath.  It  was  learned  afterward 
that  he  was  a  half  blood,  the  stepson  of  the  old  white  trader  who  had 
once  rescued  the  boy  Joseph  Brown  at  Nickajack.  He  was  a  desperate 
warrior  and  when  only  twenty-two  years  of  age  had  already  taken  six 
white  scalps.  The  attack  was  repulsed  at  every  point,  and  the  assail 
ants  finally  drew  off,  with  considerable  loss,  carrying  their  dead  and 
wounded  with  them,  and  leaving  a  number  of  hatchets,  pipes,  and  other 
spoils  upon  the  ground.  Among  the  wounded  was  the  chief  John 
Watts.  Not  one  of  those  in  the  fort  was  injured.  It  has  been  well 
said  that  the  defense  of  Buchanan's  station  by  such  a  handful  of  men 
against  an  attacking  force  estimated  all  the  way  at  from  three  to  seven 
hundred  Indians  is  a  feat  of  bravery  which  has  scarcely  been  surpassed 
in  the  annals  of  border  warfare.  The  effect  upon  the  Indians  must 
have  been  thoroughly  disheartening.2 

In  the  same  month  arrangements  were  made  for  protecting  the  fron- 
tier along  the  French  Broad  by  means  of  a  series  of  garrisoned  block- 
houses, with  scouts  to  patrol  regularly  from  one  to  another.  North 
Carolina  cooperating  on  her  side  of  the  line.  The  hostile  inroads  still 
continued  in  this  section,  the  Creeks  acting  with  the  hostile  Cherokee. 
One  raiding  party  of  Creeks  having  been  traced  toward  Chilhowee 
town  on  Little  Tennessee,  the  whites  were  about  to  burn  that  and  a 
neighboring  Cherokee  town  when  Sevier  interposed  and  prevented.3 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  people  of  these  towns  were 
directly  concerned  in  the  depredations  along  the  frontier  at  this  period, 

1  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  662-565,  ls:>:v 

2  Blount,  letter.  October  2, 1792,  in  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i,  p.  294, 1832;  Blount,  letter, 
etc.,  in  Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  pp.  566, 567, 599-601;  see  also  Brown's  narrative,  ibid.,  511, 512;  Royce,  Cherokee 
Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  170, 1888. 

3  Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  569-571. 


74  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  unt.M 

the  mischief  I >< ■  i 1 1  <j-  done  by  those  farther  to  the  south,  in  conjunction 
with  the  ( ireeks. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  year,  L792,  Captain  Samuel  Handley,  while 
leading  ;i  small  party  of  men  to  reenforce  the  ( Cumberland  settlement, 
was  attacked  by  a  mixed  force  of  Cherokee,  Creeks,  and  Shawano, 
near  the  Grab  Orchard,  west  of  the  presenl  Kingston,  Tennessee. 
Becoming  separated  from  his  men  he  encountered  a  warrior  who  had 
lifted  his  hatchet  to  >trikc  when  Handley  seized  the  weapon,  crying 
out  "Canaly"  (for  higtona'lii),  "friend,"  to  which  the  Cherokee 
responded  with  tin'  same  word,  at  oner  lowering  his  arm.  Handley 
was  carried  to  Willstown,  in  Alabama,  where  he  was  adopted  into  the 
Wolf  elan  (29)  and  remained  until  the  next  spring.  After  having 
made  use  of  his  services  in  writing  a  peace  letter  to  Governor  Blount 
the  Cherokee  finally  sent  him  home  in  safety  to  his  friends  under  a 
protecting  escort  of  eight  warriors,  without  any  demand  for  ransom. 
He  afterward  resided  near  Tellico  blockhouse,  near  Loudon,  where, 
after  the  wars  were  over,  his  Indian  friends  frequently  came  to  visit 
and  stop  with  him.1 

The  year  1T'.»H  began  with  a  series  of  attacks  all  along  the  Tennes- 
see frontier.  As  before,  most  of  the  depredation  was  by  Chicka- 
maugas  and  Creeks,  with  some  stray  Shawano  from  the  north.  The 
Cherokee  from  the  towns  on  Little  Tennessee  remained  peaceable,  but 
their  temper  was  sorely  tried  by  a  regrettable  circumstance  which 
occurred  in  June.  While  a  number  of  friendly  chiefs  were  assembled 
for  a  conference  at  Echota,  on  the  express  request  of  the  President, 
a  party  of  men  under  command  of  a  Captain  John  Beard  sud- 
denly attacked  them,  killing  about  fifteen  Indians,  including  several 
chiefs  and  two  women,  one  of  them  being  the  wife  of  Hanging-maw 
(Ushwa'li-guta),  principal  chief  of  the  Nation,  who  was  himself 
wounded.  The  murderers  then  tied,  leaving  others  to  suffer  the  conse- 
quences. Two  hundred  warriors  at  once  took  up  arms  to  revenge  their 
loss,  and  only  the  most  earnest  appeal  from  the  deputy  governor  could 
lest  rain  them  from  swift  retaliation.  While  the  chief ,  whose  wife 
was  thus  murdered  and  himself  wounded,  forebore  to  revenge  himself, 
in  order  not  to  bring  war  upon  his  people,  the  Secretary  of  War  was 
obliged  to  report.  "  to  my  great  pain,  I  find  to  punish  Beard  by  law  just 
now  is  out  of  the  question."  Beard  was  in  fact  arrested,  but  the  trial 
was  a  farce  and  he  was  acquitted.8 

Believing  that  the  Cherokee  Nation,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Chickamaugas,  was  honestly  trying  to  preserve  peace,  the  territorial 
government,  while  making  provision  for  the  safety  of  the  exposed 
settlements,  had  strictly  prohibited  any  invasion  of  the  Indian  country. 
The  frontier  people  were  of  a  different  opinion,  and  in  spite  of  the 
prohibition  a   company  of  nearly  two  hundred  mounted  men   under 

i  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.571-673,  1863.  »Ibid.,pp 


moosey]  MASSACRE    AT    CAVITTS    STATION 1793  75 

Colonels  Doherty  and  McFarland  crossed  over  the  mountains  in  the 
summer  of  this  year  and  destroyed  six  of  the  middle  towns,  returning 
with  fifteen  scalps  and  as  many  prisoners.' 

Late  in  September  a  strong  force  estimated  at  one  thousand  war- 
riors— seven  hundred  Creeks  and  three  hundred  Cherokee — under  John 
Watts  and  Doublehead,  crossed  the  Tennessee  and  advanced  in  the 
direction  of  Knoxville.  where  the  public  stores  were  then  deposited. 
In  their  eagerness  to  reach  Knoxville  they  passed  quietly  by  one  or 
two  smaller  settlements  until  within  a  short  distance  of  the  town,  when, 
at  daybreak  of  the  25th,  they  heard  the  garrison  tire  the  sunrise  gun 
and  imagined  that  they  were  discovered.  Differences  had  already 
broken  out  among  the  leaders,  and  without  venturing  to  advance 
farther  they  contented  themselves  with  an  attack  upon  a  small  block- 
house a  few  miles  to  the  west,  known  as  Cavitts  station,  in  which  at 
the  time  were  only  three  men  with  thirteen  women  and  children. 
After  defending  themselves  bravely  for  some  time  these  surrendered 
on  promise  that  they  should  be  held  for  exchange,  but  as  soon  as  they 
came  out  Doublehead's  warriors  fell  upon  them  and  put  them  all  to 
death  with  the  exception  of  a  boy,  who  was  saved  by  John  Watts. 
This  bloody  deed  was  entirely  the  work  of  Doublehead.  the  other 
chiefs  having  done  their  best  to  prevent  it.2 

A  force  of  seven  hundred  men  under  General  Sevier  wasat  once  put 
upon  their  track,  with  orders  this  time  to  push  the  pursuit  into  the 
heart  of  the  Indian  nation.  Crossing  Little  Tennessee  and  Hiwassee 
they  penetrated  to  Ustanali  town,  near  the  present  Calhoun,  Georgia. 
Finding  it  deserted,  although  well  tilled  with  provision,  they 
rested  there  a  few  days,  the  Indians  in  the  meantime  attempting 
a  night  attack  without  success.  After  burning  the  town.  Sevier  con- 
tinued down  the  river  to  Etowah  town,  near  the  present  site  of  Rome. 
Here  the  Indians— Cherokee  and  Creeks — had  dug  intrenchments  and 
prepared  to  make  a  stand,  but,  being  outflanked,  were  defeated  with 
loss  and  compelled  to  retreat.  This  town,  with  several  others  in  the 
neighborhood  belonging  to  both  Cherokee  and  Creeks,  w-as  destroyed, 
with  all  the  provision  of  the  Indians,  including  three  hundred  cattle, 
after  which  the  army  took  up  the  homeward  march.  The  Americans 
had  lost  but  three  men.     This  was  the  last  military  service  of  Sevier.3 

During  the  absence  of  Sevier's  force  in  the  south  the  Indians  made 
a  sudden  inroad  on  the  French  Broad,  near  the  present  Dandridge, 
killing  and  scalping  a  woman  and  a  boy.  While  their  friends  were 
accompanying  the  remains  to  a  neighboring  burial  ground  for  "inter- 
ment, two  men  who  had  incautiously  gone  ahead  were  tired  upon.     One 

1  Ramsey.  Tennessee,  p.  579. 

2 Ibid.,  pp.  580-583  1853;  Smith.  letter,  September  27, 1793,  American  stale  Papers:  Indian  Affairs, 
[,  p. 468, 1832,  Ramsey  gives  tin-  Indian  force  1,000  warriors;  smith  *nys  that  in  many  places  they 
marched  in  tiles  of  Js  abreast,  each  tile  being  supposed  to  number 40  men. 

aRamsey,  up.  cit.,  pp.  584-588.  ■ 


76  MYTH-    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.akk.19 

of  them  escaped,  but  the  other  one  was  fouud  killed  and  scalped  when 
the  resl  of  thecompany  came  up,  and  was  buried  with  the  first  victims.. 
Sevier's  success  brought  temporary  respite  to  the  Cumberland  settle- 
ments. During  the  early  part  of  the  year  the  Indian  attacks  by 
small  raiding  parties  had  been  so  frequent  and  annoying  that  a  force 
of  men  had  been  kept  out  on  patrol  service  under  officers  who  adopted 
with  some  success  the  policy  of  hunting  the  Indian-  in  their  camping 
places  in  the  thickets,  rather  than  waiting  for  them  to  come  i n t < .  the 
settlements.' 

In  February,  1  T'.*4.  the  Territorial  assembly  of  Tennessee  met  at 
Knoxvillc  and.  among  other  business  transacted,  addressed  a  strong 
memorial  to  Congress  calling  for  mure  efficient  protection  for  the 
frontier  and  demanding  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  Creeks  and 
Cherokee.  The  memorial  states  that  since  the  treaty  of  Eiolston  (July, 
L791),  these  two  tribes  bad  killed  in  a  most  barbarous  and  inhuman 
manner  more  than  two  hundred  citizens  of  Tennessee,  of  both  sexes. 
had  carried  others  into  captivity,  destroyed  their  stock,  burned 
their  houses,  and  laid  waste  their  plantations,  had  robbed  the  citizens 
of  their  slaves  and  stolen  at  least  two  thousand  horses.  Special  atten- 
tion was  directed  to  the  two  great  invasion-  in  September,  17'.':.'.  and 
September,  1793,  and  the  memorialists  declare  that  there  was  scarcely 
a  man  of  the  assembly  hut  could  tell  of  "a  dear  wife  or  child,  an  aged 
parent  or  near  relation,  besides  friends,  massacred  by  the  hands  of  these 
bloodthirsty  nations  in  their  house  or  fields."8 

In  the  meantime  the  raids  continued  and  every  scattered  cabin  was  a 
target  for  attack.  In  April  a  party  of  twenty  warriors  surrounded 
the  house  of  a  man  named  Casteel  on  the  French  Broad  about  nine 
miles  above  Knoxville  and  massacred  father,  mother,  and  four  children 
in  most  brutal  fashion.  One  child  only  was  left  alive,  a  girl  of  ten 
years,  who  was  found  scalped  and  bleeding  from  six  tomahawk  gashes, 
vet  survived.  The  others  were  buried  in  one  grave.  The  massacre 
roused  such  a  storm  of  excitement  that  it  required  all  the  effort 
of  the  governor  and  the  local  officials  to  prevent  an  invasion  in  force 
of  the  Indian  country.  Tt  was  learned  that  Doublehead.  of  the  Chicka- 
mauga  towns,  was  trying  to  get  the  support  of  the  valley  towns,  which, 
however,  continued  to  maintain  an  attitude  of  peace.  The  friendly 
Cherokee  also  declared  that  the  Spaniards  were  constantly  instigating 
the  lower  tow  ns  to  hostilities,  although  John  Watts,  one  of  their  prin- 
cipal chiefs,  advocated  peace. ' 

In  June  a  boat  under  command  of  William  Scott,  laden  with  pot-, 
hardware,  and  other  property,  and  containing  six  white  men.  three 
women,  four  children,  and  twenty  negroes,  left  Knoxville  to  descend 

I  Ramsey.  Tennessee,  pp.  590.  602-605.  1853. 

i  Haywood,  civil  and  Political  Historj  of  Tennessee,  pp  800-802;  Knoxville,  1828 
ii, mi    pp  308-308,1828;  Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  pp.  591  594.    Haywood's  history  of  this  period  Is  little  more 
than  a  continuous  record  of  killings  and  petty  encounters. 


mooney]  CONFLICTS    WITH    CREEKS — 1794  ii 

Tennessee  river  to  Natchez.  As  it  passed  the  Chickamauga  towns  it 
was  fired  upon  from  Running  Water  and  Long  island  without  damage 
The  whites  returned  the  tire,  wounding  two  Indians.  A  large  party  of 
Cherokee,  headed  by  White-man-killer  (Une'ga-dihi").  then  started  in 
pursuit  of  the  boat,  which  they  overtook  at  Muscle  shoals,  where  they 
killed  all  the  white  people  in  it.  made  prisoners  of  the  negroes,  an. I 
plundered  the  goods.  Three  Indians  were  killed  and  one  was  wounded 
in  the  action.1  It  is  said  that  the  Indian  actors  in  this  massacre  tied 
across  the  Mississippi  into  Spanish  territory  and  became  the  nucleus  of 
the  Cherokee  Nation  of  the  West,  as  will  be  noted  elsewhere. 

On  June  26,  1794,  another  treaty,  intended  to  be  supplementary  to 
that  of  Holston  in  1791,  was  negotiated  at  Philadelphia,  being  signed 
by  the  Secretary  of  War  and  by  thirteen  principal  men  of  the  Chero- 
kee. An  arrangement  was  made  for  the  proper  marking  of  the 
boundary  then  established,  and  the  annuity  was  increased  to  five 
thousand  dollars,  with  a  proviso  that  fifty  dollars  were  to  be  deducted 
for  every  horse  -tolen  by  the  Cherokee  and  not  restored  within  three 
months.2 

In  July  a  man  named  John  Ish  was  shot  down  while  plowing  in  his 
field  eighteen  miles  below  Knoxville.  By  order  of  Hanging-maw,  the 
friendly  chief  of  Echota,  a  party  of  Cherokee  took  the  trail  and  cap- 
tured the  murderer,  who  proved  to  be  a  Creek,  whom  they  brought 
in  to  the  agent  at  Tellico  blockhouse,  where  he  was  formally  tried 
and  hanged.  When  asked  the  usual  question  he  said  that  his  people 
were  at  war  with  the  whites,  that  he  had  left  home  to  kill  or  be  killed. 
that  he  had  killed  the  white  man  and  would  have  escaped  but  for  the 
Cherokee,  and  that  there  were  enough  of  his  nation  to  avenge  his 
death.  A  few  days  later  a  party  of  one  hundred  Creek  warriors 
crossed  Tennessee  river  against  the  settlements.  The  alarm  was  given 
by  Hanging-maw.  and  fifty-three  Cherokee  with  a  few  federal  troops 
started  in  pursuit.  On  the  loth  of  August  they  came  up  with  the 
Creeks,  killing  one  and  wounding  another,  one  Cherokee  being  slightly 
wounded.  The  Creeks  retreated  and  the  victors  returned  to  the 
Cherokee  towns,  where  their  return  was  announced  by  the  death  song 
and  the  tiring  of  guns.  "The  night  was  spent  in  dancing  the  scalp 
dance,  according  to  the  custom  of  warriors  after  a  victory  over  their 
enemies,  in  which  the  white  and  red  people  heartily  joined.  The 
Upper  Cherokee  had  now  stepped  too  far  to  go  back,  and  their  pro- 
fessions of  friendship  were  now  no  longer  to  be  questioned."  In  the 
same  month  there  was  an  engagement  between  a  detachment  of  about 

1  Haywood, Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,  p.  308.1823;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  p. 594. 1853;  see 
also  memorial  in  Putnam,  Middle  Tennessee,  p.  502,  1859.  Haywi  lod  calls  the  leader  Unacala,  which 
should  be  Une'ga-dihl',  " White-man-killer.* '  Compare  Hayw 1's  statement  with  that  of  Wash- 
burn, on  page  100. 

^Indian  Treaties,  pp.  39,40, 1837;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation.  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
pp.  171,  172,  1SS8:  Documents  of  17'.>7-v\  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i,  pp.  628-631,  1832. 
The  treaty  is  not  mentioned  by  the  Tennessee  historians. 


78  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ajhi.19 

forty  soldiers  and  a  large  body  of  Creeks  near  ('rah  ( >rchard,  in  which 
several  of  each  were  killed.1  It  is  evident  that  much  of  the  damage 
on  hnth  sides  <>t'  the  Cumberland  range  was  due  to  the  Creeks. 

In  the  meantime  Governor  Blount  was  trying  to  negotiate  peace 
with  tin'  whole  Cherokee  Nation,  but  with  little  success.  The  Cher- 
okee claimed  to  he  anxious  for  permanent  peace,  hut  said  thai  it  was 
impossible  to  restore  the  property  taken  by  them,  as  it  had  been  taken 
in  war,  and  they  had  themselves  been  equal  losers  from  the  white-. 

They  said   also    that    they  COuld    not    prevent    the   hostile  Creeks  from 

passing  through  their  territory.  About  the  end  of  July  it  was  learned 
that  a  strong  body  of  ('reeks  had  started  north  against  the  settlements. 

The  militia  was  at  once  ordered  out  alone-  the  Tennessee  frontier,  and 
the  friendly  Cherokees  offered  their  services,  while  measures  were 
taken  to  protect  their  women  and  children  from  the  enemy.  The 
( 'reeks  advanced  as  far  as  Willstown,  when  the  news  came  of  the  com- 
plete defeat  of  the  confederated  northern  tribes  by  General  Wayne 
(30),  and  fearing  the  same  fate  for  themselves,  they  turned  back  and 
scattered  to  their  towns. - 

The  Tennesseeans.  especially  those  on  the  Cumberland,  had  lone-  ago 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  peace  could  he  brought  about  only  through 
the  destruction  of  the Chickamauga  towns.  Anticipating  some  action 
of  this  kind,  which  the  general  government  did  not  think  necessary  or 
advisable,  orders  against  any  such  attempt  had  been  issued  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  Governor  Blount.  The  frontier  people  went 
about  their  preparations,  however,  and  it  is  evident  from  the  result 
that  the  local  military  authorities  were  in  connivance  with  the  under- 
taking. General  Robertson  was  the  chief  organizer  of  the  volunteers 
about  Nashville,  who  were  reenforced  by  a  company  id'  Kentuckians 
under  Colonel  Whitley.  Major  Ore  had  been  sent  by  Governor 
Blount  with  a  detachment  of  troops  to  protect  the  Cumberland  settle- 
ments, and  on  arriving  at  Nashville  entered  as  heartily  into  the  project 
as  if  no  counter  orders  had  ever  been  issued,  and  was  given  chief  com- 
mand of  the  expedition,  which  for  this  reason  is  commonly  known  as 
■•(  he's  expedition." 

<  )n  September  7.  L794,  the  army  of  five  hundred  and  fifty  mounted 
men  left  Nashville,  and  five  days  later  crossed  the  Tennessee  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Sequatchee  river,  their  guide  being  the  same  Joseph 
Brown  of  whom  the  old  Indian  woman  had  said  that  he  would  one  day 
bring  the  soldiers  to  destroy  them.  Having  left  their  horses  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  they  moved  up  along  the  south  hank  just  after 
daybreak  of  the  L3th  and  surprised  the  town  of  Nickajack,  killing 
several  warriors  and  taking  a  Dumber  of  prisoners.  Some  who 
attempted   to  escape   in  canoes  were  shot  in  the  water.      The  warriors 

-.1,  Civil 1  Political  Historj  oi  Tennessee,  pp  809-311,  1828;  Ramsey,  rennessee,  pp.  594, 

-IImvu l,op.cit.,pp  314-316;  Ramsey,  op.  eit.,  p,   06. 


mooney]  END    OB1    CHEROKEE    WAR J 79-1  79 

iii  Running  Water  town,  four  miles  above,  heard  the  firing  and  came 
at  once  to  the  assistance  of  their  friends,  but  wen1  driven  back  after 
attempting  to  hold  their  ground,  and  the  second  town  shared  the  fate 
of  the  first.  More  than  fifty  Indians  had  been  killed,  a  number  were 
prisoners,  both  towns  and  all  their  contents  had  been  destroyed,  with 
a  loss  to  the  assailants  of  only  three  men  wounded.  The  Breath,  the 
chief  of  Running  Water,  was  among  those  killed.  Two  fresh  scalps 
with  a  large  quantity  of  plunder  from  the  settlements  were  found  in 
the  towns,  together  with  a  supply  of  ammunition  said  to  have  been 
furnished  by  the  Spaniards.1 

Soon  after  the  return  of  the  expedition  Robertson  sent  a  message  to 
John  Watts,  the  principal  leader  of  the  hostile  Cherokee,  threatening 
a  second  visitation  if  the  Indians  did  not  very  soon  surrender  their 
prisoners  and  give  assurances  of  peace.2  The  destruction  of  their 
towns  on  Tennessee  and  Coosa  and  the  utter  defeat  of  the  northern 
confederates  had  now  broken  the  courage  of  the  Cherokee,  and  on  their 
own  request  Governor  Blount  held  a  conference  with  them  at  Tellico 
blockhouse,  November  7  and  8,  1794,  at  which  Hanging-maw,  head 
chief  of  the  Nation,  and  Colonel  John  Watt,  principal  chief  of  the  hos- 
tile towns,  with  about  four  hundred  of  their  warriors,  attended.  The 
result  was  satisfactory;  all  differences  were  arranged  on  a  friendly 
basis  and  the  long  Cherokee  war  came  to  an  end.3 

Owing  to  the  continued  devastation  of  their  towns  during  the  Rev- 
olutionary struggle,  a  number  of  Cherokee,  principally  of  the  Chicka- 
mauga  band,  had  removed  across  the  Ohio  about  1782  and  settled  on 
Paint  creek,  a  branch  of  the  Scioto  river,  in  the  vicinity  of  their 
friends  and  allies,  the  Shawano.  In  17*7  they  were  reported  to  num- 
ber about  seventy  warriors.  They  took  an  active  part  in  the  hostili- 
ties along  the  Ohio  frontier  and  were  present  in  the  great  battle  at  the 
Maumee  rapids,  by  which  the  power  of  the  confederated  northern  tribes 
was  effectually  broken.  As  they  had  failed  to  attend  the  treaty  con- 
ference held  at  Greenville  in  August,  1795,  General  Wayne  sent  them 
a  special  message,  through  their  chief  Long-hair,  that  if  they  refused 
to  come  in  and  make  terms  as  the  others  had  done  they  would  be  con- 
sidered outside  the  protection  of  the  government.  Upon  this  a  part 
of  them  came  in  and  promised  that  as  soon  as  they  could  gather  their 
crops  the  wThole  band  would  leave  Ohio  forever  and  return  to  their 
people  in  the  south.4 

'Haywood,  Political  and  civil  History  of  Tennessee,  pp.  392-396.  1823;  Ramsey,  Tennessee  (with 
Major  Ore's  report),  pp.  608-618, 1853;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation.  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  Ethnology,  p  L71, 
1888;  Ore,  Robertson,  and  Blount,  reports,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i,  pp.  632-634,  1832 

-Ramsey,  op.  cit.,  p.  618. 

Tellico lferenee,  November  7-8, 1794,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i.  pp.  536-538,  ls:!2, 

Royce, op.  cit..  p.  173;  Ramsey,  op.  cit,  p. 596. 

'Beaver's  talk.  17sl,  Virginia  state  Papers,  in,  p.  571,1883;  McDowell,  report,  1786,  ibid.,  iv,  p.  118, 
1884;  McDowell,  report,  1787,  ibid.,  p.  286:  Todd,  letter,  1787,  ibid.,  p.  277;  Tellico  conference.  Novem- 
ber 7,  1794,  American  State  Papers;  Indian  Affairs, I, p. 538, 1832;  Greenville  treaty  conference,  August, 
1795,  ibid.,  pp.  582-583. 


80  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.akn.19 

The  Creeks  were  -till  hostile  and  continued  their  inroads  upon  the 
western  settlements.  Early  in  January,  17'.i.">.  Governor  Blount  held 
another  conference  with  the  Cherokee  and  endeavored  t"  persuade 
them  i"  organise  a  company  of  their  young  men  to  patrol  the  frontier 
against  the  Creeks,  but  to  this  proposal  the  chiefs  refused  to  consent.1 

In  the  next  year  it  was  discovered  that  a  movement  was  on  foot  to 
take  possession  of  certain  Indian  lands  south  of  the  Cumberland  on 
pretense  of  authority  formerly  granted  by  North  Carolina  for  the 
relief  of  Revolutionary  soldiers.  As  such  action  would  almost  surely 
have  resulted  in  another  Indian  war.  Congress  interposed,  on  the  rep- 
resentation of  President  Washington,  with  an  act  for  the  regulation  of 
intercourse  between  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  the  various 
Indian  tribes.  Its  main  purpose  was  to  prevent  intrusion  upon  lands 
to  which  the  Indian  title  had  not  been  extinguished  by  treaty  with  the 
general  government,  and  under  its  provisions  a  number  of  squatters 
were  ejected  from  the  Indian  country  and  removed  across  the  boundary. 
The  pressure  of  border  sentiment,  however,  was  constantly  for  extend- 
ing the  area  of  white  settlement  and  the  result  was  an  immediate  agita- 
tion to  procure  another  treaty  cession. : 

In  consequence  of  urgent  representations  from  the  people  of  Ten- 
nessee, Congress  took  steps  in  IT'.tT  for  procuring  a  new  treaty  with 
the  Cherokee  by  which  the  ejected  settlers  might  '»■  reinstated  and  the 
boundaries  of  the  new  state  so  extended  as  to  bring  about  closer  com- 
munication between  the  eastern  settlements  and  those  on  the  ( lumber- 
land.  Tin1  Revolutionary  warfare  had  forced  the  Cherokee  west  and 
south,  and  their  capital  and  central  gathering  place  was  now  Ustanali 
town,  near  the  present  Calhoun.  Georgia,  while  Echota,  their  ancient 
capital  and  beloved  peace  town,  was  almost  on  the  edge  of  the  white 
settlements.  The  commissioners  wished  to  have  the  proceedings  con- 
ducted at  Echota,  while  the  Cherokee  favored  Ustanali.  After  some 
debate  a  choice  was  made  of  a  convenient  place  near  Tellico  block- 
house, where  the  conference  opened  in  July,  hut  was  brought  to  an 
abrupt  (dose  by  the  peremptory  refusal  of  the  Cherokee  to  sell  any 
land-  or  to  permit  the  return  of  the  ejected  settlers. 

The  rest  of  the  summer  was  spent  in  negotiation  alone'  the  linos 
already  proposed,  and  on  October  2,  L798,  a  treaty,  commonly  known 
as  the  "first  treaty  of  Tellico."  was  concluded*at  the  same  place,  and 
was  signed  by  thirty-nine  chiefs  on  behalf  of  the  Cherokee.  By  this 
t  reaty  the  Indians  ceded  a  tract  between  ( !linch  river  and  the  Cumber- 
land ridge,  another  alone-  the  northern  hank  of  Little  Tennessee 
extending  up  to  Chilhowee  mountain,  and  a  third  in  North  Carolina  mi 
the  heads  of  French    Broad  and  Pigeon  rivers  and  including  the  sites 

i  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann   Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology, p.  IT:;,  1888 
s Ibid., pp.  174,175;  Ramsey, Tennessee, pp  ''7'.'  •  - 


mooxey]  CONDITION    OF    CHEROKEE    IX    1800  81 

of  the  present  Waynesville  and  Hendersonville.  These  cessions 
included  most  or  all  of  the  lands  from  which  settlers  had  been  ejected. 
Permission  was  also  given  for  laying  out  the  "Cumberland  road."  to 
connect  the  east  Tennessee  settlements  with  those  about  Nashville.  In 
consideration  of  the  lands  and  rights  surrendered,  the  United  States 
agreed  to  deliver  to  the  Cherokee  five  thousand  dollars  in  goods,  and 
to  increase  their  existing  annuity  by  one  thousand  dollars,  and  as  usual, 
to  •■continue  the  guarantee  of  the  remainder  of  their  country  forever."' 

Wayne's  victory  over  the  northern  tribes  at  the  battle  of  the  Mau- 
niee  rapids  completely  broke  their  power  and  compelled  them  to  accept 
the  terms  of  peace  dictated  at  the  treaty  of  Greenville  in  the  summer 
of  1795.  The  immediate  result  was  the  surrender  of  the  Ohio  river 
boundary  by  the  Indians  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  British  garrisons 
from  the  interior  posts,  which  up  to  this  time  they  had  continued  to 
hold  in  spite  of  the  treaty  made  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  By 
the  treaty  made  at  Madrid  in  October,  L795,  Spain  gave  up  all  claim 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  north  of  the  thirty-first  parallel,  but 
on  various  pretexts  the  formal  transfer  of  posts  was  delayed  and  a 
Spanish  garrison  continued  to  occupy  San  Fernando  de  Barrancas,  at 
the  present  Memphis.  Tennessee,  until  the  fall  of  1797,  while  that  at 
Natchez,  in  Mississippi,  was  not  surrendered  until  March.  1798.  The 
Creeks,  seeing  the  trend  of  affairs,  had  made  peace  at  Colerain. 
Georgia,  in  June,  179t>.  With  the  hostile  European  influence  thus 
eliminated,  at  least  for  the  time,  the  warlike  tribes  on  the  north  and 
on  the  south  crushed  and  dispirited  and  the  Chickamauga  towns  wiped 
out  of  existence,  the  Cherokee  realized  that  they  must  accept  the 
situation  and,  after  nearly  twenty  years  of  continuous  warfare,  laid  \^ 
aside  the  tomahawk  to  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace  and  civilization. 

The  close  of  the  century  found  them  still  a  compact  people  (the 
westward  movement  having  hardly  yet  begun)  numbering  probably 
about  20,000  souls.  After  repeated  cessions  of  large  tracts  of  land,  to 
some  of  which  they  had  but  doubtful  claim,  they  remained  in  recog- 
nized possession  of  nearly  4:3,000  square  miles  of  territory,  a  country 
about  equal  in  extent  to  Ohio.  Virginia,  or  Tennessee.  Of  this 'terri- 
tory about  one  half  was  within  the  limits  of  Tennessee,  the  remainder 
being  almost  equally  divided  between  Georgia  and  Alabama,  with  a 
small  area  in  the  extreme  southwestern  corner  of  North  Carolina.2 
The  old  Lower  towns  on  Savannah  river  had  been  broken  up  for 
twenty  years,  and  the  whites  had  so  far  encroached  upon  the  Upper 
towns  that  the  capital  and  council  tire  of  the  nation  had  been  removed 
from  the  ancient  peace  town  of  Echota  to  Ustanali,  in  Georgia.     The 


i  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  78-82.  1837;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  pp.  692-697.  ls.">:;;  Royce,  Cherokei 
(with  map  and  full  discussion i,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  174-lw,  1888. 
-See  table  in  Royce,  op.cit.,  p.  378. 

19    ETH— 01 6 


82  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ank.19 

towns  on  Coosa  river  and  in  Alabama  were  almost  all  of  recent  estab- 
lishment, peopled  by  refugees  from  the  east  and  north.  The  Middle 
towns,  in  North  Carolina,  were  still  surrounded  by  Indian  country. 

Firearms  had  been  introduced  into  the  tribe  about  one  hundred 
years  before,  and  the  Cherokee  had  learned  well  their  use.  Such 
civilized  goods  as  hatchets,  knives,  clothes,  and  trinkets  had  become 
so  common  before  the  first  Cherokee  war  that  the  Indians  had  declared 
that  they  could  no  longer  live  without  the  trader-.  Horses  and  other 
domestic  animals  had  been  introduced  early  in  the  century,  and  at  the 
opening  of  the  war  of  L760,  according  to  Adair,  the  Cherokee  had  "a 
prodigious  number  of  excellent  horses."  and  although  hunger  had 
compelled  them  t<>  eat  a  great  many  of  these  during  that  period,  they 
still  had,  in  1775.  from  two  to  a  dozen  each,  and  bid  fair  soon  to  have 
plenty  of  the  best  sort,  as,  according  to  the  same  authority,  they  were 
skilful  jockeys  and  nice  in  their  choice.  Some  of  them  had  grown 
fond  of  cattle,  and  they  had  also  an  abundance  of  hoes  and  poultry, 
the  Indian  pork  being  esteemed  better  than  that  raised  in  the  white 
settlements  on  account  of  the  chestnut  diet.1  In  Sevier's  expedition 
against  the  towns  on  Coosa  river,  in  1793,  the  army  killed  three  hun- 
dred beeves  at  Etowah  and  left  their  carcasses  rotting  on  the  ground. 
While  crossing  the  Cherokee  country  in  1796  Hawkins  met  an  Indian 
woman  on  horseback  driving  ten  very  fat  cattle  to  the  settlements  for 
sale.  Peach  trees  and  potatoes,  as  well  as  the  native  corn  and  beans, 
were  abundant  in  their  fields,  and  some  had  bees  and  honey  and  did  a 
considerable  trade  in  beeswax.  They  seem  to  have  quickly  recovered 
from  the  repeated  ravages  of  war.  and  there  was  a  general  air  of  pros- 
perity throughout  the  nation.  The  native  arts  ()f  pottery  and  basket- 
making  were  still  the  principal  employment  of  the  women,  and  the 
warriors  hunted  with  such  success  that  a  party  of  traders  brought 
down  thirty  wagon  loads  of  skins  on  one  trip."  In  dress  and  house- 
building the  Indian  style  was  practically  unchanged. 

In  pursuance  of  a  civilizing  policy,  the  government  had  agreed,  by 
the  treaty  of  17U1,  to  furnish  the  Cherokee  gratuitously  with  farming 
tools  and  similar  assistance.  This  policy  was  continued  and  broadened 
to  such  an  extent  that  in  L801  Hawkins  reports  that  "in  the  Cherokee 
agency,  the  wheel,  the  loom,  and  the  plough  is  [sic]  in  pretty  general 
use.  farming,  manufactures,  and  stock  raising  the  topic  of  conversation 
among  the  men  and  women."  At  a  conference  held  this  year  we  find 
the  chiefs  of  the  mountain  towns  complaining  that  the  people  of  the 
more  western  and  southwestern  settlements  had  received  more  than 
their  share  of  spinning  wheels  and  cards,  and  were  consequently  more 
advanced  in  making  their  own  clothing  as  well  as  in  farming,  to  which 

1  Adair,  American  Indians,  pp.280,281,  I77.Y 

2See  Hawkins,  MS  journal  from  South  Carolina  to  tin-  Creeks,  17%,  in  library  of  Georgia  Historical 
Society. 


N  uney]  INTERMARRIAGE    WITH    WHITES  83 

the  others  retorted  that  these  things  had  been  offered  to  all  alike  at 
the  same  time,  but  while  the  lowland  people  had  been  quick  to  accept, 
the  mountaineers  had  hung  back.  "Those  who  complain  came  in  late. 
We  have  got  the  start  of  them,  which  we  are  determined  to  keep." 
The  progressives,  under  John  Watts,  Doublehead.  and  Will,  threatened 
to  secede  from  the  rest  and  leave  those  east  of  Chilhowee  mountain  to 
shift  for  themselves.1  We  see  here  the  germ  of  dissatisfaction  which 
led  ultimately  to  the  emigration  of  the  western  band.  Along  with 
other  things  of  civilization,  negro  slavery  had  been  introduced  and 
several  of  the  leading  men  were  now  slaveholders  (31). 

Much  of  the  advance  in  civilization  had  been  due  to  the  intermar- 
riage among  them  of  white  men,  chiefly  traders  of  the  ante-Revolu- 
tionary period,  with  a  few  Americans  from  the  back  settlements.  The 
families  that  have  made  Cherokee  history  were  nearly  all  of  this  mixed 
descent.  The  Doughertys,  Galpins.  and  Adairs  were  from  Ireland:  the 
Rosses,  Vanns,  and  Macintoshes,  like  the  McGillivrays  and  Graysons 
among  the  Creeks,  were  of  Scottish  origin;  the  Waffords  and  others 
were  Americans  from  Carolina  or  Georgia,  and  the  father  of  Sequoya 
was  a  (Pennsylvania '.)  German.  Most  of  this  white  blood  was  of  good 
stock,  very  different  from  the  "squaw  man"  element  of  the  western 
tribes.  Those  of  the  mixed  blood  who  could  afford  it  usually  sent  their 
children  away  to  be  educated,  while  some  built  schoolhouses  upon 
their  own  grounds  and  brought  in  private  teachers  from  the  outside. 
With  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  we  find  influential  mixed 
bloods  in  almost  every  town,  and  the  civilized  idea  dominated  even  the 
national  councils.  The  Middle  towns,  shut  in  from  the  outside  world 
by  high  mountains,  remained  a  stronghold  of  Cherokee  conservatism. 

With  the  exception  of  Priber,  there  seems  to  be  no  authentic  record 
of  any  missionary  worker  among  the  Cherokee  before  1800.  There  is, 
indeed,  an  incidental  notice  of  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  North  Caro- 
lina being  on  his  way  to  the  tribe  in  1758,  but  nothing  seems  to  have 
come  of  it,  and  we  find  him  soon  after  in  South  Carolina  and  separated 
from  his  original  jurisdiction.2  The  first  permanent  mission  was  estab- 
lished by  the  Moravians,  those  peaceful  German  immigrants  whose 
teachings  were  so  well  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  Zeisberger  and 
Heckewelder.  As  early  as  1734,  while  temporarily  settled  in  Georgia, 
they  had  striven  to  bring  some  knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion  to 
the  Indians  immediately  about  Savannah,  including  perhaps  some 
stray  Cherokee.  Later  on  they  established  missions  among  the  Dela- 
wares  in  Ohio,  where  their  first  Cherokee  convert  was  received  in 
1773,  being  one  who  had  been  captured  by  the  Delawares  when  a 
boy  and  had  grown  up  and  married  in  the  tribe.  In  1752  they  had 
formed  a  settlement  on  the  upper  Yadkin,  near  the  present  Salem, 


1  Hawkins,  Treaty  Commission,  1801,  manuscript  No.  5,  m  library  of  Georgia  Historical  Society. 
-Foote  (?),  in  North  Carolina  Colonial  Records,  v.  p.  1'2'J6,  1887. 


M  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  lbth.akh.1S 

North  Carolina,  where  1 1  n - \  made  friendly  acquaintance  with  the 
Cherokee.1  In  L799,  hearing  thai  the  Cherokee  desired  teachers  or 
perhaps  bj  direct  invitation  of  the  chiefs  two  missionaries  visited 
the  tribe  to  investigate  the  matter.  Another  visit  wa-  made  in  the 
next  summer,  and  a  council  was  held  at  Tellico  agency,  where,  after  a 
debate  in  which  the  Indians  showed  considerable  difference  <>t'  opinion, 
it  was  decided  tn  open  a  mission.  Permission  having  been  obtained 
from  the  government,  the  work  was  begun  in  April.  L801,  by  Rev. 
Abraham  Steiner  and  Rev.  Gottlieb  Byhan  at  the  residence  of  David 
Vann,  a  prominent  mixed-blood  chief,  who  lodged  them  in  his  own 
bouse  and  gave  them  every  assistance  in  building  the  mission,  which 

they  afterward  called  Spring  place,  where  now  is  the  village  of  the 
same  name  in  Murray  county,  northwestern  Georgia.  They  were 
also  materially  aided  by  the  agent,  Colonel  Return  J.  Meigs  (32).  It 
was  soon  seen  that  the  Cherokee  wanted  civilizers  for  their  children, 
and  not    new  theologies,  and  when  they  found  that  a  school  could  not 

at   once   1 pened   the  great   council  at   I'stanali  sent  orders  to  the 

missi iries  to  organize  a  school  within  six  months  or  leave  the  nation. 

Through  Vann's  help  the  matter  was  arranged  and  a  school  was 
opened,  several  sons  of  prominent  chiefs  being  among  the  pupils. 
Another  Moravian  mission  was  established  by  Reverend  .1.  Gambold 
at  Oothcaloga,  in  the  same  county,  in  1821.  Roth  were  in  flourishing 
condition  when  broken  up.  with  other  Cherokee  missions,  by  the  Stair 
of  Georgia  in  1834:.  The  work  was  afterward  renewed  beyond  the 
Mississippi.5 

In  1804  the  Reverend  Gideon  Blackburn,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of 
Tennessee,  opened  a  school  among  the  Cherokee,  which  continued  for 
several  years  until  abandoned  for  lack  of  funds.8 

Notwithstanding  the  promise  to  the  Cherokee  in  the  treaty  of  1798 
that  the  Government  would  "continue  the  guarantee  of  the  remain- 
der of  their  country  forever."  measures  were  begun  almost  imme- 
diately to  procure  another  large  cession  of  land  and  road  privileges. 
In  spite  of  the  strenuous  objection  of  the  Cherokee,  who  sent  a 
delegation  of  prominent  chiefs  to  Washington  to  protest  against  any 
further  sales,  such  pressure  was  brought  to  hear,  chiefly  through  the 
efforts  of  the  agent,  Colonel  Meigs,  that  the  object  of  the  Government 
was  accomplished,  and  in  L804  and  1805  three  treaties  were  negotiated 
at  Tellico  agency,  by  which  the  Cherokee  were  shorn  id'  more  than 
eight  thousand  square  miles  of  their  remaining  territory. 

By  the  first  of  these  treaties  October  24,  1804 — a  purchase  was 
made  of  a  small  tract  in  northeastern  Georgia,  known  as  the  "Warlord 

'  North  Carolina  Colonial  R rds,  v.  p.  \,  i.ss;. 

JReichel,  E.  II..  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Church  and  Missions  of  the  I  nited  Brethren,  pp.  65  81; 
hem   en    L848;  Holmes,  J. ait,.  Sketches  ol  the  Missions  o!  the  United  Brethren,  pp.  124,  125, 

109    i  !    Dublin    L818:  II pson,  A.  ('..  Moravian  Mis-ions,  p.  341;  New  York,  1890;  De  Schweinitz, 

Edmund,  Life  ol  Zeisberger,  pp.  894  196   Phils  .  1870. 

■  Morse,  American  Geography,  i,  p.  577,  1819. 


mooney]  TREATY    OF    WASHINGTON — 18(»6  85 

settlement,"  upon  which  a  party  led  by  Colonel  Wafford  had  located 
some  years  before,  under  the  impression  that  it  was  outside  the  bound- 
ary established  bythe  Hopewell  treaty.  In  compensation  the  Cherokee 
were  to  receive  an  immediate  payment  of  live  thousand  dollars  in 
goods  or  cash  with  an  additional  annuity  of  one  thousand  dollars.  By 
the  other  treaties — October  25 and  u'7.  L805 — a  large  tract  was  obtained 
in  central  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  extending  between  the  Cumber- 
land range  and  the  western  line  of  the  Hopewell  treaty,  and  from 
Cumberland  river  southwest  to  Duck  river.  One  section  was  also 
secured  at  Southwest  point  (now  Kingston,  Tennessee)  with  the  design 
of  establishing  there  the  state  capital,  which,  however,  was  located  at 
Nashville  instead  seven  years  later.  Permission  was  also  obtained  for 
two  mail  roads  through  the  Cherokee  country  into  Georgia  and  Ala- 
bama. In  consideration  of  the  cessions  by  the  two  treaties  the  United 
States  agreed  to  pay  fifteen  thousand  six  hundred  dollars  in  working 
implements,  goods,  orcash,  with  an  additional  annuity  of  three  thousand 
dollars.  To  secure  the  consent  of  some  of  the  leading  chiefs,  the 
treaty  commissioners  resorted  to  the  disgraceful  precedent  of  secret 
articles,  by  which  several  valuable  small  tracts  were  reserved  for 
Doublehead  and  Tollunteeskee,  the  agreement  being  recorded  as  a  part 
of  the  treaty,  but  not  embodied  in  the  copy  sent  to  the  Senate  for  con- 
firmation.1 In  consequence  of  continued  abuse  of  his  official  position 
for  selfish  ends  Doublehead  was  soon  afterward  killed  in  accordance 
with  a  decree  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Nation,  Major  Ridge  being  selected 
as  executioner.2 

By  the  treaty  of  October  25, 1805,  the  settlements  in  eastern  Tennessee 
were  brought  into  connection  with  those  about  Nashville  on  the  Cumber- 
land, and  the  state  at  last  assumed  compact  form.  The  whole  southern 
portion  of  the  state,  as  defined  in  the  charter,  was  still  Indian  coun- 
try, and  there  was  a  strong  and  constant  pressure  for  its  opening,  the 
prevailing  sentiment  being  in  favor  of  making  Tennessee  river  the 
boundary  between  the  two  races.  New  immigrants  were  constantly 
crowding  in  from  the  east.  and.  as  Royce  says,  "the  desire  to  settle 
on  Indian  land  was  as  potent  and  insatiable  with  the  average  border 
settler  then  as  it  is  now."  Almost  within  two  months  of  the  last 
treaties  another  one  was  concluded  at  Washington  on  January  7,  1806, 
by  which  the  Cherokee  ceded  their  claim  to  a  large  tract  between 
Duck  river  and  the  Tennessee,  embracing  nearly  seven  thousand 
'  square  miles  in  Tennessee  and  Alabama,  together  with  the  Long  island 
(Great  island)  in  Holston  river,  which  up  to  this  time  they  had  claimed 
as  theirs.  They  were  promised  in  compensation  ten  thousand  dollars 
in  five  cash  installments,  a  grist  mill  and  cotton  gin,  and  a  life  annuity 

1  Indian  treaties,  pp.108, 121, 125, 1837;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann. Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnol- 
ogy, pp.  183  193, 1888  (map  and  full  discussion  I. 
-McKenney  and  Hall,  Indian  Tribes,  n,  p.  92,  1858. 


86  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

of  one  hundred  dollars  for  Black-fox,  the  aged  head  chief  of  the  nation. 
The  signers  of  the  instrument,  including  Doublehead  and  Tollunteeskee, 
were  accompanied  to  Washington  by  the  same  commissioners  who  had 
procured  the  previous  treaty.  In  consequence  of  some  misunderstand 
ing,  the  boundaries  <>l'  the  ceded  trad  were  Mill  further  extended  in  a 

supple ntary  treaty  concluded  at  the  Chickasaw  Old  Fields  on  the 

Tennessee,  on  September  11.  L807.  As  the  country  between  Duck 
river  and  the  Tennessee  was  claimed  also  by  t  In-  Chickasaw,  their  title 
was  extinguished  by  separate  treaties.'  The  ostensible  compensation 
for  this  lust  Cherokee  cession,  as  shown  by  the  treaty,  was  two  thou 
sand  dollars,  but  it  was  secretly  agreed  by  Agent  Meigs  that  what  he 
calls  a  "silenl  consideration"  of  one  thousand  dollars  and  some  rifles 
should  be  given  to  the  chiefs  who  signed  it.; 

In  L807  Colonel  Elias  Earle,  with  the  consent  of  the  Government, 
obtained  a  concession  from  the  Cherokee  for  the  establishment  of  iron 
works  at  the  mouth  of  Chickamauga  creek,  on  the  south  side  of  Ten- 
nessee river,  to  be  supplied  from  ores  mined  in  the  Cherokee  country. 
It  was  hoped  that  this  would  be  a  considerable  step  toward  the  civili- 
zation of  the  Indians,  besides  enabling  the  Government  to  obtain  its 
supplies  of  manufactured  iron  at  a  cheaper  rate,  hut  after  prolonged 
effort  the  project  was  finally  abandoned  on  account  of  the  refusal  of 
the  state  of  Tennessee  to  sanction  the  grant.3  In  the  same  year,  by 
arrangement  with  the  general  government,  the  legislature  of  Tennessee 
attempted  to  negotiate  with  the  Cherokee  for  that  part  of  their  unceded 
lands  lying  within  the  state  limits,  but  without  success,  owing  to  the 
unwillingness  of  the  Indians  to  part  with  any  more  territory,  and  their 
special  dislike  for  the  people  of  Tennessee.* 

In  L810  the  Cherokee  national  council  registered  a  further  advance 
in  civilization  by  formally  abolishing  the  custom  of  clan  revenge, 
hitherto  universal  among  the  tribes.  The  enactment  bears  the  signa- 
tures of  Black-fox  (Ina'li),  principal  chief,  and  seven  others,  and  reads 
as  follows: 

In  Council,  Oostinaleh,  April  IS,  1810. 

1.  Be  it  known  this  .lay,  That  the  various  clans  or  tribes  which  compose  the  Cher- 
okee nation  have  unanimously  passed  an  act  of  oblivion  for  all  lives  for  which  they 
may  have  been  indebted  one  to  the  other,  and  have  mutually  agreed  that  after  this 
evening  the  aforesaid  act  shall  become  binding  upon  every  clan  or  tribe  thereof. 

•1.  Tlie  aforesaid  clans  or  tribes  have  also  agreed  that  if,  in  future,  any  life  should 
be  lost  without  malice  intended,  the  innocent  aggressor  shall  not  be  accounted  guilty; 


i  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  132-136,  1837;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Kip.  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
pp.  193-197,  1888. 

2 Meigs,  letter,  September  28,  1807,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i.  p.  754,  1832     Royi 
op.cit.,  p.  197. 

si  <   treaty,  December  ^,  1807,  and  Jefferson's  message,  with  inclosures,  March  10,  1808,  American 
State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i.  pp.  752-754,  1832;  Royce,  op.cit., pp.  199-201. 

•  Ibid.,  pp.  201,202. 


mooney]  THE    UNICOI    TURNPIKE  Si 

and.  should  it  so  happen  thai  a  brother,  forgetting  his  natural  affections,  should 
raise  his  hands  in  anger  and  kill  his  brother,  he  shall  be  accounted  guilty  of  murder 
and  suffer  accordingly. 

::.   If  a  man  have  a  horse  stolen,  and  overtake  the  thief,  and  sin  mid  his  anger  be 

so  great  as  to  cause  him  to  shed  his  hi 1,  let  it  remain  on  his  ow  n  conscience,  bul 

no  satisfaction  shall  be  required  for  his  life,  from  his  relative  or  clan  he  may  have 
belonged  to. 

Bj  order  of  the  seven  clans. ' 

Under  an  agreement  with  the  Cherokee  in  1813a  company  composed 
pf  representatives  of  Tennessee,  Georgia,  and  the  Cherokee  nation 
was  organized  to  lay  out  a  free  public  road  from  Tennessee  river  to 
the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Tugaloo  branch  of  Savannah  river,  with 
provision  for  convenient  stopping  places  alone-  the  line.  The  road 
was  completed  within  the  next  three  years,  and  became  the  great  high- 
way from  the  coast  to  the  Tennessee  settlements.  Beginning  on  the 
Tugaloo  or  Savannah  a  short  distance  below  the  entrance  of  Toccoa 
creek,  it  crossed  the  upper  Chattahoochee,  passing  through  Clarkes- 
ville,  Nacoochee  valley,  the  Unicoi  gap.  and  Hiwassee  in  Georgia; 
then  entering  North  Carolina  it  descended  the  Hiwassee,  passing 
through  Hayesville  and  Murphy  and  over  the  Great  Smoky  range  into 
Tennessee,  until  it  reached  the  terminus  at  the  Cherokee  capital, 
Echota,  on  Little  Tennessee.  It  was  officially  styled  the  Unicoi  turn- 
pike,' but  was  commonly  known  in  North  Carolina  as  the  Wachesa 
trail,  from  Watsi'sa  or  Wachesa,  a  prominent  Indian  who  lived  near 
the  crossing-place  on  Beaverdam  creek,  below  Murphy,  this  portion 
of  the  road  being  laid  out  along  the  old  Indian  trail  which  already 
bore  that  name.3 

Passing  over  for  the  present  some  negotiations  having  for  their  pur- 
pose the  removal  of  the  Cherokee  to  the  West,  we  arrive  at  the  period 
of  the  Creek  war. 

Ever  since  the  treaty  of  Greenville  it  had  been  the  dream  of  Tecum- 
tha,  the  great  Shawano  chief  (33),  to  weld  again  the  conf ederacj'  of  the 
northern  tribes  as  a  harrier  against  the  further  aggressions  of  the  white 
man.  His  own  burning  eloquence  was  ably  seconded  by  the  subtler 
persuasion  of  his  brother,  who  assumed  the  role  of  a  prophet  with  a 
new  revelation,  the  burden  of  which  was  that  the  Indians  must  return 
to  their  old  Indian  life  it'  they  would  preserve  their  national  existence. 
The  new  doctrine  spread  among  all  the  northern  tribes  and  at  hist 
reached  those  of  the  south,  where  TecumAha  himself  had  gone  to  enlist 
the  warriors  in  the  great  Indian  confederacy.  The  prophets  of  the 
Upper  Creeks  eagerly  accepted  the  doctrine  and  in  a  short  time  their 
warriors  were  dancing  the  "dance  of  the  Indians  of  the  lakes."     In 

iln  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  n,  p.  283, 1831. 

2See  contract  appended  to  Washington  treaty,  1819,  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  269-271,  1837;  Royce  map, 
Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1888. 
3  Author's  personal  information. 


MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  i  ™ 


anticipation  of  an  expected   war  with  the   United   Stair-  the   British 

agents  in  Canada  had  I n  encouraging  the  hostile  feeling  toward  the 

Americans  by  talks  and  presents  of  goods  and  ammunition,  while  the 
Spaniards  also  covertly  fanned  the  flame  of  discontent.'  At  the  beighl 
of  the  ferment  war  was  declared  between  thi-  country  and  England  on 
June  28,  1812.  Tecumtha,  :it  the  bead  of  fifteen  hundred  warriors,  at 
once  entered  the  British  service  with  a  commission  as  general,  while 
the  Creeks  began  murdering  and  burning  along  the  southern  frontier, 
after  having  vainly  attempted  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  the  ( Iherokee. 

From  the  Creeks  the  new  revelation  was  brought  to  the  Cherokee, 
whose  priests  at  once  began  to  dream  dreams  and  to  preach  a  return  to 
the  old  life  as  the  only  hope  of  the  Indian  rare.  A  greal  medicine 
dance  was  appointed  at  (Jstanali,  the  national  capital,  where,  after  the 
dance  was  over,  the  doctrine  was  publicly  announced  and  explained  by 
a  Cherokee  prophet  introduced  by  a  delegation  from  Coosawatee.  He 
began  by  saying  that  some  of  the  mountain  towns  had  abused  him  and 
refused  to  receive  his  message,  hut  nevertheless  he  must  continue  to 
hear  testimony  of  his  mission  whatever  might  happen.  The  Cherokee 
had  broken  the  road  which  had  been  given  to  their  fathers  at  the  begin- 
ningof  the  world.  They  hud  taken  the  white  man's  clothes  and  trinkets. 
they  had  beds  and  tables  and  mills;  some  even  had  hooks  and  cats.  All 
this  was  had,  and  because  of  it  their  gods  were  angry  and  the  game 
was  leaving  their  country.  If  they  would  live  and  be  happy  as  before 
they  must  put  off  the  white  man's  dress,  throw  away  his  mills  and 
looms,  kill  their  cats,  put  on  paint  and  buckskin,  and  be  Indians  again; 
otherwise  swift  destruction  would  come  upon  them. 

His  speech  appealed  strongly  to  the  people,  who  cried  out  in  great 
excitement  that  his  talk  was  good.  Of  all  those  present  only  Major 
Ridge,  a  principal  child',  had  the  courage  to  stand  up  and  oppose  it, 
warning  his  hearers  that  such  talk  would  inevitably  lead  to  war  with 
the  United  States,  which  would  end  in  their  own  destruction.  The 
maddened  followers  of  the  prophet  sprang  upon  Ridge  and  would  have 
killed  him  hut  for  the  interposition  of  friends.  As  it  was.  he  was  thrown 
down  and  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life,  while  one  of  his  defender- 
was  stabbed  by  his  side. 

The  prophet  had  threatened  after  a  certain  time  to  invoke  a  terrible 
storm,  which  should  destroy  all  hut  the  true  believers,  who  were 
exhorted  to  gather  for  safety  on  one  of  the  high  peaks  of  the  Great 
Smoky  mountains.  In  full  faith  they  abandoned  their  bees,  their 
orchards,  their  slaves,  and  everything  that  had  come  to  them  from  the 
white  man.  and  took  up  their  toilsome  march  for  the  high  mountains. 
There  they  waited  until  the  appointed  day  had  come  and  passed,  show- 

1  Mooney,  Ghost-dance  Religion,  Fourteenth  Ami.  Rep.  Bim'au  of  Ethnology,  p.  670  el  passim, 
1896;  contemporary  documents  in  American  State  Papers:  [ndian  Affairs,!, pp. 798-801, 845 


moosev]  BEGINNING    OF    CREEK    WAR — 1813  89 

in<r  their  hopes  and  fears  t<>  be  groundless,  when  they  sadly  returned 
to  their  homes  and  the  great  Indian  revival  among  the  Cherokee  came 
in  an  end.1 

Among  the  ('recks,  where  other  hostile  influences  were  at  work,  the 
excitement  culminated  in  the  Creek  war.  Several  murders  and  outrages 
had  already  been  committed,  but  it  was  not  until  the  terrible  massacre 
at  Fort  Minis  (34),  on  August  30,  L813,  that  the  whole  American  nation 
was  aroused.  Through  the  influence  of  Ridge  and  other  prominent 
chiefs  the  Cherokee  had  refused  to  join  the  hostile  Creeks,  and  on  the 
contrary  had  promised  to  assist  the  whites  and  the  friendly  towns.2 
More  than  a  year  before  the  council  had  sent  a  friendly  letter  to  the 
Creeks  warning  them  against  taking  the  British  side  in  the  approach- 
ing war,  while  several  prominent  chiefs  had  proposed  to  enlist  a  Chero- 
kee force  for  the  service  of  the  United  States.'  Finding  that  no  help 
was  to  be  expected  from  the  Cherokee,  the  Creeks  took  occasion  to  kill 
a  Cherokee  woman  near  the  town  of  Etowah,  in  Georgia.  With  the 
help  of  a  conjurer  the  murderers  were  trailed  and  overtaken  and  killed 
on  the  evening  of  the  second  day  in  a  thicket  where  they  had  concealed 
themselves.  After  this  there  could  be  no  alliance  between  the  two 
tribes.* 

At  the  time  of  the  Fort  Mims  massacre  Mcintosh  (35),  the  chief  of 
the  friendly  Lower  Creeks,  was  visiting  the  Cherokee,  among  whom 
he  had  relatives.  By  order  of  the  Cherokee  council  he  was  escorted 
home  by  a  delegation  under  the  leadership  of  Ridge.  On  his  return 
Ridge  brought  with  him  a  request  from  the  Lower  Creeks  that  the 
Cherokee  would  join  with  them  and  the  Americans  in  putting  down 
the  war.  Ridge  himself  strongly  urged  the  proposition,  declaring 
that  if  the,  prophets  were  allowed  to  have  their  way  the  work  of  civil- 
ization would  be  destroyed.  The  council,  however,  decided  not  to 
interfere  in  the  affairs  of  other  tribes,  whereupon  Ridge  called  for 
volunteers,  with  the  result  that  so  many  of  the  warriors  responded  that 
the  council  reversed  its  decision  and  declared  war  against  the  Creeks." 
For  a  proper  understanding  of  the  situation  it  is  necessary  to  state  that 
the  hostile  feeling  was  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  Upper  Creek 
towns  on  the  Tallapoosa,  where  the  prophets  of  the  new  religion  had 
their  residence.  The  half-breed  chief,  Weatherford  (•".»'.).  was  the 
leader  of  the  war  party.     The  Lower  Creek  towns  on  the  Clu.ttahoo- 

iSee  Mooney,  Ghost  dance  Religion,  Fourteenth  Aim.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  670-677, 1896; 
McKennej   and  Hall,  Indian  Tribes,  II,  pp.  93-95, 1858;  see  also  contemporary  letters  (1813,  etc.)  by 

Hawkins.  Cornells,  and  others  in  American  state  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i,  1S32. 

-Letters  of  Hawkins,  Pinckney,  and  Cussetah  King,  July,  1813,  American  State  Papers:  Indian 
Affairs,  II,  pp.  847-849,  1832. 

:l Meigs,  letter,  May  s.  1812,  and  Hawkins,  letter.  May  11,  1812,  ibid.,  p.809. 

4  Author's  information  from  James  I).  Wafford. 

'MeKenney  and  Hall,  Indian  Tribes,  n,  pi..  96-97,  IS  8 


■  Mi  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHKEOKEE  [bth  inn- .19 

chec,  under  Mcintosh,  another  half-breed  chief ,  were  friendly,  and 
acted  with  the  Cherokee  and  the  Americans  against  their  own  brethren. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  give  a  history  of  the  Creek  war,  but  only 
to  note  the  part  which  the  Cherokee  had  in  it.  The  friendly  Lower 
Creeks,  under  Mcintosh,  with  a  few  refugees  from  the  Upper  towns, 
operated  chiefly  with  the  army  under  Genera]  Floyd  which  invaded 
the  southern  pari  of  the  Creels  country  from  Georgia.  Some  friendly 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  also  lenl  their  assistance  in  tin-  direction. 
The  Cherokee,  with  some  friendly  Creeks  of  the  Upper  towns,  acted 
with  tli*'  armies  under  Generals  White  and  .lack-on.  which  entered 
the  Creek  country  from  the  Tennessee  side.  While  some  hundreds 
of  their  warriors  were  thus  fighting  in  the  field,  the  Cherokee  at  home 
were  busily  collecting  provisions  for  the  American  troops. 

As  Jackson  approached  from  the  north,  about  the  end  of  October, 
L813,  be  wa-  met  by  runners  asking  him  to  come  to  the  aid  of  Path- 
killer,  a  Cherokee  chief,  who  was  in  danger  of  being  cut  off  by  the 
hostilcs.  at  his  village  of  Turkeytown,  on  the  upper  Coosa,  near  the 
present  Center.  Alabama.  A  fresh  detachment  on  its  way  from  east 
Tennessee,  under  General  White,  was  ordered  by  Jackson  to  relieve 
the  town,  and  successfully  performed  this  work.  White's  force  con- 
sisted of  one  thousand  men.  including  four  hundred  Cherokee  under 
Colonel  Gideon  Morgan  and  .John  Lowrey.1 

As  the  army  advanced  down  the  Coosa  the  Creeks  retired  to  Tallasee- 
hatchee,  on  the  creek  of  the  same  name,  near  the  present  Jacksonville, 
Calhoun  county.  Alabama.  One  thousand  men  under  General  Coffee, 
together  with  a  company  of  Cherokee  under  Captain  Richard  Brown 
and  some  few  Creeks,  were  sent  against  them.  The  Indian  auxiliaries 
wore  headdresses  of  white  feathers  and  deertails.  The  attack  was 
made  at  daybreak  of  November  •"».  1813,  and  the  town  was  taken  after 
a  desperate  resistance,  from  which  not  one  <ff  the  defenders  escaped 
alive,  the  Creeks  having  been  completely  surrounded  on  all  sides. 
Says  Coffee  in  his  official  report: 

They  made  all  the  resistance  thai  an  overpowered  soldier  could  '1<> — they  fought  as 
long  as  "lie  existed,  but  their  destruction  was  very  Boon  completed.  Our  men  rushed 
up  i"  the  doors  of  the  house- ami  in  a  few  minutes  killed  the  last  warrior  of  then). 
The  enemy  f ought  with  savage  fury  and  met  death  with  all  its  horrors,  without 
shrinking  or  complaining — not  one  asked  to  he  spared,  butfought  as  long  as  they 
could  stand  or  sit. 

<  )f  such  fighting  stuff  did  the  Creeks  prove  themselves,  against  over 
whelming  numbers,  throughout  the  war.  The  bodies  of  nearly  two 
hundred  dead  warriors  were  counted  on  the  field,  and  the  general 
reiterates  that  "not  one  of  the  warriors  escaped."  A  number  of 
women  and  children  were  taken  prisoners.  Nearly  every  man  of  the 
Creeks  had  a  how    with   a  bundle  of  arrows,  which  he  used  after  the 

'Drake,  Indians,  pp.  895-396,  1880;  Pickett,  Alabama,  p,  556,  reprint  "i  1896. 


mookey]  BATTLES    OF    TALLADEGA    AND    HILLABEE — 1813  91 

first  fire  with  his  gun.  The  American  loss  was  only  five  killed  and 
forty-one  wounded,  which  may  not  include  the  Indian  contingent.1 

White's  advance  guard,  consisting  chiefly  of  the  four  hundred  other 
Cherokee  under  Morgan  and  Lowrey,  reached  Tallaseehatchee  the  same 
evening,  only  to  find  it  already  destroyed.  They  picked  up  twenty 
wounded  Creeks,  whom  they  brought  with  them  to  Turkeytown.5 

The  next  great  battle  was  at  Talladega,  on  the  site  of  the  present 
town  of  the  same  name,  in  Talladega  county.  Alabama,  on  November 9, 
1813.  Jackson  commanded  in  person  with  two  thousand  infantry  and 
cavalry.  Although  the  Cherokee  are  not  specifically  mentioned  they 
were  a  part  of  the  army  and  must  have  taken  part  in  the  engagement. 
The  town  itself  was  occupied  by  friendly  Creeks,  who  were  besieged 
l>y  the  hostiles,  estimated  at  over  one  thousand  warriors  on  the  out- 
side. Here  again  the  battle  was  simply  a  slaughter,  the  odds  being 
two  to  one.  the  Creeks  being  also  without  cover,  although  they  fought 
.so  desperately  that  at  one  time  the  militia  was  driven  back.  They 
left  two  hundred  and  ninety-nine  dead  bodies  on  the  field,  which, 
according  to  their  own  statement  afterwards,  was  only  a  part  of 
their  total  loss.  The  Americans  lost  fifteen  killed  and  eighty-five 
wounded.3 

A  day  or  two  later  the  people  of  Hillabee  town,  about  the  site  of 
the  present  village  of  that  name  in  Clay  county.  Alabama,  sent  mes- 
sengers to  Jackson's  camp  to  ask  for  peace,  which  that  commander 
immediately  granted.  In  the  meantime,  even  while  the  peace  mes- 
sengers were  on  their  way  home  with  the  good  news,  an  army  of  one 
thousand  men  from  east  Tennessee  under  General  White,  who  claimed 
to  be  independent  of  Jackson's  authority,  together  with  four  hundred 
Cherokee  under  Colonel  Gideon  Morgan  and  John  Lowrey.  surrounded 
the  town  on  November  18,  1813,  taking  it  by  surprise,  the  inhabitants 
having  trusted  so  confidently  to  the  success  of  their  peace  embassy 
that  they  had  made  no  preparation  for  defense.  Sixty  warriors  were 
killed  and  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners  taken,  with  no  loss  to 
the  Americans,  as  there  was  practically  no  resistance.  In  White's 
official  report  of  the  affair  he  states  that  he  had  sent  ahead  a  part  of 
his  force,  together  with  the  Cherokee  under  Morgan,  to  surround  the 
town,  and  adds  that  "Colonel  Morgan  and  the  Cherokees  under  his 
command  gave  undeniable  evidence  that  they  merit  the  employ  of 
their  government."'  Not  knowing  that  the  attack  had  been  made 
without  Jackson's  sanction  or  knowledge,  the  Creeks  naturally  con- 

1  Coffee,  report,  etc.,  in  Drake,  Indians,  p.  396,  1880;  Lossing,  Field  Book  of  the  War  of  1812,  pp. 
762,763  [n.  d.  (1869)];  Pickett,  Alabama, p.  553,  reprint  of  18%. 

2Ibid.,p.  556. 

3 Drake,  Indians,  p.  396,  1880;  Pickett,  op.cit.,  pp.  554,  555. 

'White's  report,  etc.,  in  Fay  and  Davison,  Sketches  of  the  War,  pp.  240.  241:  Rutland,  Vt.,  1815; 
Low.  John!  Impartial  History  of  the  War,  p.  199;  New  York,  1815;  Drake,  op.  cit.,  p.  397;  Pickett,  op. 
cit.,  p.  557;  Lossing,  op.  cit.,  p.  767.  Low  says  White  had  about  1,100  mounted  men,  -'including 
upward  "f  300  Cherokee  Indians."    Pickett  gives  White  400  Cherokee. 


92  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


eluded  thai  peace  overtures  were  of  no  avail,  and  thenceforth  until 
tlir  close  of  the  war  there  was  m>  talk  of  surrender. 

On  November  29,  L813,  the  Georgia  army  under  General  Floyd, 
consisting  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  American  troops  and  four  hun- 
dred friendly  Indian-,  chiefly  Lower  Creeks  under  Mcintosh,  took 
and  destroyed  Autossee  town  on  the  Tallapoosa,  west  of  the  present 
Tuskegee.  killing  about  two  hundred  warriors  and  burning  four  hun- 
dred well-buill  nouses.  On  December  .'•':  the  Creeks  were  again 
defeated  by  General  Claiborne,  assisted  by  some  friendly  Choctaws, 
at  Ecanachaca  or  the  Holy  Ground  on  Alabama  river,  near  the  present 
Benton  in  Low  ndes  county.  This  town  and  another  a  few  miles  awav 
were  also  destroyed,  with  a  great  quantity  of  provisions  and  other 
property.1  It  is  doubtful  if  any  Cherokee  were  concerned  in  either 
action. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  Jackson's  force  in  northern  Alabama 
had  been  so  far  reduced  by  mutinies  and  expiration  of  service  terms 
that  he  had  l>ut  one  hundred  soldiers  left  and  was  obliged  to  employ 
the  Cherokee  to  garrison  Fort  Armstrong,  on  the  upper  Coosa,  ami  to 
protect  his  provision  depot.'  With  theopeningof  the  new  year,  L814, 
having  received  reinforcements  from  Tennessee,  together  with  about 
two  hundred  friendly  Creeks  and  sixty-five  more  Cherokee,  he  left  his 
camp  on  the  Coosa  and  advanced  against  the  towns  on  the  Tallapoosa. 
Learning,  on  arriving  near  the  river,  that  he  was  within  a  few  miles 
of  the  main  body  of  the  enemy,  he  halted  for  a  reconnoissance  and 
camped  in  order  of  Wattle  on  Fmukfaw  creek,  on  the  northern  hank  of 

the  Tallaj sa,  only  a  short  distance  from  the  famous  Horseshoe  bend. 

Here,  on  the  morning  of  June  24,  1814,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by 
the  enemy  with  such  fury  that,  although  the  troops  charged  with  the 
bayonet,  the  Creeks  returned  again  to  the  fight  and  were  at  last  broken 
only  by  the  help  of  the  friendly  Indians,  who  came  upon  them  from 
the  rear.  As  it  was,  .lack-on  was  so  badly  crippled  that  he  retreated 
to  Fort  Strother  on  the  Coosa,  carrying  his  wounded,  among  them  ( ren- 
eral  Coffee,  on  horse-hide  litters.  The  Creeks  pursued  and  attacked 
him  again  as  he  was  crossing  Enotochopco  creek  on  January  24,  hut 
after  a  severe  fight  were  driven  back  with  discharges  of  grapeshot  from 
a  six-pounder  at  close  range.  The  army  then  continued  its  retreat  to 
Fort  Strother.  The  American  loss  in  these  two  battles  was  about  one 
hundred  killed  and  wounded.  The  loss  of  the  ( 'reeks  was  much  greater, 
hut  they  had  compelled  a  superior  force,  armed  with  bayonet  and 
artillery,  to  retreat,  and  without  the  aid  of  the  friendly  Indians  it  is 
doubtful  if  Jackson  could  have  saved  his  army  from  demoralization. 
The    Creeks    themselves   claimed   a  victory  and   boasted   afterward 

that    they  had    "  whipped  Jackson   and    run    him    to   the  Coosa    fiver." 


Indian!   pp    191,  898, 1880;  Pickett,  Alabama,  pi 9    92   96  reprint  of  189C 

'Ibid.,  p.  579;  Lossfng    Field  Book  of  the  War  of  1812,  p.  77:; 


hookey]  BATTLE    OF    HORSESHOE    BEND — 1814  V)3 

Pickett  states,  on  what  seems  good  authority,  that  the  Creeks  engaged 
did  not  number  more  than  five  hundred  warriors.  Jackson  had  prob- 
ably at  least  one  thousand  two  hundred  men.  including  Indians.1 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  the  north,  General  Floyd 
again  advanced  from  Georgia  with  a  force  of  about  one  thousand  three 
hundred  Americans  and  four  hundred  friendly  Indians,  but  was  sur- 
prised on  Caleebee  creek,  near  the  present  Tuskegee,  Alabama,  on  the 
morning  of  January  27,  1814,  and  compelled  to  retreat,  leaving  the 
enemy  in  possession  of  the  field.2 

We  come  now  to  the  final  event  of  the  Creek  war,  the  terrible  battle 
of  the  Horseshoe  bend.  Having  received  large  reenforcements  from 
Tennessee,  Jackson  left  a  garrison  at  Fort  Strother,  and.  about  the 
middle  of  March,  descended  the  Coosa  river  to  the  mouth  of  Cedar 
creek,  southeast  from  the  present  Columbiana,  where  he  built  Fori 
Williams.  Leaving  his  stores  here  with  a  garrison  to  protect  them, 
he  began  his  march  for  the  Horseshoe  bend  of  the  Tallapoosa,  where 
the  hostiles  were  reported  to  have  collected  in  great  force.  At  this 
place,  known  to  the  Creeks  as  Tohopki  or  Tohopeka,  the  Tallapoosa 
made  a  bend  so  as  to  inclose  some  eighty  or  a  hundred  acres  in  a  nar- 
row peninsula  opening  to  the  north.  On  the  lower  side  was  an  island 
in  the  river,  and  about  a  mile  below  was  Emukfaw  creek,  entering  from 
the  north,  where  Jackson  had  been  driven  back  two  months  before 
Both  locations  were  in  the  present  Tallapoosa  county.  Alabama,  within 
two  miles  of  the  present  post  village  of  Tohopeka.  Across  the  neck  of 
the  peninsula  the  Creeks  had  built  a  strong  breastwork  of  logs,  behind 
which  were  their  houses,  and  behind  these  were  a  number  of  canoes 
moored  to  the  bank  for  use  if  retreat  became  necessary.  The  fort  was 
defended  by  a  thousand  warriors,  with  whom  were  also  about  three 
hundred  women  and  children.  Jackson's  force  numbered  about  two 
thousand  men,  including,  according  to  his  own  statement,  five  hundred 
Cherokee.  He  had  also  two  small  cannon.  The  account  of  the  battle, 
or  rather  massacre,  which  occurred  on  the  morning  of  .March  •_'".  1814, 
is  best  condensed  from  the  official  reports  of  the  principal  commanders. 

Having  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  fort,  Jackson  disposed 
his  men  for  the  attack  by  detailing  General  Coffee  with  the  mounted 
men  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Indian  force  to  cross  the  river  at  a 
foi-d  about  three  miles  below  and  surround  the  bend  in  such  manner 
that  none  could  escape  in  that  direction.  He  himself,  with  the  restof 
his  force,  advanced  to  the  front  of  the  breastwork  and  planted  hiscan- 

•  Fay  and  Davison,  Sketches  of  the  War.  pp.  247-250,  1815;  Pickett.  Alabama,  pp.  579-584,  reprint  of 
1896;  Drake,  Indians,  pp.  398-400, 1S80.  Piekett  says  Jackson  had  "767  men.  with  mi  friendly  Indians  "  ; 
Drake  says  he  started  with  930  men  and  was  joined  at  Talladega  by  200  friendly  Indians;  Jackson 
himself,  as  quoted  in  Fay  and  Davison,  says  that  In-  started  with  930  men,  excluding  Indians,  and 
was  joined  at  Talladega  "  by  between  200  and  300  friendly  Indians;"  '  >  being  Cherokee  the  resl 
Creeks.  The  inference  is  that  he  already  had  a  number  of  Indians  with  him  at  the  start— probablj 
the  Cherokee  who  had  been  doing  garrison  duty. 

2  Pickett,  op.  cit.,  pp.  584-586. 


9  1  MYTH8    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ank.19 

iiuii  upon  a  slight  rise  within  eighty  yards  of  the  fortification,  tie  then 
directed  a  heavy  cannonade  upon  the  center  of  the  breastwork,  while 
the  rifles  mid  muskets  kept  up  a  galling  fire  upon  the  defenders  when- 
ever they  showed  themselves  behind  the  logs.  The  breastwork  was 
very  strongly  and  compactly  built,  from  five  to  eight  feel  high,  with  a 
double  row  of  portholes,  and  so  planned  that  no  enemy  could  approach 
without  being  exposed  to  a  crossfire  from  those  on  the  inside.  After 
about  two  hours  of  cannonading  and  rifle  fire  to  no  great  purpose, 
"Captain  Russell's  company  of  spies  and  a  party  of  the  Cherokee 
tone,  headed  by  their  gallant  chieftain,  Colonel  Richard  Brown,  and 
conducted  by  the  brave  Colonel  Morgan,  crossed  over  to  the  peninsula 
in  canoes  and  set  fire  to  a  few  of  their  buildings  there  situated.  They 
then  advanced  with  great  gallantry  toward  the  breastwork  and  com- 
menced firing  upon  the  enemy,  who  lay  behind  it.  Finding  that  this 
force,  notwithstanding  the  determination  they  displayed,  was  wholly 
insufficient  to  dislodge  the  enemy,  and  that  General  Coffee  had  secured 
the  opposite  hanks  of  the  river.  I  now  determined  on  taking  possession 
of  their  works  by  storm.'" ' 

Coffee's  official  report  to  his  commanding  officer  states  that  he  had 
taken  seven  hundred  mounted  troops  and  about  six  hundred  Indians, 
of  whom  five  hundred  were  Cherokee  and  the  rest  friendly  Creeks, 
and  had  come  in  behind,  having-  directed  the  Indians  to  take  position 
secretly  along  the  bank  of  the  river  to  prevent  the  enemy  crossing,  as 
already  noted.  This  was  done,  but  with  fighting  going  on  so  near  at 
hand  the  Indians  could  not  remain  quiet.     Continuing,  Coffee  says: 

The  firing  of  your  cannon  and  small  arms  in  a  short  time  l>ecame  general  and 
heavy,  which  animated  our  Indians,  and  seeing  about  one  hundred  of  the  warriors 
and  all  the  squaws  and  children  of  the  enemy  running  about  among  the  huts  of  the 
village,  which  was  open  to  our  view,  they  could  no  longer  remain  silent  spectators. 
While  some  kept  up  a  fire  across  the  river  to  prevent  the  enemy's  approach  to  the 
hank,  others  plunged  into  the  water  ami  swam  the  river  for  canoes  thai  lay  at  the 
other  shore  in  considerable  numbers  and  brought  them  over,  in  which  crafts  a  num- 
ber of  them  embarked  and  landed  on  the  bend  with  the  enemy.  Colonel  Gideon 
Morgan,  who  < unanded  the  Cherokees,  Captain  Kerr,  and  Captain  William  Rus- 
sell, with  a  part  of  his  company  of  spies,  were  a lg  the  first  that  crossed  the  river. 

They  advanced  into  the  village  and  very  soon  drove  the  enemy  from  the  huts  up 
the  river  bank  to  the  fortified  works  from  which  they  were  fighting  you.  They 
pursued  and  continued  to  annoy  during  your  whole  action.  This  movement  of  my 
Indian  forces  left  the  river  bank  unguarded  and  made  it  necessary  that  I  should  send 
a  part  of  my  line  to  take  possession  of  the  river  bank.9 

According  to  the  official  report  of  Colonel  Morgan,  who  commanded 
the  Cherokee  and  who  was  himself  Severely  wounded,  the  Cherokee 
took  the  places  assigned  them  along  the  bank  in  such  regular  order 

■Jackson's  report  !<•  Governor  Blount,  March  81,  1814,  in  Fay  and  Pavison,  Sketches  of  the  War, 
pp.  253,234,  181  • 
'General  Coffee's  report  to  General  Jackson,  April  1,1814,  Ibid.,  i>.  267. 


MoosEv]  BATTLE    OF    HORSESHOE    BEND — 1814  95 

that  no  part  was  left  unoccupied,  and  the  few  fugitives  who  attempted 
to  escape  from  the  fort  by  water  "fell  an  easy  prey  to  their  ven- 
geance." Finally,  seeing  that  the  cannonade  had  no  mure  effect  upon 
the  breastwork  than  to  bore  holes  in  the  logs,  some  of  the  Cherokee 
plunged  into  the  river,  and  swimming  over  to  the  town  brought  back 
a  number  of  canoes.  A  part  crossed  in  these,  under  cover  of  the  guns 
of  their  companions,  and  sheltered  themselves  under  the  bank  while 
the  canoes  were  sent  hack  for  reenforcements.  In  this  way  they  all 
crossed  over  and  then  advanced  up  the  bank,  where  at  once  they  were 
warmly  assailed  from  every  side  except  the  rear,  which  they  kept  open 
only  by  hard  righting.1 

The  Creeks  had  been  righting  the  Americans  in  their  front  at  such 
close  quarters  that  their  bullets  flattened  upon  the  bayonets  thrust 
through  the  portholes.  This  attack  from  the  rear  by  five  hundred 
Cherokee  diverted  their  attention  and  gave  opportunity  to  the  Tennes- 
seeans,  Sam  Houston  among  them,  cheering  them  on.  to  swarm  over 
the  breastwork.  With  death  from  the  bullet,  the  bayonet  and  the 
hatchet  all  around  them,  and  the  smoke  of  their  blazing  homes  in  their 
eyes,  not  a  warrior  begged  for  his  life.  When  more  than  half  their 
number  lay  dead  upon  the  ground,  the  rest  turned  and  plunged  into 
the  river,  only  to  rind  the  banks  on  the  opposite  side  lined  with  enemies 
and  escape  cut  off  in  every  direction.     Says  General  Coffee: 

Attempts  to  cross  the  river  at  all  points  of  the  bend  were  made  by  the  enemy,  but 
nnt  .me  ever  escaped.  Very  few  ever  reached  the  bank  and  that  lew  was  killed  the 
instant  they  landed.  From  the  report  of  my  officers,  as  well  as  from  my  own  obser- 
vation, I  feel  warranted  in  saying  that  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred 
of  the  enemy  was  buried  under  water  and  was  not  numbered  with  tin-  dead  that 
were  found. 

Some  swam  for  the  island  below  the  bend,  but  here  too  a  detach- 
ment had  been  posted  and  "  not  one  ever  landed.  They  were  sunk  by 
Lieutenant  Bean's  command  ere  they  reached  the  bank."  : 

Quoting  again  from  Jackson — 

The  enemy,  although  many  of  them  fought  to  the  last  with  that  kind  of  bravery 
which  desperation  inspires,  were  at  last  entirely  routed  and  cut  to  pieces.  The  battle 
may  be  said  to  have  continued  with  severity  for  about  five  hours,  but  the  firing  and 
slaughter  continued  until  it  was  suspended  by  the  darkness  of  night.  The  next 
morning  it  was  resumed  and  sixteen  of  the  enemy  slain  who  had  concealed  them- 
selves under  the  banks.3 

It  was  supposed  that  the  Creeks  had  about  a  thousand  warriors, 
besides  their  women  and  children.  The  men  sent  out  to  count  the 
dead  found  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  warriors  lying  dead  within  the 
inclosure,  and  Coffee  estimates  that  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to 

•Colonel  Morgan's  report  to  Governor  Blount,  in  Fay  and  Davison,  Sketches  of  tin-  War,  pp.  258, 
259  1815. 
2Coflee's  report  to  Jackson,  ibid.,  pp.  257,258. 
3  Jackson's  report  to  Governor  Blount,  ibid.,  pp.  255,256. 


96  MYTH-    01    THE    CHEROKEE  ure.19 

three  hundred  were  shot  in  the  water.  How  many  more  there  may 
have  been  can  not  be  known,  bul  Jackson  himself  states  that  not  more 
than  twenty  could  have  escaped.  There  is  no  mention  of  any  wounded. 
About  three  hundred  prisoners  were  taken,  of  whom  only  three  were 
men.     The  defenders  of  the  Horseshoe  had  been  exterminated.' 

( )n  the  other  side  the  loss  vras  26  Americans  killed  and  I07  wounded, 
18  Cherokee  killed  and  36  wounded.  5  friendly  Creeks  killed  and  11 
wounded.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  Loss  of  the  Cherokee  was  out  of 
all  proportion  to  their  numbers,  their  fighting  having  been  hand  to 
hand  work  without  protecting  cover.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  Jack- 
son had  only  a  few  weeks  before  been  compelled  to  retreat  before  this 
same  enemy,  and  that  two  hours  of  artillery  and  rifle  fire  had  produced 
no  result  until  the,  Cherokee  turned  the  rear  of  the  enemy  by  their 
daring  passage  of  the  river,  there  is  considerable  truth  in  the  boast  of 
the  Cherokee  that  they  saved  the  day  for  Jackson  at  Horseshoe  bend. 
In  the  number  of  men  actually  engaged  and  the  immense  proportion 
killed,  this  ranks  as  the  greatest  Indian  battle  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  battle  of  Mauvila, 
fought  by  the  same  Indians  in  De  Soto's  time.  The  result  was  decisive. 
Two  weeks  later  Weatherford  came  in  and  surrendered,  and  the  Creek 
war  was  at  an  end. 

As  is  usual  where  Indians  have  acted  as  auxiliaries  of  white  troops,  it 
is  difficult  to  get  an  accurate  statement  of  the  number  of  Cherokee 
engaged  in  this  war  or  to  apportion  the  credit  among  the  various 
leaders.  Coffee's  official  report  states  that  five  hundred  Cherokee 
were  engaged  in  the  last  great  battle,  and  from  incidental  hints  it 
seems  probable  that  others  were  employed  elsewhere,  on  garrison  duty 
or  otherwise,  at  the  same  time.  McKenney  and  Hall  state  that  Ridge 
recruited  eight  hundred  warriors  for  Jackson,8  and  this  may  be  near 
the  truth,  as  the  tribe  had  then  at  least  six  times  as  many  fighting  men. 
On  account  of  the  general  looseness  of  Indian  organization  we  com 
monly  find  the  credit  claimed  for  whichever  chief  may  be  best  known 
to  the  chronicler.  Thus.  McKenney  and  Hall  make  Major  Ridge  the 
hero  of  the  war.  especially  of  the  Horseshoe  fight,  although  he  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  official  reports.  Jackson  speaks  particularly  of  the 
Cherokee  in  that  battle  as  being  "headed  by  their  gallant  chieftain, 
Colonel  Richard  Brown,  and  conducted  by  the  brave  Colonel  Mor- 
gan." Coffee  says  that  Colonel  Gideon  Morgan  "commanded  the 
Cherokees,"  and  it  is  Morgan  who  makes  the  official  report  of  their 
part  in  the  battle.     In  a  Washingtoi wspaper  notice  of  the  treaty 


>  Jackson  a  report  and  Colone]  Morgan's  report,  in  Fay  and  Davison,  Sketches  ol  the  War,  pp.  255, 
250,259,  1815.  Pickett  makes  tin-  lossoi  the  white  troops 82  killed  and  99  wounded,  rhi  Houston 
reference  Is  (rom  Lossing.  The  battle  Is  described  also  bj  Pickett,  Alabama,  pp.588  691,  reprint 
ol  1896;  Drake,  in. Man-,  pp.  891,  100,  1880;  McKenney  an.!  Hall.  Indian  l  ribes,  n.  pp.98,99, 1858. 

'McKenney  and  Hull,  op,  .'it.,  p.  98. 


MooNKYj  TREATIES    OF    WASHINGTON 1816  97 

delegation  of  1816  the  six  signers  arc  mentioned  as  Colonel  [John] 
Lowrey,  Major  [John]  Walker,  Major  Ridge,  Captain  [Richard]  Taylor, 
Adjutant  [John]  Ross,  and  Kunnesee  (Tsi'yu-gunsi'm,  Cheucunsene)  and 
are  described  as  men  of  cultivation,  nearly  all  of  whom  had  served  as 
officers  of  the  Cherokee  forces  w  ith  Jackson  and  distinguished  themselves 
as  well  by  their  bravery  as  by  their  attachment  to  the  United  States.1 
Among  the  East  Cherokee  in  Carolina  the  only  name  still  remembered 
is  that  of  their  old  chief.  Junaluska  (Tsunu'Iahufl'ski),  who  said  after- 
ward: "If  1  had  known  that  Jackson  would  drive  us  from  our  homes 
u/'  I  would  have  killed  him  that  day  at  the  Horseshoe." 

The  Cherokee  returned  to  their  homes  to  rind  them  despoiled  and 
ravaged  in  their  absence  by  disorderly  white  troops.  Two  years  after- 
ward, by  treaty  al  Washington,  the  Government  agreed  to  reimburse 
them  for  the  damage.  Interested  parties  denied  that  they  had  suffered 
any  damage  or  rendered  any  services,  to  which  their  agent  indignantly 
replied:  "It  may  he  answered  that  thousands  witnessed  both;  that  in 
nearly  all  the  battles  with  the  Creeks  the  Cherokees  rendered  the  most 
efficient  service,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  lives  of  many  tine  men. 
whose  wives  and  children  and  brothers  and  sisters  are  mourning  their 
fall."2 

In  the  spring  of  1816  a  delegation  of  seven  principal  men.  accom- 
panied by  Agent  Meigs,  visited  Washington,  and  the  result  was  the 
negotiation  of  two  treaties  at  that  place  on  the  Name  date.  March  22, 
1816.  By  the  first  of  these  the  Cherokee  ceded  for  five  thousand  dollars 
their  last  remaining  territory  in  South  Carolina,  a  small  strip  in  the 
extreme  northwestern  corner,  adjoining  Chattooga  river.  By  the  sec- 
ond treaty  a  boundary  was  established  between  the  lands  claimed  by  the 
Cherokee  and  Creeks  in  northern  Alabama.  This  action  was  made 
necessary  in  order  to  determine  the  boundaries  of  the  great  tract 
which  the  Creeks  had  been  compelled  to  surrender  in  punishment  for 
their  late  uprising.  The  li no  was  run  from  a  point  on  Little  Bear 
creek  in  northwestern  Alabama  direct  to  the  Ten  islands  of  the 
Coosa  at  old  Fort  Strother,  southeast  of  the  present  Asheville.  Gen- 
era] Jackson  protested  strongly  against  this  line,  on  the  ground  that 
all  the  territory  south  of  Tennessee  river  and  west  of  the  Coosa 
belonged  to  the  Creeks  and  was  a  part  of  their  cession.  The  Chicka- 
saw also  protested  against  considering  this  tract  as  Cherokee  terri- 
tory. The  treaty  also  granted  free  and  unrestricted  road  privileges 
throughout  the  Cherokee  country,  this  concession  being  the  result  of 
years  of  persistent  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Government:  and  an 
appropriation  of  twenty-five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  was  made 

1  Drake,  Indians,  p.  401, 1880. 

-  Indian  Treaties,  p.  187,  1837;  Meigs'  letter  to  Secretary  of  War,  August  19, 1816,  in  American  State 
Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  n,  pp.  113,  114,  1X34. 

It)    ETH — 01— 7 


98  MYTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

for  damages  sustained  i>\  the  Cherokee  from  the  depredations  of  the 
troops  passing  through  their  country  during  the  Creek  war.1 

At  the  lasl  treaty  the  Cherokee  had  resisted  r\<-\-\  efforl  to  induce 
them  i"  cede  more  land  on  either  side  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Govern- 
ment being  especially  desirous  t"  extinguish  their  claim  north  of  thai 
river  within  the-  limit  -  of  the  state  of  Tennessee.  Failing  in  this. 
pressure  was  at  once  begun  t<>  bring  about  a  cession  in  Alabama,  with 
the  result  thai  on  September  11  of  the  same  year  a  treat]  was  con- 
cluded at  the  Chickasaw  council-house,  and  afterward  ratified  in  gen- 
eral council  at  Turkeytown  on  the  Coosa,  by  which  the  Cherokee 
ceded  all  their  claims  in  thai  state  south  of  Tennessee  river  and  wesl 
of  an  irregular  line  running  from  Chickasaw  island  in  thai  stream, 
below  the  entrance  of  Flint  river,  to  the  junction  of  Wills  creek  with 
the  Coosa,  al  the  presenl  Gadsden.  For  this  cession,  embracing  an 
area  of  nearlj  three  thousand  five  hundred  square  miles,  they  were  to 
receive  sixty  thousand  dollars  in  ten  annual  payments,  together  with 
five  thousand  dollars  t'<>r  the  improvements  abandoned. 

We  turn  aside  now  for  a  time  from  the  direel  narrative  to  note  the 
developmenl  of  events  which  culminated  in  the  forced  expatriation  of 
the  Cherokee  from  their  ancestral  homes  and  their  removal  to  the  far 
western  wilderness. 

With  a  few  notable  exceptions  the  relations  between  the  French 
and  Spanish  colonists  and  the  native  tribes,  after  the  first  occupation 
of  the  country,  had  been  friendly  and  agreeable.  Qnder  the  rule  of 
France  or  Spain  there  was  never  any  Indian  boundary.  Pioneer  and 
Indian  built  their  cabins  and  tilled  their  fields  side  by  side,  ranged 
the  w Is  toe-ether,  knelt  before  the  >ame  altar  and  frequently  inter- 
married on  terms  of  equality,  so  far  as  race  was  concerned.  The 
7-esult  is  seen  to-day  in  the  mixed-blood  communities  of  Canada,  and 
in  Mexico,  where  a  nation  lias  been  built  upon  an  Indian  foundation. 
Within  the  area  of  English  colonization  it  was  otherwise.  From  the 
lir-t  settlement  to  the  recent  inauguration  of  the  allotment  system  it 
never  occurred  to  the  man  of  Teutonic  blood  that  he  could  have  for  a 
neighbor  anyone  not  of  his  own  stock  and  color.  While  the  English 
colonists  recognized  the  native  proprietorship  so  far  as  to  make  trea- 
ties with    tile    Indians,  it  was   chiefly  for   the   purpose   of   fixing   limits 

beyond  which  the  Indian  should  never  come  after  he  had  ;e  parted 

with  his  title  for  a  consideration  of  goods  and  trinkets.  In  an  early 
Virginia  treaty  it  was  even  stipulated  that  friendly  Indians  crossing 
the  line  should  sutler  death.  The  Indian  was  regarded  as  an  incum- 
brance to  be  cleared  oil',  like  the  trees  and  tin-  wolves,  before  white 
men   could    live   in   the   country.      Intermarriages   were   practically 

1  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  186  187,  1837;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
pp.  197  209,  1888 
'Indian  Treaties,  pp   199,200,  1887;  Royce,  op.  cit.,  pp.  209-211. 


mooney]  EARLY    WESTWARD    EMIGRATION  99 

unknown,  and  the  children  of  such  union  were  usually  compelled  by 
race  antipathy  to  cast  their  lot  with  the  savage. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  tribes  viewed  the  advance  of  the 
English  and  their  successors,  the  Americans,  with  keen  distrust,  and 
as  early  as  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  war  we  find  some  of 
them  removing  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  English  settlements  io 
a  safer  shelter  in  the  more  remote  territories  still  held  by  Spain,  Soon 
after  the  French  withdrew  from  Fort  Toulouse,  in  1763,  a  part  of  the 
Alabama,  an  incorporated  tribe  of  the  ('reek  confederacy,  left  their 
villages  on  the  Coosa,  and  crossing  the  Mississippi,  where  they  halted 
for  a  time  on  its  western  bank,  settled  on  the  Sabine  river  under 
Spanish  protection.1  They  were  followed  some  years  later  by  a  part 
of  the  Koasati.  of  the  same  confederacy."  the  two  tribe.-  subsequently 
drifting  into  Texas,  where  they  now  reside.  The  Hichitee  and  others 
of  the  Lower  Creeks  moved  down  into  Spanish  Florida,  where  the 
Yamassee  exiles  from  South  Carolina  had  long  before  preceded  them, 
the  two  combining  to  form  the  modern  Seminole  tribe.  When  the 
Revolution  brought  about  a  new  line  of  division,  the  native  tribes, 
almost  without  exception,  joined  sides  with  England  as  against  the 
Americans,  with  the  result  that  about  one-half  the  Iroquois  tied  to 
Canada,  where  they  still  reside  upon  lands  granted  by  the  British  gov- 
ernment. A  short  time  before'  Wayne's  victory  a  part  of  the  Shawano 
and  Delawares,  worn  out  by  nearly  twenty  years  of  battle  with  the 
Americans,  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  settled,  by  permission  of  the 
Spanish  government,  upon  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Girardeau,  in 
what  is  now  southeastern  Missouri,  for  which  they  obtained  a  regular 
deed  from  that  government  in  1793. 3  Driven  out  by  the  Americans 
some  twenty  years  later,  they  removed  to  Kansas  and  thence  to  Indian 
territory,  where  they  are  now  incorporated  with  their  old  friends,  the 
Cherokee. 

When  the  first  Cherokee  crossed  the  Mississippi  it  is  impossible  to 
say,  but  there  was  probably  never  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  tribe 
when  their  warriors  and  hunters  were  not  accustomed  to  make  excur- 
sions beyond  the  great  river.  According  to  an  old  tradition,  the 
earliest  emigration  took  place  soon  after  the  first  treaty  with  Carolina, 
when  a  portion  of  the  tribe,  under  the  leadership  of  Yunwi-usga'se'ti, 
••Dangerous-man,"  forseeing  the  inevitable  end  of  yielding  to  the 
demands  of  tin3  colonists,  refused  to  have  any  relations  with  the  white 
man,  and  took  up  their  long  march  for  the  unknown  West.  Commu- 
nication was  kept  up  with  the  home  body  until  after  crossing  the 
Mississippi,  when  they  were  lost  sight  of  and  forgotten.     Long  years 

'■Claiborne,  letter  to  Jefferson,  November  5,  1808,  American  State  Papers,  i,  p.  755,  1832;   Gatschet, 
Creek  Migration  Legend,  i,  p.  88,  1884. 
-  Hawkins,  1799.  quoted  in  Gatschet,  op.  cit.,  p.  89. 
3  See  Treaty  of  St  Louis,  1S25,  and  of  Castor  hill,  1S52,  in  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  388,  539,  1837. 


100  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 

afterward  a  rumor  came  from  the  west  thai  they  were  Mill  livingnear 
the  base  of  the  Rocky  mountains.'  In  1782  the  Cherokee,  who  bad 
fought  faithfully  on  the  British  side  throughout  the  long  Revolution- 
ary   struggle,  applied  to  the  Spanish  governor  al    New   Orleans   for 

permission  to  settl >  the  wesl  side  of  the  Mississippi,  within  Spanish 

territory.  Permission  was  granted,  and  it  i-  probable  that  some  of 
them  removed  to  the  Arkansas  country,  although  there  seems  to  be  no 
definite  record  of  the  matter.'  We  learn  incidentally,  however,  that 
about  this  peried  the  hostile  Cherokee,  like  the  Shawano  and  other 
northern  tribes,  were  in  the  habit  of  making  friendly  visits  to  the 
Spanish  settlements  in  that  quarter. 

According  to  Reverend  Cephas  Washburn,  the  pioneer  misssionary 
of  the  western  Cherokee,  the  first  permanent  Cherokee  settlement 
beyond  the  Mississippi  was  the  direct  result  of  the  massacre,  in  L794, 
of  the  Scott  party  at  Muscle  shoals,  on  Tennessee  river,  by  the  hostile 
warriors  of  the  Chickamauga  towns,  in  the  summer.  As  told  by  the 
missionary,  the  story  differs  considerably  from  that  given  by  IIa\  wood 
and  other  Tennessee  historians,  narrated  in  another  place.  According 
to  Washburn,  the  whites  were  the  aggressors,  having  first  made  the 
Indians  drunk  and  then  swindled  them  out  of  the  annuity  money  with 
which  they  were  just  returning  from  the  agency  at  Tellico.  When 
the  Indians  became  sober  enough  to  demand  the  return  of  their  money 
the  whites  attacked  and  killed   two  of  them,  whereupon  the  others 

boarded  the  boat  and  killed  every  white  man.     They  spared  the  wi n 

and  children,  however,  with  their  negro  slaves  and  all  their  personal 
belongings,  and  permitted  them  to  continue  on  their  way.  the  chief 
and  his  party  personally  escorting  them  down  Tennessee,  Ohio,  and 
Mississippi  rivers  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Francis,  whence  the 
emigrants  descended  in  safety  to  New  Orleans,  while  their  captors, 
under  their  chief.  The  Bowl,  went  up  St.  Francis  river  then  a  part  of 
Spanish  territory — to  await  the  outcome  of  the  event.  As  soon  as 
the  news  came  to  the  Cherokee  Nation  tin'  chiefs  formally  repudiated 
the  action  of  the  Howl  party  and  volunteered  to  assist  in  arresting 

those  i cerned.     Bowl  and  his  men  were  finally  exonerated,  but  had 

conceived  such  bitterness  at  the  conduct  of  their  former  friends,  and. 
moreover,  had  found  the  soil  so  rich  and  the  game  so  abundant  where 

the]  were,  that  they  refused  to  return  to  their  tribe  and  decided  to 
remain  permanently  in  the  West.  Others  joined  them  from  time  to 
time,  attracted  by  the  hunting  prospect,  until  they  were  in  sufficient 
number  to  obtain  recognition  from  the  Government.' 


iSee  number  107,  "  Hie  Lost  Cherokee." 

-sri-  lettei  of  Governor  Estevan   Mir.,  to  Robertson,  \pril  20,1783,  in   Roosevelt,  Winning  ol  the 
West,  ii.  p   i".    !•"' 
iSee  pp. 76-77. 
i  Washburn,  Reminiscences,  pp.76  79, 1869;  -.  •  also  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  riiii.  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau 

..i    I  ilili. .!"«>.  !•.  '-'Ml.  isss. 


moosey]  THE    BOWL    EMIGRATION 1794  101 

While  the  missionary  may  be  pardoned  for  making  the  best  show- 
ing possible  for  his  friends,  his  statement  contains  several  evident 
errors,  and  it  is  probable  that  Haywood's  account  is  more  correct  in 
the  main.  As  the  Cherokee  annuity  at  that  time  amounted  to  but 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  for  the  whole  tribe,  or  somewhat  less  than  ten 
cents  per  head,  they  could  hardly  have  had  enough  money  from  that 
source  to  pay  such  extravagant  prices  as  sixteen  dollars  apiece  for 
pocket  minors,  which  it  is  alleged  the  boatmen  obtained.  Moreover, 
as  the  Chickamauga  warriors  had  refused  to  sign  any  treaties  and  were 
notoriously  hostile,  they  were  not  as  yet  entitled  to  receive  payments. 
Haywood's  statement  that  the  emigrant  party  was  first  attacked  while 
passing  the  ( Ihickamauga  towns  and  then  pursued  to  the  Muscle  shoals 
and  there  massacred  is  probably  near  the  truth,  although  it  is  quite 
possible  that  the  whites  may  have  provoked  the  attack  in  some  such 
way  as  is  indicated  by  the  missionary.  As  Washburn  got  his  account 
from  one  of  the  women  of  the  party,  living  long  afterward  in  New 
Orleans,  it  is  certain  that  some  at  least  were  spared  by  the  Indians, 
and  it  is  probable  that,  as  he  states,  only  the  men  were  killed. 

The  Bowl  emigration  may  not  have  been  the  first,  or  even  the  most 
important  removal  to  the  western  country,  as  the  period  was  one  of 
Indian  unrest.  Small  bands  were  constantly  crossing  the  Mississippi 
into  Spanish  territory  to  avoid  the  advancing  Americans,  only  to  find 
themselves  again  under  American  jurisdiction  when  the  whole  western 
country  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1803.  The  persistent  land- 
hunger  of  the  settler  could  not  be  restrained  or  satisfied,  and  early  in 
the  same  year  President  Jefferson  suggested  to  Congress  the  desira- 
bility of  removing  all  the  tribes  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi.  In 
the  next  year.  1804,  an  appropriation  was  made  for  taking  prelimi- 
nary steps  toward  such  a  result.1  There  were  probably  but  few  Chero- 
kee on  the  Arkansas  at  this  time,  as  they  are  not  mentioned  in  Sibley's 
list  of  tribes  south  of  that  river  in  1805. 

In  the  summer  of  1808,  a  Cherokee  delegation  being  about  to  visit 
Washington,  their  agent.  Colonel  Meigs,  was  instructed  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  to  use  every  effort  to  obtain  their  consent  to  an  exchange 
of  their  lands  for  a  tract  beyond  the  Mississippi.  By  this  time  the 
government's  civilizing  policy,  as  carried  out  in  the  annual  distribution 
of  farming  tools,  spinning  wheels,  and  looms,  had  wrought  a  consider- 
able difference  of  habit  and  sentiment  between  the  northern  and 
southern  Cherokee.  Those  on  Little  Tennessee  and  Hiwassee  were 
generally  farmers  and  stock  raisers,  producing  also  a  limited  quantity 
of  cotton,  which  the  women  wove  into  cloth.  Those  farther  down  in 
Georgia  and  Alabama,  the  old  hostile  element,  still  preferred  the 
hunting  life  and  rejected  all  effort  at  innovation,  although  the  game 
had  now  become  so   scarce   that   it  was   evident  a  change  must   soon 


'Royee,  Cherokee  Nation,  Filth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  op.  202, 203, lsss. 


lli-_'  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [sth.an.n.19 

come.  Jealousies  bad  arisen  in  consequence,  and  the  delegates  repre- 
senting the  progressive  element  now  proposed  to  the  government  that 
a  line  be  run  through  the  nation  I"  separate  the  two  parties,  allowing 
t Ik ■-.•  on  the  north  to  divide  their  lands  in  severalty  and  become  citi- 
zens  of  the  United  States,  while  those  on  the  south  might  continue  to 
be  bunters  as  long  as  the  game  should  last.  Taking  advantage  of  this 
condition  of  a  Hairs,  the  government  authorities  instructed  the  agent  to 
submit  t<>  the  conservatn  es  a  proposition  for  a  cession  of  their  share  of 
the  tribal  territory  in  return  for  a  tract  west  of  the  Mississippi  of  suf- 
ficient area  to  enable  them  to  continue  the  hunting  life.  The  plan  was 
approved  by  President  Jefferson,  and  a  sum  was  appropriated  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  a  delegation  to  visit  and  inspect  the  lands  on  Arkansas 
and  White  rivers,  with  a  view  to  removal.  The  visit  was  made  in  the 
summerof  1809,  and  the  delegates  brought  back  such  favorable  report 
that  a  large  number  of  ( Iherokee  signified  their  intention  to  remoi  e  at 
once.  A-  no  funds  were  then  available  for  their  removal,  the  matter 
was  held  in  abeyance  for  several  years,  during  which  period  families 
and  individuals  removed  to  the  western  country  at  their  own  expense 
until,  before  the  year  1817,  they  numbered  in  all  two  or  three 
thousand  souls.1     They  became  known  as  the  Arkansas,  or  Western. 

Cherokee. 

The  emigrants  soon  became  involved  in  difficulties  with  the  native 
tribes,  the  Osage  claiming  all  the  lands  north  of  Arkansas  river,  while 
the  Quapaw  claimed  those  on  the  south.  Upon  complaining  to  the 
government  the  emigrant  Cherokee  were  told  that  they  had  originally 
been  permitted  to  remove  only  on  condition  of  a  cession  of  a  portion 
of  their  eastern  territory,  and  that  nothing  could  he  done  to  protect 
them  in  their  new  western  home  until  such  cession  had  been  carried 
out.  The  body  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  however,  was  strongly  opposed 
to  any  such  sale  and  proposed  that  the  emigrants  should  he  compelled 
to  return.  After  protracted  negotiation  a  treaty  was  concluded  at 
the  Cherokee  agency  (now  Calhoun.  Tennessee)  on  July  8,  1817,  by 
which  the  Cherokee  Nation  ceded  two  considerable  tracts — the  first  in 
Georgia,  lying  east  of  the  Chattahoochee,  and  the  other  in  Tennessee. 
between  Waldens  ridge  ami  the  Little  Sequatchee — as  an  equivalent 
for  a  tract  to  he  assigned  to  those  who  had  already  removed,  or 
intended  to  remove,  to  Arkansas.  Two  smaller  tracts  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Tennessee,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Muscle  shoals. 
were  also  ceded.  In  return  for  these  cessions  the  emigrant  Cherokee 
were  to  receive  a  tract  within  the  present  limits  of  the  state  of  Arkan- 

■  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Aim.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  202-204,  1888;  see  also  Indian 
Treaties,  pp. 209-215, 1887.  The  preamble  to  the  treaty  of  1817  snys  thut  the  delegation  of  1808  had 
de  treda  division  of  the  tribal  territory  in  order  that  the  people  of  the  Upper  (northern  townt  might 
"begin  the  establishment  of  fixed  laws  and  «  regular  government,"  while  those  of  tin-  Lower 
(southern)  towns  desired  t..  remove  t"  the  West  Nothing  i-  said  of  severalty  allotments  >>r 
citizenship. 


mooney]  TREATY    OF    CHEROKEE    AGENCY — 1817  103 

sas,  bounded  on  the  north  and  south  by  White  river  and  Arkansas 
river,  respectively,  on  the  east  l>y  a  line  running  between  those 
.streams  approximately  from  the  present  Ratesville  to  Lewisburg.  and 
on  the  west  by  a  line  to  lie  determined  later.  As  afterward  estab- 
lished, this  western  line  ran  from  the  junction  of  the  Little  North 
Fork  with  White  river  to  just  beyond  the  point  where  the  present 
western  Arkansas  boundary  strikes  Arkansas  river.  Provision  was 
made  for  taking  the  census  of  the  whole  Cherokee  nation  east  and 
west  in  order  to  apportion  annuities  and  other  payments  properly  in 
the  future,  and  the  two  hands  were  still  to  he  considered  as  forming 
one  people.  The  United  States  agreed  to  pay  for  any  substantial 
improvements  abandoned  by  those  removing  from  the  ceded  lands, 
and  each  emigrant  warrior  who  left  no  such  valuable  property  behind 
was  to  be  given  as  full  compensation  for  his  abandoned  field  and  cabin 
a  rifle  and  ammunition,  a  blanket,  and  a  kettle  or  a  beaver  trap.  The 
government  further  agreed  to  furnish  boats  and  provisions  for  the 
journey.  Provision  was  also  made  that  individuals  residing  upon 
the  ceded  lands  might  retain  allotments  and  become  citizens,  if  they 
so  elected,  the  amount  of  the  allotment  to  be  deducted  from  the  total 
cession. 

The  commissioners  for  the  treaty  w*ere  General  Andrew  Jackson, 
General  David  Meriwether,  and  Governor  Joseph  McMinn  of  Ten- 
nessee. On  behalf  of  the  Cherokee  it  was  signed  by  thirty-one  princi- 
pal men  of  the  eastern  Nation  and  fifteen  of  the  western  band,  who 
signed  by  proxy.1 

The  majority  of  the  Cherokee  were  bitterly  opposed  to  any  cession 
or  removal  project,  and  before  the  treaty  had  been  concluded  a 
memorial  signed  by  sixty-seven  chiefs  and  headmen  of  the  nation  was 
.presented  to  the  commissioners,  which  stated  that  the  delegates  who 
had  first  broached  the  subject  in  Washington  some  years  before  had 
acted  without  any  authority  from  the  nation.  They  declared  that  the 
great  body  of  the  Cherokee  desired  to  remain  in  the  land  of  their 
birth,  where  they  were  rapidly  advancing  in  civilization,  instead  of 
being  compelled  to  revert  to  their  original  savage  conditions  and  sur- 
roundings. They  therefore  prayed  that  the  matter  might  not  lie 
pressed  further,  but  that  they  might  be  allowed  to  remain  in  peaceable 
possession  of  the  land  of  their  fathers.  No  attention  was  paid  to  the 
memorial,  and  the  treaty  was  carried  through  and  ratified.  Without 
waiting  for  the  ratification,  the  authorities  at  once  took  steps  for  the 
removal  of  those  who  desired  to  go  to  the  West.  Boats  were  provided 
at  points  between  Little  Tennessee  and  Sequatchee  rivers,  and  the 
emigrants  were  collected  under  the  direction  of  Governor  McMinn. 
Within  the  next  year  a  large  number  had  emigrated,  and  before  the 

'Indian  Treaties,  pp.  209-215,  1837;  Royee,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 

pp.  212-217,  1888;  see  also  maps  in  Royce. 


104  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

end  of  1819  the  number  of  emigrants  was  said  to  have  increased  to  six 
thousand.  "Flic  chiefs  of  the  nation,  however,  claimed  that  the  esti- 
mate was  greatly  in  excess  of  the  truth.1 

"There  can  be  no  question  that  a  very  large  portion,  and  probably 
a  majority,  of  the  Cherokee  nation  residing  east  of  the  Mississippi  had 
been  and  still  continued  bitterly  opposed  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
18  L  7.  They  viewed  with  jealous  and  aching  hearts  all  attempts  to 
drive  them  from  the  homes  of  their  ancestors,  for  they  could  not  but 
consider  the  constant  and  urgent  importunities  of  the  federal  authori- 
ties in  the  light  of  an  imperative  demand  for  the  cession  of  more 
territory.  They  felt  that  they  were,  as  a  nation,  being  slowly  but 
surely  compressed  within  the  contracting  coils  of  the  giant  anaconda 
of  civilization;  yet  they  held  to  the  vain  hope  that  a  spirit  of  justice 
and  mercy  would  be  born  of  their  helpless  condition  which  would 
anally  prevail  in  their  favor.  Their  traditions  furnished  them  no 
guide  by  which  to  judge  of  the  results  certain  to  follow  such  a  conflict 
as  that  in  which  they  were  engaged.  This  difference  of  sentiment  in 
the  nation  upon  a  subject  so  vital  to  their  welfare  was  productive  of 
much  bitterness  and  violent  animosities.  Those  who  had  favored  the 
emigration  scheme  and  had  been  induced,  either  through  personal 
preference  or  by  the  subsidizing  influences  of  the  government  agents, 
to  favor  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  became  the  object  of  scorn  and 
hatred  to  the  remainder  of  the  nation.  They  were  made  the  subjects 
of  a  persecution  so  relentless,  while  they  remained  in  the  eastern 
country,  that  it  was  never  forgotten,  and  when,  in  the  natural  course 
of  events,  the  remainder  of  the  nation  was  forced  to  remove  to  the 
Arkansas  country  and  join  the  earlier  emigrants,  the  old  hatreds  and 
dissensions  broke  out  afresh,  and  to  this  day  they  find  lodgment  in 
some  degree  in  the  breasts  of  their  descendants."2 

Two  months  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  July  8,  1817,  and 
three  months  before  its  ratification,  a  council  of  the  nation  sent  a  dele- 
gation to  Washington  to  recount  in  detail  the  improper  methods  and 
influences  which  had  been  used  to  consummate  it.  and  to  ask  that  it  be 
set  aside  and  another  agreement  substituted.  The  mission  was  without 
result.3 

In  1817  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 
established  its  first  station  among  the  Cherokee  at  Brainerd,  in  Ten- 
nessee, on  the  west  side  of  Chickamauga  creek,  two  miles  from  the 
Georgia  line.  The  mission  took  its  name  from  a  distinguished  pioneer 
worker  among  the  northern  tribes  (37).  The  government  aided  in  the 
erection  of  the  buildings,  which  included  a  schoolhouse,  gristmill, 
and  workshops,  in  which,  besides  the  ordinary  branches,  the  boys  were 
taught  simple  mechanic  arts  while  the  girls  learned  the  use  of  the 

'  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  217-218,  1888. 
•Ibid.,  pp.  218-219.  "Ibid.,  p. 219. 


« mn  PRESSURE    FOB    REMOVAL  105 

needle  and  the  spinningwheel.  There  was  also  a  large  work  farm. 
The  mission  prospered  and  others  were  established  at  Willstown, 
Hightower,  and  elsewhere  by  the  same  board,  in  which  two  hundred 
pupils  were  receiving  instruction  in  L820.]  Among  the  earliest  and 
most  noted  workersat  the  Brainerd  mission  were  Reverend  I).  S.  But 
trick  and  Reverend  S.  A.  Worcester  {'■'■*<).  the  latter  especially  having 
done  much  for  the  mental  elevation  of  the  Cherokee,  and  more  than  once 
having  suffered  imprisonment  for  his  zeal  in  defending  their  cause. 
The  missions  flourished  until  broken  up  by  the  state  of  Georgia  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Removal  troubles,  and  they  were  afterwards  renewed 
in  the  western  country.  Mission  ridge  preserves  the  memory  of  the 
Brainerd  establishment. 

Early  in  1818  a  delegation  of  emigrant  Cherokee  visited  Washing- 
ton for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  more  satisfactory  determination  of 
the  boundaries  of  their  new  lands  on  the  Arkansas.  .Measures  were 
soon  afterward  taken  for  that  purpose.  They  also  asked  recognition  in 
the  future  as  a  separate  and  distinct  tribe,  but  nothing  was  done  in  the 
matter.  In  order  to  remove,  if  possible,  the  hostile  feeling  between 
the  emigrants  and  the  native  Osage,  who  regarded  the  former  as 
intruders.  Governor  William  Clark,  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs 
for  Missouri,  arranged  a  conference  of  the  chiefs  of  the  two  tribes  at 
St.  Louis  in  October  of  that  year,  at  which,  after  protracted  effort,  he 
succeeded  in  establishing  friendly  relations  between  them.  Efforts 
were  made  about  the  same  time,  both  by  the  emigrant  Cherokee  and 
by  the  government,  to  persuade  the  Shawano  and  Delawares  then 
residing  in  Missouri,  and  the  Oneida  in  New  York,  to  join  the  western 
Cherokee, but  nothing-  cameof  the  negotiations.2  In  1825  a  delegation 
of  western  Cherokee  visited  the  Shawano  in  <  )hio  for  the  same  purpose, 
but  without  success.  Their  object  in  thus  inviting  friendly  Indians  to 
join  them  was  to  strengthen  themselves  against  the  Osage  and  other 
native  tribes. 

In  the  meantime  the  government,  through  Governor  McMinn,  was 
bringing- strong  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  eastern  Cherokee  to  compel 
their  removal  to  the  West.  At  a  council  convened  by  him  in  November, 
L818,  the  governor  represented  to  the  chiefs  that  it  was  now  no  longer 
possible  to  protect  them  from  the  encroachments  of  the  surrounding 
white  population:  that,  however  the  government  might  wish  to  help 
them,  their  lands  would  be  taken,  their  stock  stolen,  their  women  cor- 
rupted, and  their  men  made  drunkards  unless  they  removed  to  the 
western  paradise.  He  ended  by  proposing  to  pay  them  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  their  whole  territory,  with  the  expense  of  removal, 
if  they  would  go  at  once.  Upon  their  prompt  and  indignant  refusal 
he  offered  to  double  the  amount,  but  with  as  little  success. 

•Morse, Geography,  i,  p.577,  1819;  and  p.  185,  1822. 

-Rc.yiT,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  ol  Ethnology,  pp. 221-222,  18S8, 


106  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Every  point  of  the  negotiation  having  failed,  another  course  was 
adopted,  and  a  delegation  was  selected  to  visit  Washington  under  the 
conduct  of  Agent  Meigs.  Here  the  effort  was  renewed  until,  wearied 
and  discouraged  at  the  persistent  importunity,  the  chiefs  consented 
to  a  large  cession,  which  was  represented  as  necessary  in  order  to  com- 
pensate in  area  for  the  tract  assigned  to  the  emigrant  Cherokee  in 
Arkansas  in  accordance  with  the  previous  treaty.  This  estimate  was 
based  on  the  tigures  given  by  Governor  McMinn,  who  reported  5,291 
Cherokee  enrolled  as  emigrants,  while  the  eastern  Cherokee  claimed 
that  not  more  than  3,500  had  removed  and  that  those  remaining  num- 
bered 12.544,  or  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  whole  nation.  The 
governor,  however,  chose  to  consider  one-half  of  the  nation  as  in  favor 
of  removal  and  one-third  as  having  already  removed.1 

The  treaty,  concluded  at  Washington  on  February  27,  1819,  recites 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  Cherokee  nation,  having  expressed  an 
earnest  desire  to  remain  in  the  East,  and  being  anxious  to  begin  the 
necessary  measures  for  the  civilization  and  preservation  of  their  nation, 
and  to  settle  the  differences  arising  out  of  the  treaty  of  1817,  have 
offered  to  cede  to  the  United  States  a  tract  of  country  "at  least  as 
extensive"  as  that  to  which  the  Government  is  entitled  under  the 
late  treaty.  The  cession  embraces  (1)  a  tract  in  Alabama  and  Ten- 
nessee, between  Tennessee  and  Flint  rivers;  (2)  a  tract  in  Tennessee, 
between  Tennessee  river  and  Waldens  ridge;  (3)  a  large  irregular  tract 
in  Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  embracing  in  Tennessee 
nearlyr  all  the  remaining  Cherokee  lands  north  of  Hiwassee  river,  and 
in  North  Carolina  and  Georgia  nearly  everything  remaining  to  them 
east  of  the  Nantahala  mountains  and  the  upper  western  branch  of  the 
Chattahoochee;  (4)  six  small  pieces  reserved  by  previous  treaties.  The 
entire  cession  aggregated  nearly  six  thousand  square  miles,  or  more 
than  one-fourth  of  all  then  held  by  the  nation.  Individual  reservations 
of  one  mile  square  each  within  the  ceded  area  were  allowed  to  a  num- 
ber of  families  which  decided  to  remain  among  the  whites  and  become 
citizens  rather  than  abandon  their  homes.  Payment  was  to  be  made 
for  all  substantial  improvements  abandoned,  one-third  of  all  tribal 
annuities  were  hereafter  to  be  paid  to  the  western  hand,  and  the  treaty 
was  declared  to  be  a  final  adjustment  of  all  claims  and  differences  aris- 
ing from  the  treaty  of  1817. 2 

Civilization  had  now  progressed  so  far  among  the  Cherokee  that  in 
the  fall  of  1820  they  adopted  a  regular  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment modeled  after  that  of  the  United  States.  Under  this  arrangement 
the  nation  was  divided  into  eight  districts,  each  of  which  was  entitled 

1  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  222-228,  1888. 
^Indian  Treaties,  pp.  265-269,  1S37;  Royce,  op.  cit.,  pp.  219-221  and  table,  p. 378. 


mooney]  CHEEOKEE    GOVEENMENX — Missions  107 

to  send  lour  representatives  to  the  Cherokee  national  legislature, 
which  met  at  Newtown,  or  New  Echota,  the  capital,  at  the  junction 
of  Conasauga  and  Coosawatee  rivers,  a  few  miles  above  the  present 
Calhoun,  Georgia.  The  legislature  consisted  of  an  upper  and  a 
lower  house,  designated,  respectively  (in  the  Cherokee  language),  the 
national  committee  and  national  council,  the  members  being  elected 
for  limited  terms  by  the  voters  of  each  district.  The  principal  officer 
was  styled  president  of  the  national  council;  the  distinguished  John 
Ross  was  the  first  to  hold  this  office.  There  was  also  a  clerk  of  the 
committee  and  two  principal  members  to  express  the  will  of  the  coun- 
cil or  lower  house.  For  each  district  there  were  appointed  a  council 
house  for  meetings  twice  a  year,  a  judge,  and  a  marshal.  Companies 
of  "light  horse"  were  organized  to  assist  in  the  execution  of  the  laws, 
with  a  "ranger"  for  each  district  to  look  after  stray  stock.  Each  head 
of  a  family  and  each  single  man  under  the  age  of  sixty  was  subject  to 
a  poll  tax.  Laws  were  passed  for  the  collection  of  taxes  and  debts, 
for  repairs  on  loads,  for  licenses  to  white  persons  engaged  in  farming 
or  other  business  in  the  nation,  for  the  support  of  schools,  for  the 
regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  the  conduct  of  negro  slaves,  to  pun- 
ish horse  stealing  and  theft,  to  compel  all  marriages  between  white 
men  and  Indian  women  to  be  according  to  regular  legal  or  church 
form,  and  to  discourage  polygamy.  By  special  decree  the  right  of 
blood  revenge  or  capital  punishment  was  taken  from  the  seven  clans 
and  \ested  in  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  nation.  It  was  made 
treason,  punishable  with  death,  for  any  individual  to  negotiate  the  sale 
of  lands  to  the  whites  without  the  consent  of  the  national  council  (39). 
White  men  were  not  allowed  to  vote  or  to  hold  office  in  the  nation.1 
The  system  compared  favorably  with  that  of  the  Federal  government 
or  of  any  state  government  then  existing. 

At  this  time  there  were  five  principal  missions,  besides  one  or  two 
small  branch  establishments  in  the  nation,  viz:  Spring  Place,  the  oili- 
est, founded  by  tin1  Moravians  at  Spring  place,  Georgia,  in  1801; 
Oothcaloga,  Georgia,  founded  by  the  same  denomination  in  1S21  on 
the  creek  of  that  name,  near  the  present  Calhoun;  Brainerd,  Tennes- 
see, founded  by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  in  L817;  "Valley-towns."  North  Carolina,  founded  by  the 
Baptists  in  1820,  on  the  site  of  the  old  Natchez  town  on  the  north  side 
of  Hiwassee  river,  just  above  Peachtree  creek;  Coosawatee,  Georgia 
("Tensawattee,"  by  error  in  the  State  Papers),  founded  also  by  the 
Baptists  in  fs2L.  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  that  name.  All  were 
in  flourishing  condition,  the  Brainerd  establishment  especially,  with 
nearly  one  hundred  pupils,  being  obliged  to  turn  away  applicants  for 

1  Laws  of  theCherol Nation    several  documents),  1820,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  it, 

pp.  279-283, 1834;  letter  quoted  by  McKei y,  1825,  ibid.,  pp.  651, 652;  Drake,  In. linn-,  pp.  137,  138  i 


108  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEBOKEE  [eth.ann.19 

lack  of  accommodation.  The  superintendent  reported  that  the  children 
were  apt  to  learn,  willing  to  labor,  and  readily  submissive  to  discipline, 
adding-  that  the  Cherokee  were  fast  advancing  toward  civilized  life  and 
generally  manifested  an  ardent  desire  for  instruction.  The  Valley- 
towns  mission,  established  at  the  instance  of  Currab.ee  Dick,  a  promi- 
nent local  mixed-blood  chief,  was  in  charge  of  the  Reverend  Evan 
Jones,  known  as  the  translator  of  the  New  Testament  into  the  Cherokee 
language,  his  assistant  being  James  D.  Watford,  a  mixed-blood  pupil, 
who  compiled  a  spelling  book  in  the  same  language.  Reverend  S.  A. 
Worcester,  a  prolific  translator  and  the  compiler  of  the  Cherokee 
almanac  and  other  works,  was  stationed  at  Brainerd,  removing  thence 
to  New  Echota  and  afterward  to  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  the  West.1 
Since  1817  the  American  Board  had  also  supported  at  Cornwall,  Con- 
necticut, an  Indian  school  at  which  a  number  of  young  Cherokee  were 
being  educated,  among  them  being  Elias  Boudinot,  afterward  the 
editor  of  the  Cherokee  Phcenix. 

About  this  time  occurred  an  event  which  at  once  placed  the  Cherokee 
in  the  front  rank  among  native  tribes  and  was  destined  to  have  profound 
influence  on  their  whole  future  history,  viz.,  the  invention  of  the 
alphabet. 

The  inventor,  aptly  called  the  Cadmus  of  his  race,  was  a  mixed- 
blood  known  among  his  own  people  as  Sikwa'yi  (Sequoya)  and 
among  the  whites  as  George  Gist,  or  less  correctly  Guest  or  Guess. 
As  is  usually  the  case  in  Indian  biography  much  uncertainty  exists  in 
regard  to  his  parentage  and  early  life.  Authorities  generally  agree 
that  his  father  was  a  white  man,  who  drifted  into  the  Cherokee  Nation 
some  years  before  the  Revolution  and  formed  a  temporary  alliance 
with  a  Cherokee  girl  of  mixed  blood,  who  thus  became  the  mother  of 
the  future  teacher.  A  writer  in  the  Cherokee  Phnni.r,  in  lsi's.  says 
that  only  his  paternal  grandfather  was  a  white  man."  McKenney  and 
Hall  say  that  his  father  was  a  white  man  named  Gist.3  Phillips 
asserts  that  his  father  was  George  Gist,  an  unlicensed  German  trader 
from  Georgia,  who  came  into  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  1708.4  By  a 
Kentucky  family  it  is  claimed  that  Sequoya's  father  was  Nathaniel  Gist, 
son  of  the  scout  who  accompanied  Washington  on  his  memorable 
excursion  to  the  Ohio.  As  the  story  goes,  Nathaniel  Gist  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Cherokee  at  Braddock's  defeat  (1755)  and  remained  a 
prisoner  with  them  for  six  years,  during  which  time  he  became  the 
father  of  Sequoya.  On  his  return  to  civilization  he  married  a  white 
woman   in  Virginia,  by  whom  he  had  other  children,  and  afterward 

1  List  of  missions  and  reports  of  missionaries,  etc.,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  n,  pp. 
277-279,  159,  1834;  personal  information  from  James  D.  Warlord  concerning  Valley-towns  mission. 
For  notices  of  Worcester,  Jones,  and  Watford,  see  Pilling,  Bibliography  of  the  Iroqnoian  Languages, 
1888.  " 

'-'<;.  < '.,  in  Cherokee  Phoenix;  reprinted  in  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  New  York,  September  26, 
1828. 

;i  McKenney  and  Hall.  Indian  Tribes. I,  p.  35,  et  passim,  1858. 

*  Phillips,  Sequoyah,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  pp.  542-548,  September,  1870. 


BUREAU   OF   AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY 


NINETEENTH    ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.    IV 


SEQUOYA      SIKWAYi 
l-'r McKenney  and  Hill      copi  uf  Hi ginal  [iiiimiiiK  of  IS2S) 


mooney]  8EQUOYA    AM>    III-    ALPHABET  109 

removed  to  Kentucky,  where  Sequoya,  then  a  Baptist  preacher,  fre~ 

(|  in- nt  ly  visit  ed  hin i  and  was  always  recognized  by  the  family  as  his  son.1 
Aside  from  the  fact  thai  the  Cherokee  acted  as  allies  of  the  English 
during  the  war  in  whim  Braddock's  defeat  occurred,  and  that  Sequoya, 
so  far  from  being  a  preacher,  was  not  even  a  Christian,  the  story  con- 
tains other  elements  of   improbability   and  appears  to  he  one   of   those 

genealogical  myths  built  upon  a  chance  similarity  of  name.     On   the 

other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  Sequoya  was  horn  before  the  dale  that 
Phillips  allows.  On  his  mother's  side  he  was  of  good  family  in  the 
tribe,  liis  uncle  being  a  chief  in  Echota.2  According  to  personal  infor- 
mation of  dames  Watford,  who  knew  him  well,  being  his  second  cousin, 
Sequoya  was  probably  horn  about  the  year  L760,  and  lived  as  a  boy 
with  his  mother  at  Tuskegee  town  in  Tennessee,  just  outside  of  old 
Fort  Loudon.  It  is  quite  possible  that  his  white  father  may  have  been 
a  soldier  of  the  garrison,  one  of  those  lovers  for  whom  the  Cherokee 
women  risked  their  lives  during  the  siege.3  What  became  of  the 
father  is  not  known,  but  the  mother  lived  alone  with  her  son. 

The  only  incident  of  his  boyhood  that  has  come  down  to  us  is  his 
presence  at  Echota  during  the  visit  of  the  Iroquois  peace  delegation, 
about  the  year  17Ty.'  His  early  years  were  spent  amid  the  stormy 
alarms  of  the  Revolution,  and  as  he  grew  to  manhood  he  devel- 
oped a  considerable  mechanical  ingenuity,  especially  in  .silver  work- 
ing. Like  most  of  his  tribe  he  was  also  a  hunter  and  fur  trader. 
Having  nearly  reached  middle  age  before  the  first  mission  was  estab- 
lished in  the  Nation,  he  never  attended  school  and  in  all  his  life  never 
learned  to  speak,  read,  or  write  the  English  language.  Neither  did 
he  ever  abandon  his  native  religion,  although  from  frequent  visits  to 
the  .Moravian  mission  he  became  imbued  with  a  friendly  feeling 
toward  the  new  civilization.  Of  an  essentially  contemplative  disposi- 
tion, he  was  led  by  a  chance  conversation  in  1809  to  reflect  upon  the 
ability  of  the  white  men  to  communicate  thought  by  means  of  writing, 
with  the  result  that  he  set  about  devising  a  similar  system  for  his  <>w  n 
people.  By  a  hunting  accident,  which  rendered  him  a  cripple  for  life, 
lie  was  fortunately  afforded  more  leisure  for  study.  The  presence  of 
his  name.  George  Guess,  appended  to  a  treaty  of  1816,  indicates  that 
he  «;i-  already  of  some  prominence  in  the  Nation,  even  before  the  per- 
fection of  his  great  invention.  After  years  of  patient  and  unremitting 
labor  in  the  face  of  ridicule,  discouragement,  and  repeated  failure,  he 
finally  evolved  the  Cherokee  syllabary  and  in  1821  submitted  it  to  a 
public  test  by  the  leading  men  of  the  Nation.  By  this  time,  in  con- 
sequence of  repeated  cessions,  the  Cherokee  had  been  dispossessed  of 
the  country  about  Echota,  and  Sequoya  was  now  living  at  Willstown, 

■  Manuscript  letters  by  John  Mason  Brown,  January  17.  18,  22,  and  Februarj  I.  1889,  In  archives  oi 
tli-  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology 
SMcKenney  and  Hall.  Lndian  Tribes,  i.  p.  15,  1858. 
*See  page  43.  *See  nunibrr  s'.i.  "Thu  lru<iiu>is  wars." 


110  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

on  an  upper  branch  of  Coosa  river,  in  Alabama.  The  syllabary  was 
soon  recognized  as  an  invaluable  invention  for  the  elevation  of  the 
tribe,  and  within  a  few  months  thousands  of  hitherto  illiterate  Chero- 
kee were  able  to  read  and  write  their  own  language,  teaching  each 
other  in  the  cabins  and  along  the  roadside.  The  next  year  Sequoya 
visited  the  West,  to  introduce  the  new  science  among  those  who  had 
emigrated  to  the  Arkansas.  In  the  next  year,  1823,  he  again  visited 
the  Arkansas  and  took  up  his  permanent  abode  with  the  western  band, 
never  afterward  returning  to  his  eastern  kinsmen.  In  the  autumn  of 
the  same  year  the  Cherokee  national  council  made  public  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  merit  by  sending  to  him,  through  John  Ross,  then  presi- 
dent of  the  national  committee,  a  silver  medal  with  a  commemorative 
inscription  in  both  languages.1  In  1828  he  visited  AVashington  as  one 
of  the  delegates  from  the  Arkansas  band,  attracting  much  attention, 
and  the  treaty  made  on  that  occasion  contains  a  provision  for  the  pay- 
ment to  him  of  five  hundred  dollars,  "for  the  great  benefits  he  has 
conferred  upon  the  Cherokee  people,  in  the  beneficial  results  which 
they  are  now  experiencing  from  the  use  of  the  alphabet  discovered  by 
him.1' 2  His  subsequent  history  belongs  to  the  West  and  will  be  treated 
in  another  place  (40). 3 

The  invention  of  the  alphabet  had  an  immediate  and  wonderful 
effect  on  Cherokee  development.  On  account  of  the  remarkable  adapta- 
tion of  the  syllabary  to  the  language,  it  was  only  necessary  to  learn 
the  characters  to  be  able  to  read  at  once.  No  schoolhouses  were  built 
and  no  teachers  hired,  but  the  whole  Nation  became  an  academy  for  the 
study  of  the  system,  until,  "in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  without 
school  or  expense  of  time  or  money,  the  Cherokee  were  able  to  read 
and  write  in  their  own  language.4  An  active  correspondence  began 
to  be  carried  on  between  the  eastern  and  western  divisions,  and  plans 
were  made  for  a  national  press,  with  a  national  library  and  museum  to 
be  established  at  the  capital,  New  Echota.5  The  missionaries,  who  had 
at  first  opposed  the  new  alphabet  on  the  ground  of  its  Indian  origin, 
now  saw  the  advisability  of  using  it  to  further  their  own  work.  In 
the  fall  of  1821  Atsi  or  John  Arch,  a  young  native  convert,  made  a 
manuscript  translation  of  a  portion  of  St.  John's  gospel,  in  the  sylla- 
bary, this  being  the  first  Bible  translation  ever  given  to  the  Cherokee. 
It  was  copied  hundreds  of  times  and  was  widely  disseminated  through 

1  AtcKenneyand  Hall,  Indian  Tribes,  i,  p.  46, 1858;  Phillips,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  p.  547,  September, 

18711. 

-  Indian  Treaties,  p.  425,  1837. 

:1  Fur  details  concerning  the  life  and  invention  of  Sequoya,  see  McKenney  and  Hall,  Indian  Tribes, 
1, 1858;  Phillips,  Sequoyah,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  September  1870-  Foster,  Sequoyah,  1885,  and  Story 
of  the  Cherokee  Bible,  1S99,  based  largely  on  Phillips'  article;  G.  C,  Invention  of  the  Cherokee 
Alphabet,  in  Cherokee  Pbcenix,  republished  in  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  New  York,  Septem- 
ber 26,  1828:  Pilling,  Bibliography  of  the  Iroquoian  Languages,  1888. 

4G.  C,  Invention  of  the  Cherokee  Alphabet,  op.  cit. 

6  (Unsigned)  letter  of  David  Brown,  September  2,  1825,  quoted  in  American  State  Papers:  Indian 
Affairs,  n,  p.  652,  1834. 


uooney]  THE    CHEKOKEE    PHOENIX  111 

the  Nation.1  In  September,  L825,  David  Brown,  a  prominent  half- 
breed  preacher,  who  had  already  made  some  attempt  al  translation  in 
the  Roman  alphabet,  completed  a  translation  of  the  N  i  •  w  Testament  in 
the  new  syllabary,  the  work  being  handed  about  in  manuscript,  as 
there  were  asyet  no  typescast  in  the Sequoya characters.8  In  the  same 
month  he  forwarded  to  Thomas  McKenney,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Indian  Affairs  at  Washington,  a  manuscript  table  of  the  characters, 
with  explanation,  this  being  probably  its  first  introduction  to  official 
notice. ; 

In  L827  the  Cherokee  council  having  formally  resolved  to  establish 
a  national  paper  in  the  Cherokee  language  and  characters,  types  for 
that  purpose  were  cast  in  Boston,  under  the  supervision  of  the  noted 
missionary,  Worcester,  of  the  American  Hoard  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  who.  in  December  of  that  year  contributed  to  the 
Missionary  Herald  five  verses  of  Genesis  in  the  new  syllabary,  this 
seeming  to  be  its  first  appearance  in  print.  Early  in  the  next  year 
the  press  and  types  arrived  at  New  Echota,  and  the  first  number  of 
the  new  paper,  Tsa'lagi  Tsu'lehisanun' hi,  the  Cherokee  Phoenix,  printed 
in  both  languages,  appeared  on  February  21,  1828.  The  first  printers 
were  two  white  men.  Isaac  N.  Harris  and  .John  F.  Wheeler,  with 
John  Candy,  a  half-blood  apprentice.  Elias  Boudinot  (Galagi'na,  ••The 
Buck"),  an  educated  Cherokee,  was  the  editor,  and  Reverend  S.  A. 
Worcesterwas  the  guiding  spirit  who  brought  order  out  of  chaos  and  set 
the  work  in  motion.  The  office  was  a  log  house.  The  hand  press  and 
types,  aftei  having  been  shipped  by  water  from  Boston,  were  trans- 
ported two  hundred  miles  by  wagon  from  Augusta  to  their  destination. 
The  printing  paper  had  been  overlooked  and  had  to  be  brought  by  the 
same  tedious  process  from  Knoxville.  Cases  and  other  equipments 
had  to  be  devised  and  fashioned  by  the  printers,  neither  of  whom 
understood  a  word  of  Cherokee,  but  simply  set  up  the  characters,  as 
handed  to  them  in  manuscript  by  Worcester  and  the  editor.  Such  was 
the  beginning  of  journalism  in  the  Cherokee  nation.  After  a  precari- 
ous existence  of  about  six  years  the  Phoenix  was  suspended,  owiny  to 
the  hostile  action  of  the  Georgia  authorities,  who  went  so  far  as  to 
throw  Worcester  and  Wheeler  into  prison.  Its  successor,  after  the 
removal  of  the  Cherokee  to  the  West,  was  the  Oheroke*  Advocate,  of 
which  the  first  number  appeared  at  Tahlequah  in  1S44.  with  William 
P.  Ross  as  editor.  It  is  still  continued  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Nation,  printed  in  both  languages  and  distributed  free  at  the  expense 
of  the  Nation  to  those  unable  to  read  English — an  example  without 
parallel  in  any  other  government. 

In  addition  to  numerous  Bible  translations,  hymn  books,  and  other 

1  Poster, Sequoyah, pp.  120, 121,1885.  ! Filling, Iroquoiun  Bibliography,  p.  21,  ls.sf<. 

'Brown  letter  (unsigned  I,  in  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  n.  p.  652,  1S34. 


112  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


religious  works,  there  have  been  printed  in  the  Cherokee  language  and 
syllabary  the  Cheroket  Phcenioo  (journal),  Cheroket  Advocate  (journal), 
Cherokei  Messenger  (periodical).  Cheroket  Almanac  (annual).  Cherokee 
spelling  books,  arithmetics,  and  other  schoolbooks  for  those  unable  to 
read  English,  several  editions  of  the  laws  of  the  Nation,  and  a  large 
body  of  tracts  and  minor  publications.  Space  forbids  even  a  mention 
of  the  names  of  the  devoted  workers  in  this  connection.  Besides  this 
printed  literature  the  syllabary  is  in  constant  and  daily  use  among  the 
non-English-speaking  element,  both  in  Indian  Territory  and  in  North 
Carolina,  for  letter  writing,  council  records,  personal  memoranda,  etc. 
What  is  perhaps  strangest  of  all  in  this  literary  evolution  is  the  fact 
that  the  same  invention  has  been  seized  by  the  priests  and  conjurers 
of  the  conservative  party  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  to  their  suc- 
cessors the  ancient  rituals  and  secret  knowledge  of  the  tribe,  whole 
volumes  of  such  occult  literature  in  manuscript  having  been  obtained 
among  them  by  the  author.1 

In  L819  the  whole  Cherokee  population  had  been  estimated  at  15.000, 
one-third  of  them  being  west  of  the  Mississippi.  In  1825  a  census  of 
the  eastern  Nation  showed:  native  Cherokee,  13,563;  white  men  mar- 
ried into  the  Nation,  117;  white  women  married  into  the  Nation,  73; 
negro  slaves,  1,277.  There  were  large  herds  of  cattle,  horses,  hogs, 
and  sheep,  with  large  crops  of  every  staple,  including  cotton,  tobacco, 
and  wheat,  and  some  cotton  was  exported  by  boats  as  far  as  New  Or- 
leans. Apple  and  peach  orchards  were  numerous,  butter  and  cheese 
were  in  use  to  some  extent,  and  both  cotton  and  woolen  cloths,  espe- 
cially blankets,  were  manufactured.  Nearly  all  the  merchants  were 
native  Cherokee.  Mechanical  industries  nourished,  the  Nation  was  out 
of  debt,  and  the  population  was  increasing.'-  Estimating  one-third 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  the  total  number  of  Cherokee,  exclusive  of 
adopted  white  citizens  and  negro  slaves,  must  then  have  been  about 
20,000. 

Simultaneously  with  the  decrees  establishing  a  national  press,  the 
Cherokee  Nation,  in  general  convention  of  delegates  held  for  the  pur- 
pose at  New  Echota  on  July  26,  1827,  adopted  a  national  constitution, 
based  on  the  assumption  of  distinct  and  independent  nationality.  John 
Ross,  so  celebrated  in  connection  with  the  history  of  his  tribe,  was 
president  of  the  convention  which  framed  the  instrument.  Charles  R. 
Hicks,  a  Moravian  convert  of  mixed  blood,  and  at  that  time  the  most 
influential  man  in  the  Nation,  was  elected  principal  chief,  with  John 

1  For  extended  notice  of  Cherokee  literature  and  authors  see  numerous  references  in  Pilling,  Bibli- 
ography of  the  Iroquoian  Languages,  1888:  also  Foster,  Sequoyah,  1885,  and  Story  of  the  Cherokee 
Bible,  1899.  The  largest  body  of  original  Cherokee  manuscript  material  in  existence,  including 
hundreds  of  ancient  ritual  formulas,  was  obtained  by  the  writer  anions  lie  Ivist  Cherokee,  and  is 
now  in  possession  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  to  be  translated  at  some  future  time. 

Brown  letter  (unsigned),  September  2,  1825,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  n,  pp.  651,652, 
1884. 


BUREAU  OF  AMERICAN   ETHNOLOGY 

NINETEENTH   ANNUAL  REPORT     PL.   V 

; 

1) 

(llirrnhn 

it 

'iUpljalirt. 

T/     oV 

\  // 

• 

1/ 

0<///  \J/v/ 

& 

V        V 

•  y/           ail////     •■/// 

E* 

\/„, 

?*. 

t.)///         1W         I  //// 

(finiv 

W/„ 

A 

I'//      0/"     aM  /// 

'I  Iv 

^///ll 

(L, 

1  1  /III'               J////'             XT  Mil 

v  w/ta.  *  %/im\.  ■  i/u/i 

•   1  ///■ 

ll/// 

I  A  HO 

'1 

i  //// 

C8t 

T 

i  1  i  ////// 

£u,/„s 

X//// 

y i/i//' 

\\J////// 

Oqiiv 

TLc-c..- 

'  r-rr 

L*r/ 

tw 

Ojw 

K„ 

!♦////  \V/^ 

•V/"     V/r 

A'/iA/i 

V* 

V>//// 

m,  ■ 

;  vbt//a  1 1  f/a 

I  A  f/e 

\Jf/r 

a*. 

%, 

1  llv 

1  t*£w 

!,„■ 

\\/i 

k*. 

(J  isa 

Vr'isv 

V*.  ww 

Mr,- 

0 

c 

&r„ 

6w 

e£>,» 

3- 

vV 

t\,rs 

ilT/y/ 

Bv 

a  as  //  i/i  firt/iw  rv  x/ir 
r,//st///t    forte,  or  .t/)n> 
/ .  <w  iff/  ///giu-./r  .t/ip 

Sounds  ropfi 

•/  /zr  /'  //•  ///^y' 

1 

nled  by  Vowels. 

/>.  eu  '/»  '"  /"><  «r  sfi/rrt  at  am  i 
//  //s   ag  '//  //">/.  or  s///»/  r/s  ft  0t  /_ 
/;  /is    ll   m   /'///■  ////sr/S/e'"'/ 

iv/ 
.«// 

Coll  SO  II  il  II 

Sounds 

y  nnrr/r  si.,  w  AW///u/i ,  /„ 
/" /.-  /'A/w.ur/  i /a. i .  //j  /// 

/"■>•"  "/'/./. VO'  /rrv   .vn/ttr-4 

/*>/y//.V//.     Syffaii 
Ssw/U-   .r/tii/trfr//  /r 

.rw/tf •////// 

'/  /:.  /•/  rt/v/r/r  n.v  //i  fi.//y /'■?/'  '"/'  "/'/' 
at  foymnmf  m?/Af  nrrr/'t. .y  *«iv  ,„„„ 
/>/.  //•  am£  S,//«M->-  I"'"''"  "'^  i 
r  r„n  /"/// 

//mrj-///r 

\ 

THE    CHEROKEE    ALPHABET 


hooney]  WHITE-PATH'S    REBELLION 1828  II  ."> 

Boss  as  assistant  chief.1  With  a  constitution  and  national  press,  a 
well-developed  system  of  industries  and  home  education,  and  a  gov- 
ernment administered  by  educated  Christian  men.  the  Cherokee  were 
now  justly  entitled  to  be  considered  a  civilized  people. 

The  idea  of  a  civilized  Indian  government  was  not  a  new  one.  The 
lirst  treaty  ever  negotiated  by  the  United  States  with  an  Indian  tribe, 
in  177s.  held  out  to  the  D(  da  wares  the  hope  that  by  a  confederation  id' 
friendly  tribes  they  might  he  aide  "to  form  a  stale,  whereof  the  1  >ela- 
ware  nation  shall  he  the  head  and  have  a  representation  in  Con- 
gress.'" Priber,  the  Jesuit,  had  already  familiarized  the  Cherokee 
with  the  formsof  civilized  government  before  the  middle  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  As  the  cap  between  the  conservative  and  progressive 
elements  widened  after  the  Revolution  the  idea  grew,  until  in  L808 
representatives  of  both  parties  visited  Washington  to  propose  an 
arrangement  by  which  those  who  clung  to  the  old  life  might  he  allowed 
to  remove  to  the  western  hunting  grounds,  while  the  rest  should  remain 
to  take  up  civilization  and  "begin  the  establishment  of  fixed  law- and 
a  regular  government."  The  project  received  the  warm  encourage- 
ment of  President  Jefferson,  and  it  was  with  this  understanding  that 
the  western  emigration  was  first  officially  recognized  a  few  years  later. 
Immediately  upon  the  return  of  the  delegates  from  Washington  the 
Cherokee  drew  up  their  first  brief  written  code  of  laws,  modeled  agree- 
ably to  the  friendly  suggestions  of  Jefferson. ; 

By  this  time  the  rapid  strides  of  civilization  and  Christianity  had 
alarmed  the  conservative  element,  who  saw  in  the  new  order  of  things 
only7  the  evidences  of  apostasy  and  swift  national  decay.  In  1828 
"White-path  (Nun'na-tsune'ga),  an  influential  full-blood  and  councilor, 
living  at  Turniptown  (U'lun'yi),  near  the  present  Ellijay,  in  Gilmer 
county.  Georgia,  headed  a  rebellion  against  the  new  code  of  laws,  with 
all  that  it  implied.  He  soon  had  a  large  band  of  followers,  known  to 
the  whites  as  "Red-sticks,"  a  title  sometimes  assumed  by  the  more 
warlike  element  among  the  Creeks  and  other  southern  tribes.  From 
the  townhouse  of  Ellijay  he  preached  the  rejection  of  the  new  consti- 
tution, the  discarding  of  Christianity  and  the  white  man's  ways,  and 
a  return  to  the  old  tribal  law  and  custom — the  same  doctrine  that  had 
more  than  once  constituted  the  burden  of  Indian  revelation  in  the  past. 
It  was  now  too  late,  however,  to  reverse  the  wheel  of  progress,  and 
under  the  rule  of  such  men  as  Hicks  and  Ross  the  conservative  oppo- 
sition gradually  melted  away.     White-path  was  deposed  from  his  seat 

'SeeRoyee,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  241, 1888;  Meredith,  inTheFive 
Civilized  Tribes.  Extra  Census  Bulletin,  i>.  41,  1894;  Morse,  American  Geography,  i,  p.  677,  1819  (for 
Hicks,. 

=  Fort  Pitt  treaty,  September  17,  1778.  Indian  Treaties,  p.  3, 1837. 

3  Cherokee  Agency  treaty,  July  8,  1817,  ibid.,  p.  209;  Drake,  Indians,  p.  450,  ed.  1880;  Johnson  in 
Senate  Report  on  Territories;  Cherokee  Memorial,  Januarj  is.  1831;  see  lawsof  1808,  ism.  and  Inter, 
in  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  II,  pp.  279-283,  1834.  The  volume  of  Cherokee  laws,  com- 
piled in  the  Cherokee  language  by  the  Nation,  in  1850,  begins  with  the  year  1808. 

19    ETH— 01 8 


114  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

in  council,  but  subsequently  made  submission  and  was  reinstated.  He 
was  afterward  one  of  the  detachment  commanders  in  the  Removal,  but 
died  while  on  the  march.1 

In  this  year,  also,  John  Ross  became  principal  chief  of  the,  Nation, 
a  position  which  he  held  until  his  death  in  1866,  thirty-eight  years 
later.''  In  this  long  period,  comprising  the  momentous  episodes  of 
the  Removal  and  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  it  may  lie  truly  said  that 
his  history  is  the  history  of  the  Nation. 

And  now.  just  when  it  seemed  that  civilization  and  enlightenment 
wcic  about  to  accomplish  their  perfect  work,  the  Cherokee  began  to 
hear  the  first  low  muttering  of  the  coming  storm  that  was  soon  to 
overturn  their  whole  governmental  structure  and  sweep  them  forever 
from  the  land  of  their  birth. 

By  an  agreement  between  the  United  States  and  the  state  of  Georgia 
in  L802,  the  latter,  for  valuable  consideration,  had  ceded  to  the  general 
government  her  claims  west  of  the  present  state  boundary,  the  United 
States  at  the  same  time  agreeing  to  extinguish,  at  its  own  expense, 
but  for  the  benefit  of  the  state,  the  Indian  claims  within  the  state 
limits,  "as  early  as  the  same  can  be  peaceably  obtained  on  reasonable 
terms."3  In  accordance  with  this  agreement  several  treaties  had 
already  been  made  with  the  Creeks  and  Cherokee,  by  which  large 
tracts  had  been  secured  for  Georgia  at  the  expense  of  the  general 
government.  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  and  the  terms  of  the.  proviso, 
Georgia  accused  the  government  of  bad  faith  in  not  taking  summary 
measures  to  compel  the  Indians  at  once  to  surrender  all  their  remaining 
lands  within  the  chartered  state  limits,  coupling  the  complaint  with  a 
threat  to  take  the  matter  into  her  own  hands.  In  1820  Agent  Meigs  had 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  Cherokee  were  now  so  far  advanced  that 
further  government  aid  was  unnecessary,  and  that  their  lands  should 
be  allotted  and  the  surplus  sold  for  their  benefit,  they  themselves  to 
be  invested  with  full  rights  of  citizenship  in  the  several  states  within 
which  they  resided.  This  .suggestion  had  been  approved  by  President 
Monroe,  but  had  met  the  most  determined  opposition  from  the  states 
concerned.  Tennessee  absolutely  refused  to  recognize,  individual 
reservations  made  by  previous  treaties,  while  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia  bought  in  all  such  reservations  with  money  appropriated 
by  Congress.*  No  Indian  was  to  be  allowed  to  live  within  those  states 
on  any  pretext  whatsoever. 

In  the  meantime,  owing  to  persistent  pressure  from  Georgia, 
repeated  unsuccessful  efforts  had  been  made  to  procure  from  the 
Cherokee  a  cession  of  their  lands  within  the  chartered  limits  of  the 

1  Persona]  information  from  Jnines  D.  Wafford.    So  far  as  is  known  this  rebellion  of  the  conservatives 

lias  never  hitherto  been  noted  in  print. 

=See  Resolutions  of  Honor,  in  Laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  pp.  137-140,  1868:  Meredith,  in  The 
Five  civilized  Tribes,  Extra  Census  Bulletin,  p.  41, 1894;  Appleton,  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography. 

3  See  fourth  article  of  "Articles  of  agreement  and  cession,"  April  24, 1802,  in  American  State  Papers: 
class  viu.  Public  Lands,  i,  quoted  also  by  Greeley,  American  Conflict,  I,  p.  103,  1864. 

<  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  231-233, 1888. 


hookey]  PRESSURE    FOE    REMOVAL — 1823   24  L15 

state.  Every  effort  met  with  a  firm  refusal,  the  [ndians  declaring 
that  having  alreadjr  made  cession  after  cession  from  a  territory  once 
extensive,  their  remaining  lands  were  no  more  than  were  needed  for 
themselves  and  their  children,  more  especially  as  experience  had 
shown  that  each  concession  would  be  followed  by  a  further  demand. 
They  conclude:  "  It  is  the  fixed  and  unalterable  determination  of  this 
nation  never  again  to  cede  one  foot  more  of  land."  Soon  afterward 
they  addressed  to  the  President  a  memorial  of  similar  tenor,  to  which 
^Calhoun,  as  Secretary  of  War.  returned  answer  that  as  Georgia 
objected  to  their  presence  either  as  a  tribe  or  as  individual  owners  or 
citizens,  they  must  prepare  their  minds  for  removal  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi.' 

In  reply,  the  Cherokee,  by  their  delegates — John  Ross.  George 
Lowrey,  Major  Ridge,  and  Elijah  Hicks — sent  a  strong  letter  calling 
attention  to  the  fact  that  by  the  very  wording  of  the  L802  agreement 
the  compact  was  a  conditional  one  which  could  not  he  carried  out 
without  their  own  voluntary  consent,  and  suggesting  that  Georgia 
might  be  satisfied  from  the  adjoining  government  lands  in  Florida. 
Continuing,  they  remind  the  Secretary  that  the  Cherokee  are  not 
foreigners,  but  original  inhabitants  of  America,  inhabiting  and  stand- 
ing now  upon  the  soil  of  their  own  territory,  with  limits  denned  by 
treaties  with  the  United  States,  and  that,  confiding  in  the  good  faith 
of  the  government  to  respect  its  treaty  stipulations,  they  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  their  true  interest,  prosperity,  and  happiness  demand  their 
permanency  where  they  are  and  the  retention  of  their  lands.  ' 

A  copy  of  this  letter  was  sent  by  the  Secretary  to  Governor  Troup 
of  Georgia,  who  returned  a  reply  in  which  he  blamed  the  missionaries 
for  the  refusal  of  the  Indians,  declared  that  the  state  would  not  permit 
them  to  become  citizens,  and  that  the  Secretary  must  either  assist  the 
state  in  taking  possession  of  the  Cherokee  lands,  or.  in  resisting  that 
occupancy,  make  war  upon  and  shed  the  blood  of  brothers  and  friends. 
The  Georgia  delegation  in  Congress  addressed  a  similar  letter  to  Presi- 
dent Monroe,  in  which  the  government  was  censured  for  ha\  ing 
instructed  the  Indians  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life  and  having  therebj 
imbued  them  with  a  de-ire  to  acquire  property." 

For  answer  the  President  submitted  a  report  by  Secretary  Calhoun 
showing  that  since  the  agreement  had  been  made  with  Georgia  in  1802 
the  government  had.  at  its  own  expense,  extinguished  the  Indian  claim 
to  24,600  square  miles  within  the  limits  of  that  state,  or  more  than 
three-fifths  of  the  whole  Indian  claim,  and  had  paid  on  that  and  other 
accounts  connected  with  the  agreement  nearly  seven  and  a  half  million 

'Cherokee  correspondence  1823  and  1824,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  n,  pp.  168  it::, 
1834;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  j  16  237, 1888. 

'Cherokee memorial,  February  11.  1824,  in  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Lffairs,  a,  pp.  II  I  194, 
1834    Royce,  op  cit,  p  J 17 

i  Letters  of  Governor  Troup  of  Georgia,  February  28, 1824,  and  of  Georgia  delegates,  March  10,1824, 
American  State  Papers    Indian  Affairs,  n.  pp.  475,  177,  1834;  Royce,  op.  cit.,  pp.  287,  238. 


V 


116  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

dollars,  of  which  by  far  the  greater  part  had  gone  to  Georgia  or  her 
citizens.  In  regard  to  the  other  criticism  the  report  states  that  the 
civilizing  policy  was  as  old  as  the  government  itself,  and  that  in  per- 
forming the  high  duties  of  humanity  to  the  Indians,  it  had  never  been 
conceived  that  the  stipulation  of  the  convention  was  contravened.  In 
handing  in  the  report  the  President  again  called  attention  to  the  con- 
ditional nature  of  the  agreement  and  declared  it  as  his  opinion  that  the 
title  of  the  Indians  was  not  in  the  slightest  degree  affected  by  it  and 
that  there  was  no  obligation  on  the  United  States  to  remove  them  by 
force.1 

Further  efforts,  even  to  the  employment  of  secret  methods,  were 
made  in  1827  and  1828  to  induce  a  cession  or  emigration,  but  without 
avail.  On  July  26,  1827,  as  already  noted,  the  Cherokee  adopted  a 
constitution  as  a  distinct  and  sovereign  Nation.  Upon  this  the  Georgia 
legislature  passed  resolutions  affirming  that  that  state  "had  the  power 
and  the  right  to  possess  herself,  by  any  means  she  might  choose,  of 
the  lands  in  dispute,  and  to  extend  over  them  her  authority  and  laws,1' 
and  recommending  that  this  be  done  by  the  next  legislature,  if  the 
lands  were  not  already  acquired  by  successful  negotiation  of  the  gen- 
eral government  in  the  meantime.  The  government  was  warned  that 
the  lands  belonged  to  Georgia,  and  she  must  and  would  have  them.  It 
was  suggested,  however,  that  the  United  States  might  be  permitted  to 
make  a  certain  number  of  reservations  to  individual  Indians.2 

Passing  over  for  the  present  some  important  negotiations  with  the 
western  Cherokee,  we  come  to  the  events  leading  to  the  final  act  in  the 
drama.  Up  to  this  time  the  pressure  had  been  for  land  only,  but  now 
a  stronger  motive  was  added.  About  the  year  1815  a  little  Cherokee 
boy  playing  along  Chestatee  river,  in  upper  Georgia,  had  brought  in 
to  his  mother  a  shining  yellow  pebble  hardly  larger  than  the  end  of  his 
thumb.  On  being  washed  it  proved  to  be  a  nugget  of  gold,  and  on 
her  next  trip  to  the  settlements  the  woman  carried  it  with  her  and  sold 
it  to  a  white  man.  The  news  spread,  and  although  she  probably  con- 
cealed the  knowledge  of  the  exact  spot  of  its  origin,  it  was  soon  known 
that  the  golden  dreams  of  DeSoto  had  been  realized  in  the  Cherokee 
country  of  Georgia.  Within  four  years  the  whole  territory  east  of 
the  Chestatee  had  passed  from  the  possession  of  the  Cherokee.  They 
still  held  the  western  bank,  but  the  prospector  was  abroad  in  the 
mountains  and  it  could  not  be  for  long.3  About  1828  gold  was  found 
on  Ward's  creek,  a  western  branch  of  Chestatee,  near  the  present 
Dahlonega.4  and  the  doom  of  the  nation  was  sealed  (11). 

1  Monroe,  message  to  the  Senate,  with  Calhoun's  report,   March  30,  1824,  American  State  Papers: 
Indian  Affairs,  II,  pp.  460,  462,  1834. 

2  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology, pp. 241, 242, 1888. 
3Personal  information  from  J.  D.  Warlord. 

4Nitze,  H.  B.  C. ,  in  Twentieth  Annual  Report  United  States  Geological  Survey,  part  6  (Mineral 
Resources),  p.  112,1899. 


hookey]  EXTENSION    OF    GEORGIA    LAWS   —1830  117 

In  November,  L828,  Andrew  Jackson  was  elected  to  succeed  John 
Quinoy  Adams  as  President.  He  was  a  frontiersman  and  Indian  bater, 
and  the  change  boded  no  good  to  the  ( Jherokee.  His  position  was  we'd 
understood,  and  there  is  good  ground  for  believing  thai  the  action  at 
once  taken  by  Georgia  was  at  bis  own  suggestion.1  On  December  20, 
1828,  a  month  after  his  election,  Georgia  passed  an  act  annexing  thai 
part  of  the  Cherokee  countrj  within  her  chartered  limits  and  extending 
over  it  her  jurisdiction;  all  laws  and  customs  established  among  the 
Cherokee  were  declared  null  and  void,  and  no  person  of  Indian  Mood 
or  descent  residing  within  the  Indian  country  was  henceforth  to  he 
allowed  as  a  witness  or  party  in  any  suit  where  a  white  man  should  be 
defendant.  The  act  was  to  take  effect  June  1.  L830  (42).  The  whole 
territory  was  soon  after  mapped  out  into  counties  and  surveyed  by 
state  surveyors  into  •'land  lots"  of  L60  acres  each,  and  "gold  lots"  of 
40  acres,  which  were  put  up  and  distributed  among  the  white  citizens 
of  Georgia  by  public  lottery,  each  white  citizen  receiving  a  ticket. 
Every  Cherokee  head  of  a  family  was.  indeed,  allowed  a  reservation 

of  160  acres,  hut    no  d 1  was  given,  and  his  continuance  depended 

solely  on  the  pleasure  of  the  legislature.  Provision  was  made  for  the 
settlement  of  contested  lottery  claims  among;  the  white  citizens,  hut 
by  the  most  stringent  enactments,  in  addition  to  the  sweeping  law 
which  forbade  anyone  of  Indian  blood  to  bring  suit  or  to  testify 
against  a  white  man,  it  was  made  impossible  for  the  Indian  owner  to 
defend  his  right  in  any  court  or  to  resist  the  seizure  of  his  homestead, 
or  even  his  own  dwelling  house,  and  anyone  so  resisting  was  made  sub- 
ject to  imprisonment  at  the  discretion  of  a  Georgia  court.  Other  laws 
directed  to  the  same  end  quickly  followed,  one  of  which  made  invalid 
any  contract  between  a  white  man  and  an  Indian  unless  established  by 
the  testimony  of  two  white  witnesses — thus  practically  canceling  all 
debts  due  from  white  men  to  Indians — while  another  obliged  all  white 
men  residing  in  the  Cherokee  country  to  take  a  special  oath  of  allegi- 
ance to  the  state  of  Georgia,  on  penalty  of  four  years'  imprisonment 
in  the  penitentiary,  this  act  being  intended  to  drive  out  all  the  mis- 
sionaries, teachers,  and  other  educators  who  refused  to  countenance 
the  spoliation.  About  the  same  time  the  Cherokee  were  forbidden  to 
hold  councils,  or  to  assemble  for  any  public  purpose,2  or  to  dig  for 
gold  upon  their  own  lands. 

1  See  Butler  letter,  quoted  in  Etoyce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  '-".>7, 
ee  also  Everett,  speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  May  31,  1838,  pp.  16-17,  3  s-33,  i    " 

-For  extracts  and  synopses  of  these  nets  sit  Royce,  op.  clt.,  pp.  259-264;  Drake,  indians,  pp.  43!  i  6, 
1880;  Greeley,  American  Conflict,  i,  pp.  105,  106,  1864;  Edward  Everett,  speech  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, February  14,  1831  I  lottery  law).  The  Hold  lottery  is  also  noted  incidentally  by  Lanman, 
Charles,  Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  p.  10;  New  York.  1849,  and  by  Nitze,  in  his  repO]  l    >n 

the  Georgia  gold  fields,  in  the  Twentieth   annual   Report  of  the  United  States  Ge 

part  6  I  Mineral  Resources  |,  p.  L12, 1899.  The  author  has  himseli  seen  in  a  mountain  villas  in  Georgia 
an  old  book  titled  "The  Cherokee  Land  and  Gold  Lottery,"  containing  map' and  plats  covering  the 
whole  Cherokee  country  of  Georgia,  with  each  lot  numbered,  aid  descriptions  of  the  watercourses, 
soil,  and  supposed  mineral  veins. 


118  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.ij 

The  purpose  of  this  legislation  was  to  render  life  in  their  own 
country  intolerable  to  the  Cherokee  by  depriving  them  of  all  legal 
protection  and  friendly  counsel,  and  the  effect  was  precisely  as 
intended.  In  an  eloquent  address  upon  the  subject  before  the  House 
of  Representatives  the  distinguished  Edward  Everett  clearly  pointed 
out  the  encouragement  which  it  gave  to  lawless  men:  "They  have  but 
to  cross  the  Cherokee  line;  they  have  but  to  choose  the  time  and  the 
place  where  the  eye  of  no  white  man  can  rest  upon  them,  and  they 
may  burn  the  dwelling,  waste  the  farm,  plunder  the  property,  assault 
the  person,  murder  the  children  of  the  Cherokee  subject  of  Georgia, 
and  though  hundreds  of  the  tribe  may  be  looking  on.  there  is  not  one 
of  them  that  can  be  permitted  to  bear  witness  against  the  spoiler."1 
Senator  Sprague,  of  Maine,  said  of  the  law  that  it  devoted  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Cherokee  to  the  cupidity  of  their  neighbors,  leaving  them 
exposed  to  every  outrage  which  lawless  persons  could  inflict,  so  that 
even  robbery  and  murder  might  be  committed  with  impunity  at  noon- 
day, if  not  in  the  presence  of  whites  who  would  testify  against  it.2 

The  prediction  was  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  Bands  of  armed  men 
invaded  the  Cherokee  country,  forcibly  seizing  horses  and  cattle, 
taking  possession  of  houses  from  which  they  had  ejected  the  occu- 
pants, and  assaulting  the  owners  who  dared  to  make  resistance.3  In 
one  instance,  near  the  present  Dahlonega,  two  white  men,  who  had 
been  hospitably  received  and  entertained  at  supper  by  an  educated 
Cherokee  citizen  of  nearly  pure  white  blood,  later  in  the  evening, 
during  the  temporary  absence  of  the  parents,  drove  out  the  children 
and  their  nurse  and  deliberately  set  fire  to  the  house,  which  was 
burned  to  the  ground  with  all  its  contents.  They  were  pursued  and 
brought  to  trial,  but  the  case  was  dismissed  by  the  judge  on  the 
ground  that  no  Indian  could  testify  against  a  white  man.1  Cherokee 
miners  upon  their  own  ground  were  arrested,  fined,  and  imprisoned, 
and  their  tools  and  machinery  destroyed,  while  thousands  of  white 
intruders  were  allowed  to  dig  in  the  same  places  unmolested.5  A 
Cherokee  on  trial  in  his  own  nation  for  killing  another  Indian  was 
seized  by  the  state  authorities,  tried  and  condemned  to  death,  although, 
not  understanding  English,  he  was  unable  to  speak  in  his  own  defense. 
A  United  States  court  forbade  the  execution,  but  the  judge  who  had 
conducted  the  trial  defied  the  writ,  went  to  the  place  of  execution,  anil 
stood  beside  the  sheriff  while  the  Indian  was  being  hanged.6 

1  -I eh  of  May  19,  1830,  Washington;  printed  by  Gales  &  Seaton,1830. 

^Speech  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  April  16,  1830;  Washington,  Peter  Force,  printer,  1830. 

BSee  Cherokee  Memorial  to  Congress,  January  18,  1831. 

*  Personal  information  from  Prof.  Clinton  Duncan, of  Tahlequah,  Cherokee  Nation,  whose  father's 
house  \\:is  the  one  thus  burned. 

^Cherokee  Memorial  to  Congress  January  18,  1831. 

clbid.;  see  also  speech  of  Edward  Everett  in  House  of  Representatives  February  14,  1831;  report  >>i 
the  select  committee  of  the  senate  of  Massarhusettsupon  t  lie  Georgia  resolutions,  Boston,  1831;  Greeley, 
American  Conflict,  I,  p.  106,  1864;  Abbott,  Cherokee  Indians  in  Georgia;  Atlanta  Constitution.  October 
27,  1889. 


koonki  ARREST    OF    MISSIONARIES — 1831  119 

Immediately  on  the  passage  of  the  first  ad  the  ( Iherokee  appealed  to 
President  Jackson,  but  were  told  that  no  protection  would  be  afforded 
tlirni.  Other  efforts  were  then  made — in  1829 — to  persuade  them  to 
removal,  or  to  procure  another  cession  this  time  of  all  their  lands  in 
North  Carolina  but  the  Cherokee  remained  firm.  The  Georgia  law 
was  declared  in  force  on  June  :;.  L830,  whereupon  the  Presidenl 
directed  that  the  annuity  payment  due  the  <  Iherokee  Nation  under  pre- 
vious treaties  should  no  longer  lie  jiaid  to  their  national  treasurer,  as 
hitherto,  but  distributed  per  capita  by  the  agent.  As  a  national  fund 
it  had  been  used  for  the  maintenance  of  their  schools  and  national 
press.  A-  a  per  capita  payment  it  amounted  to  forty-two  cents  to  each 
individual.  Several  years  afterward  it  still  remained  unpaid.  Fed- 
eral troops  were  also  sent  into  the  Cherokee  country  with  orders  to 
prevent  all  mining  by  either  whites  or  Indians  unless  authorized  by  the 
state  of  Georgia.  All  these  measures  served  only  to  render  the  Chero- 
kee more  bitter  in  their  determination.  In  September,  1830,  another 
proposition  was  made  for  the  removal  of  the  tribe,  but  the  national 
council  emphatically  refused  to  consider  thesubject.1 

In  January,  1831,  the  Cherokee  Nation,  by  John  Ross  as  principal 
chief,  brought  a  test  suit  of  injunction  against  Georgia,  in  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  The  majority  of  the  court  dismissed  the  suit 
on  the  ground  that  the  Cherokee  were  not  a  foreign  nation  within  the 
meaning  of  the  Constitution,  two  justices  dissenting  from  this  opinion.8 

Shortly  afterward,  under  the  law  which  forbade  any  white  man  to 
reside  in  the  Cherokee  Nation  without  taking  an  oath  of  allegiance  to 
Georgia,  a  number  of  arrests  were  made,  including  Wheeler,  the 
printer  of  the  Cherokei  Phmnix,  and  the  missionaries.  Worcester.  But- 
ler. Thompson,  and  Proctor,  who.  being  there  by  permission  of  the 
agent  and  feeling  that  plain  American  citizenship  should  hold  good  in 

an\    part  of  the  United  States,   refused  to  take  the  oath.      Soi if 

those  arrested  took  the  oath  and  were  released,  but  Worcester  and 
Butler,  still  refusing,  were  dressed  in  prison  garb  and  put  at  hard 
labor  among  felons.  Worcester  had  plead  in  his  defense  that  he  was  a 
citizen  of  Vermont,  and  had  entered  the  Cherokee  country  by  permis- 
sion of  the  President  of  the  United  Statesand  approval  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation:  and  that  as  the  United  States  by  several  treaties  had  acknowl- 
edged the  Cherokee  to  be  a  nation  with  a  guaranteed  and  definite  ter- 
ritory, the  state  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  him.  1  Ie  was  sentenced 
to  four  year-  in  the  penitentiary.  On  March  3,  1832,  the  matter  was 
appealed  as  a  test  ease  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
which  rendered  a  decision  in  favor  of  Worcester  and  the  Cherokee 
Nation  and  ordered  his  release.  Georgia,  however,  through  her  ^n 
ernor.  had  defied  the  summons  with  a  threat  of  opposition,  even  tothe 


i     erokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  261,262, 
2  Ibid.,  p.  262. 


120  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [etb.ann.19 

annihilation  of  the  Union,  and  now  ignored  the  decision,  refusing  to 
release  the  missionary,  who  remained  in  prison  until  set  free  by  the 
will  of  the  governor  nearly  a  year  later.  A  remark  attributed  to 
President  Jackson,  on  hearing  of  the  result  in  the  Supreme  Court,  may 
throw  some  light  on  the  whole  proceeding:  ■•John  Marshall  has  made 
his  decision,  now  let  him  enforce  it."1 

On  the  19th  of  July.  1832,  a  public  fast  was  observed  throughout 
the  Cherokee  Nation.  In  the  proclamation  recommending  it,  Chief 
Ross  observes  that  "Whereas  the  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  Nation 
exhibits  the  day  of  tribulation  and  sorrow,  and  the  time  appears  to  be 
fast  hastening  when  the  destiny  of  this  people  must  be  sealed;  whether 
it  has  been  directed  by  the  wonted  depravity  and  wickedness  of  man, 
or  by  the  unsearchable  and  mysterious  will  of  an  allwise  Being,  it 
equally  becomes  us,  as  a  rational  and  Christian  community,  humbly  to 
bow  in  humiliation,"  etc.2 

Further  attempts  were  made  to  induce  the  Cherokee  to  remove  to 
the  West,  but  met  the  same  firm  refusal  as  before.  It  was  learned  that 
in  view  of  the  harrassing  conditions  to  which  they  were  subjected  the 
Cherokee  were  now  seriously  considering  the  project  of  emigrating  to 
the  Pacific  Coast,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  a  territory  then 
claimed  by  England  and  held  by  the  posts  of  the  British  Hudson  Bay 
Company.  The  Secretary  of  War  at  once  took  steps  to  discourage  the 
movement.3  A  suggestion  from  the  Cherokee  that  the  government 
satisfy  those  who  had  taken  possession  of  Cherokee  lands  under  the 
lottery  drawing  by  giving  them  instead  an  equivalent  from  the  unoc- 
cupied government  lands  was  rejected  by  the  President. 

In  the  spring  of  1834  the  Cherokee  submitted  a  memorial  which, 
after  asserting  that  they  would  never  voluntarily  consent  to  abandon 
their  homes,  proposed  to  satisfy  Georgia  by  ceding  to  her  a  portion  of 
their  territory,  they  to  be  protected  in  possession  of  the  remainder 
until  the  end  of  a  definite  period  to  be  fixed  b}^  the  United  States,  at 
the  expiration  of  which,  after  disposing  of  their  surplus  lands,  they 
should  become  citizens  of  the  various  states  within  which  they  resided. 
They  were  told  that  their  difficulties  could  be  remedied  only  Iry  their 
removal  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi.  In  the  meantime  a  removal 
treaty  was  being  negotiated  with  a  self-styled  committee  of  some  fif- 
teen or  twenty  Cherokee  called  together  at  the  agency.  It  was  carried 
through  in  spite  of  the  protest  of  John  Ross  and  the  Cherokee  Nation, 
as  embodied  in  a  paper  said  to  contain  the  signatures  of  13,000  Chero- 
kee, but  failed  of  ratification.* 

Despairing  of  any  help  from  the  President,  the  Cherokee  delega- 

1  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bateau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  264-2titi,  1SS8;  JJrake,  Indians, 
pp    i.ii   i  .T.  L880;  Greeley,  American  Conflict,  i.  106,1864. 
s  Drake,  Indians,  p   158, 1880. 
;|  Royce,  up.  cit.,  pp.  262-264,  -~-.  273. 
*  [bid.,  pp.274, 275. 


'       '  TREATY    WITH    RIDGE    PARTY— 1835  121 

tion,  headed  by  John  Ross,  addressed  another  earnest  memorial  to 
Congress  on  May  17.  1834.  Royee  quotes  the  document  at  length, 
with  the  remark,  "Without  affecting  to  pass  judgment  on  the  merits 
of  the  controversy,  the  writer  thinks  this  memorial  well  deserving  of 
reproduction  here  as  evidencing  the  devoted  and  pathetic  attachment 
wilh  which  the  Cherokee  clung  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and, 
remembering  the  wrongs  and  humiliations  of  the  past,  refused  to  he 
convinced  that  justice,  prosperity,  and  happiness  awaited  them  beyond 
the  Mississippi." ' 

In  August  of  this  year  another  council  was  held  at  Ued  Clay,  south- 
eastward from  Chattanooga  and  just  within  the  Georgia  line,  where 
the  question  of  removal  was  again  debated  in  what  i-  officially 
described  a-  a  tumultuous  and  excited  meeting.  One  of  the  prin- 
cipal advocates  of  the  emigration  scheme,  a  prominent  mixed-blood 
named  John  Walker,  jr..  was  assassinated  from  ambush  while  return- 
ing from  the  council  to  his  home  a  few  miles  north  of  the  present 
Cleveland,  Tennessee.  On  account  of  his  superior  education  and 
influential  connections,  his  wife  being  a  niece  of  former  agent  Return 
,1.  Meigs,  the  affair  created  intense  excitement  at  the  time.  The 
assassination  has  been  considered  the  first  of  the  long  series  of  political 
murders  growing  out  of  the  removal  agitation,  but,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  old  Cherokee  acquainted  with  the  facts,  the  killing  was 
due  to  a  more  personal  motive.* 

The  Cherokee  were  now  nearly  worn  out  by  constant  battle  against 
a  fate  from  which  they  could  see  no  escape.  In  February,  1835,  two 
rival  delegations  arrived  in  Washington,  One,  the  national  party, 
headed  by  John  Ross,  came  prepared  still  to  tight  to  the  end  for  home 
and  national  existence.  The  other,  headed  by  Major  John  Ridge,  a 
prominent  subchief,  despairing  of  further  successful  resistance,  was 
prepared  to  negotiate  for  removal.  Reverend  J.  F.  Schermerhorn 
was  appointed  commissioner  to  arrange  with  the  Ridge  party  a  treaty 
to  he  confirmed  later  by  the  Cherokee  people  in  general  council.  On 
this  basis  a  treaty  was  negotiated  with  the  Ridge  party  by  which  the 
Cherokee  were  to  cede  their  whole  eastern  territory  and  remove  to 
the  West  in  consideration  of  the  sum  id'  $3,250,000  with  some  addi- 
tional acreage  in  the  West  and  a  small  sum  for  depredations  com- 
mitted upon  them  by  the  whites.     Finding  that  these  negotiation-  were 

proceeding,  the  Ross  party  tiled  a  counter  proposition  for $20,000, P, 

which  was  rejected  by  the  Senate  as  excessive.  The  Schermerhorn 
compact  with  the  Ridge  party,  with  the  consideration  changed  to 
$4,500,000,  was  thereupon  completed  and  signed  on  March  14.  Ism;,. 
hut  with  the  express  stipulation  that  it  should  receive  the  approval  of 

•Royce.Chi  tion,  Fifth  Ann.  Report  Bureau  of  Etl logy,  p.  276, 1888. 

*  Commissioner  Elbert  Herring,  November  25,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  240,  L834;  author's 
personal  information  from  Major  R.  C  Jackson  and  J.  D.  Wafford. 


122  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


the  Cherokee  nation  in  full  council  assembled  before  being  considered 
of  any  binding  force.  This  much  accomplished,  Mr.  Schermerhorn 
departed  for  the  Cherokee  country,  armed  with  an  address  from 
President  Jackson  in  which  the  great  benefits  of  removal  were  set 
forth  to  the  Cherokee.  Having  exhausted  the  summer  and  fall  in 
fruitless  effort  to  secure  favorable  action,  the  reverend  gentleman 
notified  the  President,  proposing  either  to  obtain  the  signatures  of 
the  leading  Cherokee  by  promising  them  payment  for  their  improve- 
ments at  their  own  valuation,  if  in  any  degree  reasonable,  or  to  con- 
clude a  treaty  with  a  part  of  the  Nation  and  compel  its  acceptance 
by  the  rest.  He  was  promptly  informed  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
Lewis  Cass,  on  behalf  of  the  President,  that  the  treaty,  if  concluded 
at  all,  must  be  procured  upon  fair  and  open  terms,  with  no  particular 
promise  to  any  individual,  high  or  low,  to  gain  his  aid  or  influence, 
and  without  sacrificing  the  interest  of  the  whole  to  the  cupidity  of  a 
fev^  He  was  also  informed  that,  as  it  would  probably  be  contrary  to 
his  wish,  his  letter  would  not  be  put  on  file.1 

In  October,  1835,  the  Ridge  treaty  was  rejected  by  the  Cherokee 
Nation  in  full  council  at  Red  Clay,  even  its  main  supporters,  Ridge 
himself  and  Elias  Boudinot,  going  over  to  the  rnajoruy,  most  unex- 
pectedly to  Schermerhorn,  who  reports  the  result,  piously  adding, 
"but  the  Lord  is  able  to  overrule  all  things  for  good."  During  the 
session  of  this  council  notice  was  served  on  the  Cherokee  to  meet 
commissioners  at  New  Echota  in  December  following  for  the  purpose 
of  negotiating  a  treaty.  The  notice  was  also  printed  in  the  Cherokee 
language  and  circulated  throughout  the  Nation,  with  a  statement  that 
those  who  failed  to  attend  would  be  counted  as  assenting  to  any  treaty 
that  might  be  made.2 

The  council  had  authorized  the  regular  delegation,  headed  by  John 
Ross,  to  conclude  a  treaty  either  there  or  at  Washington,  but,  finding 
that  Schermerhorn  had  no  authority  to  treat  on  any  other  basis  than 
the  one  rejected  by  the  Nation,  the  delegates  proceeded  to  Washing- 
ton.8 Before  their  departure  John  Ross,  who  had  removed  to  Ten- 
nessee to  escape  persecution  in  his  own  state,  was  arrested  at  his  home 
by  the  Georgia  guard,  all  his  private  papers  and  the  proceedings  of 
the  council  being  taken  at  the  same  time,  and  conveyed  across  the  line 
into  Georgia,  where  he  was  held  for  some  time  without  charge  against 
him,  and  at  last  released  without  apology  or  explanation.  The  poet, 
John  Howard  Payne,  who  was  then  stopping  with  Ross,  engaged  in 
the  work  of  collecting  historical  and  ethnologic  material  relating  to  the 
Cherokee,  was  seized  at  the  same  time,  with  all  his  letters  and  scien- 

i  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  278-280, 1888;  Everett  speech 
in  House  of  Representatives,  May  31, 1838,  pp.  28, 29,  1839,  in  which  the  Secretary's  reply  is  given  in 

full. 
=  Royce,  op.  cit.,  pp.  280-281.  » Ibid.,  p.  281. 


hooney]  TKKATY    OF    NEW    ECHOTA       1835  L23 

tific  manuscripts.  The  national  paper,  the  Cheroket  Phamix,  had  been 
suppressed  and  its  oilier  plant  seized  by  the  same  guard  a  few  days 
before.1     Thus  in  their  greatest  need  the  Chei'okee  were  deprived  of 

the  help  and  counsel  of  their  teachers,  their  national  press,  and  their 
chief. 

Although  for  two  months  threats  and  inducements  had  been  held 
out  to  secure  a  full  attendance  at  the  December  conference  at  New 
Echota,  there  were  present  when  the  proceedings  opened,  according 
to  the  report  of  Schermerhorn  himself ,  only  from  three  hundred  to 
five  hundred  men.  women,  and  children,  out  of  a  population  of  over 
lT.ooii.  Notwithstanding  the  paucity  of  attendance  and  the  absence 
of  the  principal  officers  of  the  Nation,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
arrange  the  details  of  a  treaty,  which  was  finally  drawn  up  and 
signed  on  December  29,  L835.s 

Briefly  stated,  by  this  treaty  id'  New  Echota,  Georgia,  the  Cherokee 
Nation  ceded  to  the  United  States  its  whole  remaining  territory  cast 
of  the  Mississippi  for  the  sum  of  five  million  dollars  and  a  common 
joint  interest  in  the  territory  already  occupied  by  the  western  Chero- 
kee, in  what  is  now  Indian  Territory,  with  an  additional  smaller  tract 
adjoining  on  the  northeast,  in  what  is  now  Kansas.  Improvements 
were  to  be  paid  for.  and  the  Indians  were  to  lie  removed  at  the  expense 
of  the  United  States  and  subsisted  at  the  expense  of  the  Government 
for  one  year  after  their  arrival  in  the  new  country.  The  removal  was 
to  take   place  within  two  years   from  the   ratification   of  the  treaty. 

On  the  strong  representations  of  the  Cherokee  signers,  who  would 
probably  not  have  signed  otherwise  even  then,  it  was  agreed  that  a 
limited  number  of  Cherokee  who  should  desire  to  remain  behind  in 
North  Carolina.  Tennessee,  and  Alabama,  and  become  citizens,  having 
first  been  adjudged  "qualified  or  calculated  to  become  useful  citizens."' 
might  so  remain,  together  with  a  few  holding  individual  reservations 
under  former  treaties.  This  provision  was  allowed  by  the  commis- 
sioners, hut  was  afterward  struck  out  on  the  announcement  by  Presi- 
dent Jackson  of  his  determination  "not  to  allow  any  preemptions  or 
reservations,  his  desire  being  that  the  whole  Cherokee  people  should 
remove  together." 

Provision  was  made  also  for  the  payment  of  debts  due  by  the  Indians 
out  of  any  moneys  coming  to  them  under  the  treaty:  for  the  reestab- 
lishment  of  the  missions  in  the  West;  for  pensions  to  Cherokee 
wounded  in  the  service  of  the  government  in  the  war  of  1812  and  the 
Creek  war;  for  permission  to  establish  in  the  new  country  such  military 
posts  and  roads  for  the  use  of  the  United  States  as  should  he  deemed 
necessary;  for  satisfying  Osage  claims  in  the  western  territory  and 

iRoyce,  Cherokee  Nation,  op.  cit.  (R.'ss  arrest),  p.  281;  Drake,  Indian-  Ross  Paj  le,  Phcenix), 
p.  159,  1880;  Bee  also  Everett  speech  .»■"  May  31,  1888,  op.  cit. 

-Royce,  op.  cit.,  pp.  :M  i  m  [>n  .[..,■!  ii   is:>. 


124  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  Leth.ann.19 

for  bringing  about  a  friendly  understanding  between  the  two  tribes; 
and  for  the  commutation  of  all  annuities  and  other  sums  due  from  the 
■United  States  into  a  permanent  national  fund,  the  interest  to  be  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  officers  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  and  by  them 
disbursed,  according  to  the  will  of  their  own  people,  for  the  care  of 
schools  and  orphans,  and  for  general  national  purposes. 

The  western  territory  assigned  the  Cherokee  under  this  treaty  was 
in  two  adjoining  tracts,  viz,  (1)  a  tract  of  seven  million  acres,  together 
with  a  "perpetual  outlet  west."  already  assigned  to  the  western 
Cherokee  under  treaty  of  1833,  as  will  hereafter  be  noted,1  being 
identical  with  the  present  area  occupied  by  the  Cherokee  Nation  in 
Indian  Territory,  together  with  the  former  "Cherokee  strip,"  with 
the  exception  of  a  two-mile  strip  along  the  northern  boundary,  now 
included  within  the  limits  of  Kansas;  (2)  a  smaller  additional  tract  of 
eight  hundred  thousand  acres,  running  fifty  miles  north  and  south 
and  twenty-five  miles  east  and  west,  in  what  is  now  the  southeastern 
corner  of  Kansas.  For  this  second  tract  the  Cherokee  themselves 
were  to  pay  the  United  States  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  treaty  of  1833,  assigning  the  first  described  tract  to  the  western 
Cherokee,  states  that  the  United  States  agrees  to  "guaranty  it  to 
them  forever,  and  that  guarantee  is  hereby  pledged."  By  the  same 
treaty,  "in  addition  to  the  seven  millions  of  acres  of  land  thus  pro- 
vided for  and  bounded,  the  United  States  further  guaranty  to  the 
Cherokee  nation  a  perpetual  outlet  west  and  a  free  and  unmolested 
use  of  all  the  country  lying  west  of  the  western  boundary  of  said 
seven  millions  of  acres,  as  far  west  as  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States  and  their  right  of  soil  extend  .  .  .  and  letters  patent  shall  be 
issued  by  the  United  States  as  soon  as  practicable  for  the  land  hereby 
guaranteed."  All  this  was  reiterated  by  the  present  treaty,  and  made 
to  include  also  the  smaller  (second)  tract,  in  these  words: 

Art.  o.  The  United  States  also  agree  that  the  lands  above  ceded  by  the  treaty  of 
February  14,  1833,  including  the  nutlet,  and  those  ceded  by  this  treaty,  shall  all  be 
included  in  one  patent,  executed  to  the  Cherokee  nation  of  Indians  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  May  28,  1S30.  .  .  . 

Art.  5.  The  United  States  hereby  covenant  and  agree  that  the  lands  ceded  to  the 
Cherokee  nation  in  the  foregoing  article  shall  in  no  future  time,  without  their  con- 
sent, be  included  within  the  territorial  limits  or  jurisdiction  of  anystate  or  territory. 
But  they  shall  secure  to  the  Cherokee  nation  the  right  of  their  national  councils  to 
make  ami  carry  into  effect  all  such  laws  as  they  may  deem  necessary  for  the  govern- 
ment ami  pre  itection  of  the  persons  and  property  within  their  own  country  belonging 
to  their  people  or  such  persons  as  have  connected  themselves  with  them:  Provided 
always,  that  they  shall  not  be  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  such  acts  of  Congress  as  have  been  or  may  be  passed  regulating  trade  and  inter- 
course with  the  Indians;  and  also  that  they  shall  not  be  considered  as  extending  to 
such  citizens  and  army  of  the  United  States  as  may  travel  or  reside  in  the  Indian 

!See  Fort  Gibson  treaty,  1833,  p.  142. 


mooned  TREATY    OF    NEW    ECHOTA — 1835  125 

country  by  permission,  according  to  tl»-  lu«>  and  regulations  established  by  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  same.  .  .  . 

\ki.  6.  Perpetual  peace  and  friendship  shall  exist  between  the  citizens  of  the 
I'niti'.l  States  nail  the  Cherokee  Indians.  The  United  stales  agree  to  protect  the 
Cherokee  nation  from  domestic  strife  and  foreign  enemies  and  against  intestine  wars 
between  the  several  tribes.  The  Cherokees  shall  endeavor  to  preserve  and  maintain 
the  peace  of  the  country,  and  not  make  war  upon  their  neighbors;  they  shall  also  be 
protected  against  interruption  and  intrusion  from  citizens  of  the  United  stairs  who 
may  attempt  to  settle  in  the  country  without  their  consent;  an. 1  all  such  persons 
shall  be  removed  from  the  same'  by  order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  But 
this  is  not  intended  to  prevent  the  residence  among  them  of  useful  farmers,  mechan- 
ics, and  teachers  for  the  instruction  of  the  Indians  according  to  treaty  stipulations. 

Ajrticle  7.  The  Cherokee  nation  having  already  made  great  progress  in  civiliza- 
tion, and  deeming  it  important  that  every  proper  and  laudable  inducement  should 
be  offered  to  their  people  to  improve  their  condition,  as  well  as  to  guard  and  secure 

in  the  most  effectual  manner  the  rights  guaranteed  to  them  in  this  treaty,  and  with 

a  view  to  illustrate  tin-  liberal  and  enlarged  policy  of  the  government  of  the  United 

States  toward  the  Indians  in  their  removal  beyond  the  territorial  limits  of  the  states. 

it  is  stipulated  that  they  shall  be  entitled  to  a  Delegate  in  the  Hou i  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  whenever  Congress  shall  make  provision  for  the  same. 

The  instrument  was  signed  by  (Governor)  "William  Carroll  of  Ten- 
nessee and  (Reverend)  .1.  F.  Schermerhorn  as  commissioners— the 
former,  however,  having  been  unable  to  attend  by  reason  of  illness 
and  by  twenty  Cherokee,  among  whom  the  most  prominent  were  Major 
Ridge  and  Elias  Boudinot,  former  editor  of  the  Phoenix.  Neither 
John  Ross  nor  any  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  was  present 
or  represented.  After  some  changes  by  the  Senate,  it  was  ratified 
May  23,  1S36.1 

Upon  the  treaty  of  New  Echota  and  the  treaty  previously  made  with 
tlie  western  Cherokee  at  Fort  Gibson  in  1833,  the  united  Cherokee 
Nation  based  it>  claim  to  the  present  territory  held  by  the  tribe  in 
Indian  Territory  and  to  the  Cherokee  outlet,  and  to  national  self-govern- 
ment, with  protection  from  outside  intrusion. 

An  official  census  taken  in  L835  showed  the  whole  number  of  Chero- 
kee in  Georgia,  North  Carolina,  Alabama,  and  Tennessee  to  he  16,542, 
exclusive  of  1,592  negro  slaves  and  201  whites  intermarried  with 
Cherokee.  The  Cherokee  were  distributed  as  follows:  Georgia, 8,946; 
North  Carolina,  3,644;  Tennessee,  2,528;  Alabama,  1 .4i4.2 

Despite  the  efforts  id'  Ro~s  and  the  national  delegates,  who  presented 
protests  with  .signatures  representing  nearly  Id.ooot  'herokee.  the  treaty 

■  See  New  Echota  treaty,  1835,  and  Fort  Gibson  treaty,  1833   Indian  Treaties,  pp.  633-64*  and    »i    I  - 

1837;  also,  for  full  di sen-,  ion  of  l.nlli  t  rallies  [;.  ,vee,  Cherokee  Nat  inn.  Fifth  Ann.  iep.  I  tun  an  , .  I  i  h 
nology, pp. 249-298.  For  a  summary  of  all  the  measures  of  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Cher 
okee  up  to  the  final  removal  see  also  Everett,  speech  in  the  House  of  Representative-,  May  31,  1838; 
the  chapters  on  "Expatriation  of  the  Cherokees,"  Drake,  Indians,  1880;  and  tin'  chapter  on  - 1  1 1.- 
Rights— Nullification,"  in  Greeley,  American  Conflict,  i,  1864.  The  Georgia  side  of  the  controversy  is 
presented  in  E..t.Harden'sLifeof  (Governor!  George  M.  Troup,  1849. 

-  Ri  iyee.  op.  cit.,  p.  289.  The  Indian  total  is  also  given  in  the  Report  of  the  Indian  Commissioner, 
p.  369, 1836. 


126  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ank.19 

had  been  ratified  by  a  majority  of  one  vote  over  the  necessary  number, 
and  preliminary  steps  were  at  once  taken  to  carry  it  into  execution. 
Councils  were  held  in  opposition  all  over  the  Cherokee  Nation,  and 
resolutions  denouncing  the  methods  used  and  declaring  the  treaty 
absolutely  null  and  void  were  drawn  up  and  submitted  to  General 
Wool,  in  command  of  the  troops  in  the  Cherokee  country,  by  whom 
they  were  forwarded  to  Washington.  The  President  in  reply  expressed 
his  surprise  that  an  officer  of  the  army  should  have  received  or  trans- 
mitted a  paper  so  disrespectful  to  the  Executive,  the  Senate,  and  the 
American  people;  declared  his  settled  determination  that  the  treaty 
should  be  carried  out  without  modification  and  with  all  consistent 
dispatch,  and  directed  that  after  a  copy  of  the  letter  had  been  delivered 
to  Ross,  no  further  communication,  by  mouth  or  writing,  should  be  held 
with  him  concerning  the  treaty.  It  was  further  directed  that  no  coun- 
cil should  be  permitted  to  assemble  to  discuss  the  treaty.  Ross  had 
already  been  informed  that  the  President  had  ceased  to  recognize  any 
existing  government  among  the  eastern  Cherokee,  and  that  any  fur- 
ther effort  by  him  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  the  treaty  would  be 
suppressed.1 

Notwithstanding  this  suppression  of  opinion,  the  feeling  of  the 
Nation  was  soon  made  plain  through  other  sources.  Before  the  ratifi- 
cation of  the  treaty  Major  W.  M.  Davis  had  been  appointed  to  enroll 
the  Cherokee  for  removal  and  to  appraise  the  value  of  their  improve- 
ments. He  soon  learned  the  true  condition  of  affairs,  and,  although 
holding  his  office  by  the  good  will  of  President  Jackson,  he  addressed 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  a  strong  letter  upon  the  subject,  from  which 
the  following  extract  is  made: 

I  conceive  that  my  duty  to  the  President,  to  yourself,  and  to  my  country  reluc- 
tantly compels  me  to  make  a  statement  of  .facts  in  relation  to  a  meeting  of  a  small 
number  of  Cherokees  at  New  Echota  last  December,  who  were  met  by  Mr.  Scher- 
merhorn  and  articles  of  a  general  treaty  entered  into  between  them  fur  the  whole 
Cherokee  nation.  .  .  .  Sir,  that  paper,  .  .  .  called  a  treaty,  is  no  treaty  at  all, 
because  not  sanctioned  by  the  great  body  of  the  Cherokee  and  made  without  their 
participation  or  assent,  I  solemnly  declare  to  you  that  upon  its  reference  to  the 
Cherokee  people  it  would  be  instantly  rejected  by  nine-tenths  of  them,  and  I  believe 
by  nineteen-twentieths  of  them.  There  were  not.  present  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
treaty  mere  than  one  hundred  Cherokee  voters,  and  not  more  than  three  hundred, 
including  women  and  children,  although  the  weather  was  everything  that  could  be 
desired.  The  Indians  had  long  been  notified  of  the  meeting,  and  blankets  were 
promised  to  all  who  would  come  and  vote  for  the  treaty.  The  most  cunning  and 
artful  means  were  resorted  to  to  conceal  the  paucity  of  numbers  present  at  the  treaty. 
No  enumeration  of  them  was  made  by  Schermerhorn.  The  business  of  making  the 
treaty  was  transacted  with  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Indians  present,  so  as  not 
to  expose  their  numbers.  The  power  of  attorney  under  which  the  committee  acted 
was  signed  only  by  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  meeting,  so  as  not  to  disclose 
their  weakness.  .  .  .  Mr.  Schermerhorn's  apparent  design  was  to  conceal  the  real 
number  present  and  to  impose  on  the  public  and  the  government  upon  this  point. 

■Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  op.  eit.,  pp.  283,284;  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  285, 286, 1836. 


> seyJ  GENERAL    wniil.'s    REPORTS — 1837  I  "J  7 

The  delegation  taken  to  Washington  by  Mr.  Schermerhorn  had  no  more  authority 
to  make  a  treaty  than  any  other  dozen  Cherokee  accidentally  picked  up  for  the 
purpose.  I  no«  warn  you  and  the  President  thai  if  this  paper  of  Schermerhorn's 
called  a  treaty  is  sent  t"  the  Senate  and  ratified  you  «ill  bring  trouble  upon  the 
government  arid  eventual!)  destroy  this  [the  <  Iherokee]  Nat  inn.  The  Cherokee  are 
a  peaceable,  harmless  people,  bul  you  may  drive  them  to  desperation,  and  this 
treaty  can  not  be  carried  into  effect  except  bj  the  strong  arm  of  force.1 

General  Wool,  who  had  been  placed  in  command  of  the  troops  con- 
centrated in  the  Cherokee  country  to  prevent  opposition  to  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  treaty,  reported  on  February  L8,  1837,  thai  he  had  called 
them  toe-ether  and  made  them  an  address,  but  "'it  is.  however,  vain  to 
talk  to  a  people  almost  universally  opposed  to  the  treaty  and  who 
maintain  that  they  never  made  such  a  treaty.  So  determined  are  they 
in  their  opposition  that  not  one  of  all  those  who  were  present  ami  voted 
at  tin'  council  held  hut  a  day  or  two  since,  however  poor  or  destitute, 
would  receive  either  rations  or  clothing  from  the  United  States  lest 
they  might  compromise  themselves  in  regard  to  the  treaty.  These 
same  people,  as  well  as  those  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina. 
during  the  summer  past,  preferred  living  upon  the  roots  and  sap  of 
trees  rather  than  receive  provisions  from  the  United  States,  and 
thousands,  as  I  have  been  informed,  had  no  other  food  for  weeks. 
Many  have  said  they  will  die  before  they  will  leave  the  country."2 

Other  letters  from  General  Wool  while  engaged  in  the  work  of 
disarming  and  overawing  the  Cherokee  show  how  very  disagreeable 
that  duty  was  to  him  and  how  strongly  his  sympathies  were  with  the 
Indians,  who  were  practically  unanimous  in  repudiating  the  treaty. 
In  one  letter  he  says: 

The  whole  scene  since  I  have  hern  in  this  country  has  been  nothing  but  a  heart- 
rending  one.  and  such  a  one  as  I  would  he  glad  to  get  rid  of  as  soon  as  circumstances 
will  permit.  Because  I  am  firm  and  decided,  do  not  believe  I  would  be  unjust.  If 
I  could,  and  I  could  not  do  them  a  greater  kindness,  I  would  remove  every  Indian 
to-morrow  beyond  the  reach  of  the  white  men.  who,  like  vultures,  are  watching, 
ready  to  pounce  upon  their  prey  and  strip  them  of  everything  they  have  or  expert 
from  the  government  of  the  Dinted  state-.  Yes,  sir,  nineteen-twentieths,  if  not 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred,  will  go  penniless  to  the  West.:l 

How  it  was  to  be  brought  about  is  explained  in  part  by  a  letter 
addressed   to  the   President   by  Major  Ridge  himself,  the  principal 

signer  of  the  treaty: 

We  now  come  to  address  you  on  the  subject  of  our  griefs  and  afflictions  from  the 

acts  of  the  white  people.  They  have  got  our  lands  and  now  they  are  preparing  to 
fleece  US  of  the  money  accruing  from  the  treaty.  We  found  our  plantations  taken 
either  in  whole  or  in  part  by  the  Georgians — suits  instituted  against  us  for  back  rents 
for  our  own  farms.     These  suits  are  commenced   in  the  inferior  courts,   with  the 

i  Quoted  by  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  op.  «-i  r . .  pp.  284-285;  quoted  also,  with  some  verbal  differ* 
by  Everett,  speech  in  House  oi  Representatives  on  Maj  31,1838. 
i  .i  in  Royce,  op  'it.,  p  286. 

» Letter  of  General  Wool,  September  10, 1836,  in  Everett,  speeeh  in  Hous  ol  Representatives,  May 
31,  1838. 


128  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ann.19 

evident  design  that,  when  we  are  ready  to  remove,  to  arrest  our  people,  and  on  these 
vile  claims  to  induce  us  to  com  promise  for  our  own  release,  to  travel  with  our  families. 
Thus  our  funds  will  lie  filched  from  mir  people,  and  we  shall  he  compelled  to  leave 
our  country  as  beggars  and  in  want. 

Even  the  Georgia  laws,  which  deny  us  our  oaths,  are  thrown  aside,  and  notwith- 
standing the  cries  of  our  people,  and  protestation  of  our  innocence  and  peace,  the 
lowest  classes  of  the  white  people  are  flogging  the  Cherokees  with  cowhides,  hick- 
ories, and  clubs.  We  are  not  safe  in  our  houses — our  people  are  assailed  by  day  and 
night  by  the  rabble.  Even  justices  of  the  peace  and  constables  are  concerned  in  this 
business.  This  barbarous  treatment  is  not  confined  to  men,  but  the  women  are 
stripped  also  and  whipped  without  law  or  mercy.  .  .  .  Send  regular  troops  to  protect 
us  from  these  lawless  assaults,  and  to  protect  our  people  as  they  depart  for  the  West. 
If  it  is  not  done,  we  shall  carry  off  nothing  but  the  scars  of  the  lash  on  our  backs,  and 
our  oppressors  will  get  all  the  money.  We  talk  plainly,  as  chiefs  having  property 
and  life  in  danger,  and  we  appeal  to  you  for  protection.  .  .  .' 

( reneral  Dunlap,  in  command  of  the  Tennessee  troops  called  out  to 
prevent  the  alleged  contemplated  Cherokee  uprising,  having  learned 
for  himself  the  true  situation,  delivered  an  indignant  address  to  his 
men  in  which  he  declared  that  he  would  never  dishonor  the  Tennessee 
arms  by  aiding  to  carry  into  execution  at  the.  point  of  the  bayonet  a 
treaty  made  by  a  lean  minority  against  the  will  and  authority  of  the 
Cherokee  people.  He  stated  further  that  he  had  given  the  Cherokee 
all  the  protection  in  his  power,  the  whites  needing  none.2 

A  confidential  agent  sent  to  report  upon  the  situation  wrote  in  Sep- 
tember, 1837,  that  opposition  to  the  treaty  was  unanimous  and  irrecon- 
cilable, the  Cherokee  declaring  that  it  could  not  bind  them  because 
they  did  not  make  it.  that  it  was  the  work  of  a  few  unauthorized  indi 
viduals  and  that  the  Nation  was  not  a  party  to  it.  They  had  retained 
the  forms  of  their  government,  although  no  election  had  been  held 
since  1830,  having  continued  the  officers  then  in  charge  until  their  gov- 
ernment could  again  be  reestablished  regularly.  Under  this  arrange- 
ment John  Ross  was  principal  chief,  with  influence  unbounded  and 
unquestioned.  "The  whole  Nation  of  eighteen  thousand  persons  is 
with  him.  the  few — about  three  hundred — who  made  the  treaty  having 
left  the  country,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  number  of  prominent 
individuals — as  Ridge,  Boudinot,  and  others — who  remained  to  assist 
in  carrying  it  into  execution.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  Ross  and 
his  party  are  in  fact  the  Cherokee  Nation.  ...  1  believe  that  the  mass 
of  the  Nation,  particularly  the  mountain  Indians,  will  stand  or  fall 
with  Ross.   .   .   .'"'' 

So  intense  was  public  feeling  on  the  subject  of  this  treat}*  that  it 
became  to  some  extent  a  part}-  question,  the  Democrats  supporting 
President  Jackson   while  the  Whigs  bitterly  opposed  him.     Among 

1  Letter  of  .nine  30,  1836,  to  President  Jackson,  in  Everett,  speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
May  31,  1S38. 

-  Quoted  by  Everett,  ibid,;  also  by  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  op.  cit.,p.286. 

3  Letter  of  J.M.Mason,  jr.,  to  Secretary  of  War, September  25, 1837,  in  Everett,  speech  in  House  of 
Representatives,  May  31, 1838;  also  quoted  in  extract  by  Royce,  op. cit., pp. 286-287. 


MuusF.Y]  ARRIVAL    OF   TROOPS  129 

notable  leaders  of  the  opposition  were  Henry  Clay,  Daniel  Webster, 
Edward  K\  erett,  Wise  of  Virginia,  and  1  >avid  ( Ii'ockett.  The  speeches 
in  Congress  upon  the  subject  ••were  characterized  by  a  depth  and  bit- 
terness  of  feeling  such  as  had  never  been  exceeded  even  on  the  slavery 
question."1  It  was  considered  not  simply  an  Indian  question,  but  an 
issue  between  state  rights  on  the  one  hand  and  federal  jurisdiction  and 
the  ( institution  on  the  other. 

In  spite  of  threats  of  arrest  and  punishment,  Ross  still  continued 
active  effort  in  behalf  of  his  people.  Again,  in  the  spring  of  I  838,  t  wo 
months  before  the  time  fixed  for  the  removal,  he  presented  to  Con- 
gress another  protest  and  memorial,  which,  like  the  others,  was  tabled 
by  the  Senate.  Van  Buren  had  now  succeeded  Jackson  and  was  dis- 
posed to  allow  the  Cherokee  a  longer  time  to  prepare  for  emigration, 
but  was  met  by  the  declaration  from  Governor  <  rilmer  of  Georgia  that 
any  delay  would  be  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  that  state  and  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  rights  of  tht  owners  of  tin  sot?,  and  that  if  trouble  came 
from  any  protection  afforded  by  the  government  troops  to  the  Chero- 
kee a  direct  collision  must  ensue  between  the  authorities  of  the  state 
and  general  go^  ernment.8 

Up  to  the  last  moment  the  Cherokee  still  believed  that  the  treaty 
would  not  he  consummated,  and  with  all  the  pressure  brought  to  bear 
upon  them  only  about  2,000  of  the  17,000  in  the  eastern  Nation  had 
removed  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  fixed  for  their  departure,  May 
26,  1838.  As  it  was  evident  that  the  removal  could  only  he  accom- 
plished by  force.  Genera]  Winfield  Scott  was  now  appointed  to  that 
duty  with  instructions  to  start  the  Indians  for  the  West  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment.  For  that  purpose  he  was  ordered  to  take  command 
of  the  troops  already  in  the  Cherokee  country,  together  with  addi- 
tional reenforcements  of  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery,  with  authority 
to  call  upon  the  governors  of  the  adjoining  states  for  as  many  as 4,000 
militia  and  volunteers.  The  whole  force  employed  numbered  about 
7,000 men  -regulars,  militia, and  volunteers.3  The  Indian-  had  already 
been  disarmed  by  General  Wool. 

On  arriving  in  the  Cherokee  country  Scott  established  headquarters 
at  the  capital,  New  Echota,  whence,  on  May  10,  he  issued  a  proclama- 
tion to  tin*  ( Iherokee,  warning  them  that  the  emigration  must  he  com- 
menced in  haste  and  that  before  another  moon  had  passed  every 
Cherokee  man.  woman,  and  child  must  he  in  motion  to  join  his 
brethren  in  the  far  West,  according  to  the  determination  id'  the  Presi- 
dent, which  he.  the  general,  had  come  to  enforce.  The  proclamation 
conclude-:   ••  My  troops  already  occupy  many  positions     .      .      .      and 

'  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  up.  eit.  pp.  287,  289. 
-  [bid.,  pp.  289,290. 

> Ibid.,  p. 291.    The  statement  "( the  total  number  of  trooj 
in  tin-  House  "i  Representatives,  May  31,  1838,  covering  the  whole stion  of  the  treaty. 

lit    ETH— 01 9 


130  MYTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

thousands  and  thousands  are  approaching  from  every  quarter  to  render 
resistance  and  escape  alike  hopeless.  .  .  .  Will  you.  then,  by 
resistance  compel  us  to  resort  to  arms  .  .  .  or  will  you  by  night 
seek  to  hide  yourselves  in  mountains  and  forests  and  thus  oblige  us  to 
hunt  you  down?" — reminding  them  that  pursuit  might  result  in  con- 
flict and  bloodshed,  ending  in  a  general  war.1 

Even  after  this  Ross  endeavored,  on  behalf  of  his  people,  to  secure 
some  slight  modification  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  but  without  avail.2 

THE    REMOVAL — 1838-39 

The  history  of  this  Cherokee  removal  of  1838,  as  gleaned  by  the 
author  from  the  lips  of  actors  in  the  tragedy,  may  well  exceed  in 
weight  <if  grief  and  pathos  any  other  passage  in  American  history. 
Even  the  much-sung  exile  of  the  Acadians  falls  far  behind  it  in  its 
sum  of  death  and  misery.  Under  Scott's  orders  the  troops  were  dis- 
posed at  various  points  throughout  the  Cherokee  country,  where 
stockade  forts  were  erected  for  gathering  in  and  holding  the  Indians 
preparatory  to  removal  (43).  From  these,  squads  of  troops  were  sent 
to  search  out  with  rifle  and  bayonet  every  small  cabin  hidden  away  in 
the  coves  or  by  tin1  sides  of  mountain  streams,  to  seize  and  bring  in  as 
prisoners  all  the  occupants,  however  or  wherever  they  might  be  found. 
Families  at  dinner  were  startled  by  the  sudden  gleam  of  bayonets  in 
the  doorway  and  rose  up  to  be  driven  with  blows  and  oaths  along  the  I 
weary  miles  of  trail  that  led  to  the  stockade.  Men  were  seized  in 
their  fields  or  going  along  the  road,  women  were  taken  from  their 
wheels  and  children  from  their  play.  In  many  cases,  on  turning  for 
one  last  look  as  they  crossed  the  ridge,  they  saw  their  homes  in  flames. 
fired  by  the  lawless  rabble  that  followed  on  the  heels  of  the  soldiers  to 
loot  and  pillage.  So  keen  were  these  outlaws  on  the  scent  that  in 
some  instances  they  were  driving  off  the  cattle  and  other  stock  of  the 
Indians  almost  before  the  soldiers  had  fairly  started  their  owners  in 
the  other  direction.  Systematic  hunts  were  made  by  the  same  men 
for  Indian  graves,  to  rob  them  of  the  silver  pendants  and  other  valu- 
ables deposited  with  the  dead.  A  Georgia  volunteer,  afterward  a 
colonel  in  the  Confederate  service,  said:  "  I  fought  through  the  civil 
war  and  have  seen  men  shot  to  pieces  and  slaughtered  by  thousands, 
but  the  Cherokee  removal  was  the  cruelest  work  I  ever  knew." 

To  prevent  escape  the  soldiers  had  been  ordered  to  approach  and 
surround  each  house,  so  far  as  possible,  so  as  to  come  upon  the  occu- 
pants without  warning.  One  old  patriarch,  when  thus  surprised, 
calmly  called  his  children  and  grandchildren  around  him,  and.  kneel- 
ing down,  bid  them  pray  with  him  in  their  own  language,  while  the 
astonished  soldiers  looked  on  in  silence.    Then  rising  he  led  the  way  into 


1  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  op.  cit.,  p.  291.  =  Ibid,  p.  291. 


hoonby]  OONCENTEATION   INTO   STOCKADES — 1838  18] 

exile.  A  woman,  on  finding  the  house  surrounded,  went  to  the  door 
and  <al l>'i I  up  the  chickens  to  be  fed  for  the  last  time,  after  which, 
taking  her  infant  on  her  back  and  her  two  other  children  by  the  hand, 
she  followed  her  husband  with  tin'  soldiers. 

All  were  not  thus  submissive.  One  old  man  named  Tsall,  "( lharley," 
was  seized  with  his  wife,  his  brother,  his  three  sons  ami  their  families. 
Exasperated  at  the  brutality  accorded  his  wife,  who,  being  unable  to 
travel  fast,  was  prodded  with  bayonets  to  hasten  her  steps,  he  urged 
the  other  men  to  join  with  him  in  a  dash  for  liberty.  As  he  spoke  in 
Cherokee  the  soldiers,  although  they  heard,  understood  nothing  until 
each  warrior  suddenly  sprang  upon  the  one  nearest  ami  endeavored  to 
wfeheE  hi-  gun  from  him.  The  attack  was  so  suddenand  unexpected 
that  one  soldier  was  killed  and  the  rest  fled,  while  the  Indians  escaped 
to  the  mountains.  Hundreds  ofothers^some  ofthem  from  the  various 
stockadesj  managed  also  to  escape  to  the  mountains  from  time  to  time, 
where  those  who  did  not  die  of  starvation  subsisted  on  foots  and  wild 
berries  until  the  hunt  was  over.  Finding  it  impracticable  to  secure 
these  fugitives,  General  Scott  finally  tendered  them  a  proposition, 
through  ('(  olonel)  W.  II.  Thomas,  their  most  trusted  friend,  that  if 
they  would  surrender  Charley  and  his  party  for  punishment,  the  rest 
would  he  allowed  to  remain  until  their  ease  could  lie  adjusted  by  the 
government.  On  hearing  of  the  proposition,  Charley  voluntarily 
came  in  with  his  sons,  offering  himself  as  a  sacrifice  for  his  people.  By 
command  of  General  Scott,  Charley,  his  brother,  and  the  two  elder 
-oils  were  -hot  near  the  mouth  of  Tuckasegee,a  detachment  of  Chero- 
kee prisoners  being  compelled  to  do  the  shooting  in  order  to  impress 
upon  the  Indians  the  fact  of  their  utter  helplessness.  From  those 
fugitives  thus  permitted  to  remain  originated  the  present  eastern 
band  oft  Iherokee.' 

When  nearly  seventeen  thousand  Cherokee  had  thus  been  gathered 
into  the  various  stockades  the  work  of  removal  began.  Early  in  June 
several  parties,  aggregating  about  five  thousand  persons,  were  brought 
down  by  the  troops  to  the  old  agency,  on  Hiwassee,  at  the  present 
Calhoun.  Tennessee,  and  to  Ros-"s  landing  (now  Chattanooga),  and 
Gunter's  Landing  (now  Guntersville,  Alabama),  lower  down  on  the 
Tennessee,  where  they  were  put  upon  steamers  and  transported  down 
the  Tennessee  and  Ohio  to  the  farther  side  of  the  Mississippi,  when 
the  journey  was  continued  by  land  to  Indian  Territory.     This  removal. 

1  The  notes  on  the  Cherokee  round-up  and  Removal  are  almost  entirely  from  author's  information 
asfumishedby  actors  in  the  events,  both  Cherokee  and  white,  among  whom  may  benamed  the 
ne]  W.  It.  Thomas;  the   late  Colonel  /..  A.  Zile,  of  Atlanta,  of  the  Georgia  volunteers;  the 
Bryson,  of  Dlllsboro,  North  Carolina,  a  ho  a  volunteer;  James  l».  Wafford,  of  ■ 

Cherokee  Nation,  who  commanded  oi i  the  emigrant  detachments;  and  old  [ndians,  both  east  and 

west,  who  remembered  tin-  Removal  and  had  heard  the  story  from  their  parents.    Charley's  story  is 
a  matter  of  common  note  among  the  ha-:  Cherokee,  and  was  heard  in  full  detail  from  Colonel  Thomas 
and  from  Wasituna  ("Washington"  , Charley's  youngest  -on,  who  alone  was  spared  bj  <■■  ■ 
on  account  of  his  youth.    The  incident  is  also  noted,  with  some  slight  inaccuracies,  in  Lanmau, 
Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains.    See  i>  157, 


182  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

in  the  hottest  part  of  the  year,  was  attended  with  so  great  sickness  and 
mortality  that,  by  resolution  of  the  Cherokee  national  council,  Ross 
and  the  other  chiefs  submitted  to  General  Scott  a  proposition  that  the 
Cherokee  be  allowed  to  remove  themselves  in  the  fall,  after  the  sickly 
season  had  ended.  This  was  granted  on  condition  that  all  should 
have  started  by  the  20th  of  October,  excepting  the  sick  and  aged  who 
might  not  be  able  to  move  so  rapidly.  Accordingly,  officers  were 
appointed  by  the  Cherokee  council  to  take  charge  of  the  emigration; 
the  Indians  being  organized  into  detachments  averaging  one  thousand 
each,  with  two  leaders  in  ehai"ge  of  each  detachment,  and  a  sufficient 
number  of  wagons  and  horses  for  the  purpose.  In  this  way  the 
remainder,  enrolled  at  about  13,000  (including  negro  slaves),  started  on 
the  long  march  overland  late  in  the  fall  (11). 

Those  who  thus  emigrated  under  the  management  of  their  own 
officers  assembled  at  Rattlesnake  springs,  about  two  miles  south  of 
Hiwassee  river,  near  the  present  Charleston,  Tennessee,  where  a  final 
council  was  held,  in  which  it  was  decided  to  continue  their  old  consti- 
tution and  laws  in  their  new  home.  Then,  in  October,  1S3S,  the  long 
procession  of  exiles  was  set  in  motion.  A  very  few  went  by  the  river 
route;  the  rest,  nearly  all  of  the  13,000,  went  overland.  Crossing  to 
the  north  side  of  the  Hiwassee  at  a  ferry  above  Gunstocker  creek, 
the}'  proceeded  down  along  the  river,  the  sick,  the  old  people,  and  the 
smaller  children,  with  the  blankets,  cooking  pots,  and  other  belong- 
ings in  wagons,  the  rest  on  foot  or  on  horses.  The  number  of  wagons 
was  fI45. 

It  was  like  the  march  of  an  army,  regiment  after  regiment,  the 
wagons  in  the  center,  the  officers  along  the  line  and  the  horsemen  on 
the  flanks  and  at  the  rear.  Tennessee  river  was  crossed  at  Tuckers  (?) 
ferry,  a  short  distance  above  Jollys  island,  at  the  mouth  of  Hiwassee. 
Thence  the  route  lay  south  of  Pikeville,  through  McMinnville  and 
on  to  Nashville,  where  the  Cumberland  was  crossed.  Then  they  went 
on  to  Hopkinsville,  Kentucky,  where  the  noted  chief  White-path, 
in  charge  of  a  detachment,  sickened  and  died.  His  people  buried 
him  by  the  roadside,  with  a  box  over  the  grave  and  poles  with  stream- 
ers around  it,  that  the  others  coming  on  behind  might  note  the  spot 
and  remember  him.  Somewhere  also  along  that  march  of  death — for 
the  exiles  died  by  tens  and  twenties  every  day  of  the  journey — the 
devoted  wife  of  John  Ross  sank  down,  leaving  him  to  go  on  with  the 
bitter  pain  of  bereavement  added  to  heartbreak  at  the  ruin  of  his 
nation.  The  Ohio  was  crossed  at  a  ferry  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cum- 
berland, and  the  army  passed  on  through  southern  Illinois  until  the 
great  Mississippi  was  reached  opposite  Cape  Girardeau,  Missouri.  It 
was  now  the  middle  of  winter,  with  the  river  running  full  of  ice.  so 
that  several  detachments  were  obliged  to  wait  some  time  on  the  east- 
ern bank  for  the  channel  to  become  clear.      In  talking  with  old  men 


HOOKEY]  VIJKIYAl.     IN     INDIAN     TKKKIToRY 1839  133 

and  women  ;it  Tahlequafa  tln>  author  found  that  the  lapse  of  over  half  a 
century  had  not  sufficed  to  wipe  <>ut  the  memory  of  the  miseries  of 
thai  hall  beside  the  frozen  river,  with  hundreds  of  sick  and  dying 
penned  up  in  wagons  or  stretched  upon  the  ground,  with  only  a  blanket 
overhead  to  keep  out  the  January  blast.  The  crossing  was  made  at 
last  in  two  divisions,  at  Cape  Girardeau  and  at  Green's  ferry,  a  short 
distance  below,  whence  the  march  was  on  through  Missouri  to  Indian 
Territory,  the  later  detachments  making  a  northerly  circuit  l>y  Spring- 
field, because  those  who  had  gone  before  had  killed  oil  all  the  game 
along  the  direct  route.  At  last  their  destination  was  reached.  They 
had  started  in  October,  1838,  and  it  was  now  March.  1839,  the  journey 
having  occupied  nearly  six  mouths  of  the  hardest  part  of  the  year.' 

It  i-  difficult  to  arrive  at  any  accurate  statement  of  the  number  of 
Cherokee  who  died  as  the  resull  of  the  Removal.  According  to  the 
official  figures  those  who  removed  under  the  direction  of  Ross  lost  over 
L,600  on  the  journey.-  The  proportionate  mortality  among  those 
previously  removed  under  military  supervision  was  probably  greater, 
as  it  was  their  suffering  that  led  to  the  proposition  of  the  Cherokee 
national  officers  to  take  charge  of  the  emigration.  Hundreds  died  in 
the  stockades  and  the  waiting  camps,  chiefly  by  reason  of  the  rations 
furnished,  which  were  of  flour  and  other  provisions  to  which  they  were 
unaccustomed  and  which  they  did  not  know  how  to  prepare  properly. 
Hundreds  of  others  died  soon  after  their  arrival  in  Indian  territory, 
from  sickness  and  exposure  on  the  journey.  Altogether  it  is  asserted, 
probably  with  reason,  that  over  4. nun  Cherokee  died  as  the  direct 
result  of  the  removal. 

On  their  arrival  in  Indian  Territory  the  emigrants  at  once  set  about 
building  houses  and  planting  crop-,  the  government  having  agreed 
under  the  treaty  to  furnish  them  with  rations  for  one  year  after  arrival. 
They  were  welcomed  by  their  kindred,  the  •'Arkansas  Cherokee" 
hereafter  to  be  known  for  distinction  as  the  "Old  Settlers" — who 
held  the  country  under  previous  treaties  in  1828  and  Is:'.::.  These, 
however,  being  already  regularly  organized  under  a  government  and 
chiefs  of  their  own.  were  by  no  means  disposed  to  be  swallowed  by 
the  governmental  authority  of  the  newcomers.  Jealousies  developed 
in  which  the  minority  or  treaty  party  of  the  emigrants,  headed  by 
Ridge,  took  sides  with  the  Old  Settlers  against  the  Ross  or  national 
party,  which  outnumbered  both  the  other-  nearly  three  to  one. 

While  these  differences  were  at  their  height  the  Nation  was  thrown 
into  a  feverof  excitement  by  the  news  that  Major  Ridge,  his  son  John 
Ridge,  and  Elias  Boudinot  all  leaders  of  the  treaty  party  had  been 
killed  by  adherent-  of  the  national  party,  immediately  after  the  close 

onal  information,  aa  before  cited. 
=  Asquo1  rokee  Nation.  Fifth  Ann  Rep.Bureauoi 

makesthen ber  unaccounted  for  1,428;  the  receiving  agent,  who  t'".],  chargi 

on  their  arrival,  makes  it  1.645. 


134  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

of  a  general  council,  which  had  adjourned  after  nearly  two  weeks  of 
debate  without  having  been  able  to  bring  about  harmonious  action. 
Major  Ridge  was  waylaid  and  shot  close  to  the  Arkansas  line,  his  son 
was  taken  from  bed  and  cut  to  pieces  with  hatchets,  while  Boudinot 
was  treacherously  killed  at  his  home  at  Park  Hill.  Indian  territory, 
all  three  being  killed  upon  the  same  day.  June  22,  1839. 

The  agent's  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  two  days  later,  says  of 
the  affair: 

The  murder  of  Boudinot  was  treacherous  and  cruel.  He  was  assisting  some 
workmen  in  building  a  new  house.  Three  men  called  upon  him  and  asked  for 
medicine.  He  went  off  with  them  in  the  direction  of  Wooster's,  the  missionary, 
who  keeps  medicine,  about  three  hundred  yards  from  Boudinot's.  When  they  got 
about  half  way  two  of  the  men  seized  Boudinot  and  the  other  stabbed  him,  after 
which  the  three  cui  him  to  pieces  with  their  knives  and  tomahawks.  This  murder 
taking  place  within  two  miles  of  the  residence  of  John  Ross,  his  friends  were  appre- 
hensive it  might  be  charged  to  his  connivance:  and  at  this  moment  I  am  writing 
there  are  six  hundred  armed  ( Iherokee  around  the  dwelling  of  Ross,  assembled  for 
his  protection.  The  murderers  of  the  two  Ridges  and  Boudinot  are  certainly  of  the 
late  Cherokee  emigrants,  and.  of  course,  adherents  of  I  loss,  but  I  can  not  yet  believe 
that  Ross  has  encouraged  the  outrage.  He  is  a  man  of  too  much  good  sense  to  em- 
broil his  nation  at  this  critical  time:  and  besides,  his  character,  since  I  have  known 
him,  which  is  now  twenty-five  years,  has  been  pacific.  .  .  .  Boudinot's  wife  is  a 
white  woman,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  as  I  understand.  He  has  six  children.  The 
wife  of  John  Ridge,  jr..  is  a  white  woman,  but  from  whence,  or  what  family  left,  I 
am  not  informed.  Boudinot  was  in  moderate  circumstances.  The  Ridges,  both 
father  and  son,  were  rich.  .  .  .' 

While  till  the  evidence  shows  that  Ross  was  in  no  way  a  party  to  the 
affair,  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  men  were  killed  in  accordance 
with  the  law  of  the  Nation — three  times  formulated,  and  still  in  exist- 
ence— which  made  it  treason,  punishable  with  death,  to  cede  away 
lands  except  by  act  of  the  general  council  of  the  Nation.  It  was  for 
violating  a  similar  law  among  the  Creeks  that  the  chief.  Mcintosh,  lost 
his  life  in  1825.  and  a  party  led  by  Major  Ridge  himself  had  killed 
Doublehead  years  before  on  suspicion  of  accepting  a  bribe  for  his 
part  in  a  treaty. 

On  hearing  of  the  death  of  the  Ridges  and  Boudinot  several  other 
signers  of  the  repudiated  treaty,  among  whom  were  John  Bell, 
Archilla  Smith,  and  James  Starr,  tied  for  safety  to  the  protection  of 
the  garrison  at  Fort  Gibson.  Boudinot's  brother,  Stand  Wade, 
vowed  vengeance  against  Ross,  who  was  urged  to  flee,  but  refused. 
declaring  his  entire  innocence.  His  friends  rallied  to  his  support, 
stationing  a  guard  around  his  house  until  the  first  excitement  had  sub- 
sided. About  three  weeks  afterward  the  national  council  passed 
decrees  declaring  that  the  men  killed  and  their  principal  confederates 

i  Agent  Stokes  to  Secretary  of  War,  June  24,  1839,  in  Report  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  365,  1839; 
Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  293, 1888;  Drake,  Indians,  pp.  159-460, 
1880;  author's  personal  information.  The  agent's  report  incorrectly  makes  the  killings  occur  on 
three  different  days. 


mooney]  REUNION    OF    NATION— 1839  135 

had  rendered  themselves  outlaws  by  their  own  conduct,  extending 
amnesty  on  certain  stringent  conditions  to  their  confederates,  and 
declaring  the  slayers  guiltless  of  murder  and  fully  restored  to  the  con- 
fidence and  favor  of  the  community.  This  was  followed  in  August  by 
another  council  decree  declaring  the  New  Echota  treaty  void  and  reas- 
serting the  title  of  the  Cherokee  to  their  old  country,  and  three  weeks 
later  another  decree  summoned  the  signers  of  the  treaty  to  appear  and 
answer  for  their  conduct  under  penalty  of  outlawry.  At  this  point 
the  United  States  interfered  by  threatening  to  arrest  Ross  as  acces- 
sory to  the  killing  of  the  Ridges.1  In  the  meant i me  the  national  part} 
and  the  Old  Settlers  hail  been  eon  line  together,  and  a  few  of  the  latter 
who  had  sided  with  the  Ridge  faction  and  endeavored  to  perpetuate  a 
division  in  the  Nation  were  denounced  in  a  council  of  the  Old  Settler-., 
which  declared  that  "in  identifying  themselves  with  those  individuals 
known  as  the  Ridge  party,  who  by  their  conduct  had  rendered  them- 
selves odious  to  the  (  'herokee  [ pie.  they  have  acted  in  opposition  to 

the  known  sentiments  and  feelings  of  that  portion  of  this  Nation  known 
as  Old  Settlers,  frequently  and  variously  and  publicly  expressed." 
The  offending  chief-  were  at  the  same  time  deposed  from  all  authority. 
Among  tlie  names  of  over  two  hundred  signers  attached  thai  of 
••  ( i-eorge  Guess"  (Sequoya)  come-  second  as  vice-president.8 

On  July  1-.  L839,  a  general  convention  of  the  eastern  and  western 
Cherokee,  held  at  the  Illinois  camp  ground,  Indian  territory,  passed 
an  act  of  union,  by  which  the  two  were  declared  '"one  body  politic. 
under  the  style  and  title  of  the  Cherokee  Nation."  On  behalf  id'  the 
eastern  Cherokee  the  instrument  bears  the  signature  of  John  Ross, 
principal  chief.  George  Lowrey,  president  of  the  council,  and  Going 
snake  (I'nadu-na'I),  speaker  of  the  council,  with  thirteen  others.  For 
the  western  ('herokee  it  was  signed  by  John  Looney,  acting  principal 
chief ,  George  Guess  (Sequoya),  president  of  the  council,  and  fifteen 
others.  On  September  r>.  L839,  a  convention  composed  chiefry  of 
eastern  ('herokee  assembled  at  Tahlequah,  Indian  territory  -then  first 
officially  adopted  as  the  national  capital  —adopted  a  new  constitution, 
which  was  accepted  by  a  convention  of  the  Old  Settlers  at  Fort  Gib- 
son, Indian  Territory,  on  June  26,  1840,  an  act  which  completed  the 
reunion  of  the  Nation. : 

Till:    ARKANSAS    BAND— 1817-   L838 

Having  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  main  body  of  the  Nation  to 
their  final  destination   in  the  West,   we  now    turn   to   review    briefly 

i: rokee  Nation,  op.  eit,    pp.  294 

h ii-    Lugusl  23,  L839,  in  Report  In. linn  Commissioner,  p.  387,  1839;  Royce,  op.  'it.. 

p   j'.' i 

Ictof  Union  "  and  •' Constitution  "  in  Constitution  and  Laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  1875; 

[etti  i  to  the  Secretai    ol  Wai    June  28,  L840,  In   Eti  | India 

p,  16,  1-1" 


186  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

the  history  of  the  earlier  emigrants,  the  Arkansas  or  Old  Settler 
Cherokee. 

The  events  leading  to  the  first  westward  migration  and  the  subse- 
quent negotiations  which  resulted  in  the  assignment  of  a  territory  in 
Arkansas  to  the  western  Cherokee,  by  the  treaty  of  L817,  have  been 
already  noted.  The  great  majority  of  those  thus  voluntarily  remov- 
ing belonged  to  the  conservative  hunter  element,  who  desired  to  rees- 
tablish in  the  western  wilderness  the  old  Indian  life  from  which, 
through  the  influence  of  schools  and  intelligent  leadership,  the  body 
of  the  Cherokee  was  rapidly  drifting  away.  As  the  lands  upon  which 
the  emigrants  had  settled  belonged  to  the  Osage,  whose  claim  had  not 
yet  been  extinguished  by  the  United  States,  the  latter  objected  to 
their  presence,  and  the  Cherokee  were  compelled  to  fight  to  maintain 
their  own  position,  so  that  for  the  first  twenty  years  or  more  the  his- 
tory of  the  western  band  is  a  mere  petty  chronicle  of  Osage  raids  and 
Cherokee  retaliations,  emphasized  from  time  to  time  by  a  massacre  on 
a  larger  scale.  By  the  treaty  of  1*17  the  western  Cherokee  acquired 
title  to  a  definite  territory  and  official  standing  under  Government  pro- 
tection and  supervision,  the  lands  assigned  them  Inning  been  acquired 
by  treaty  from  the  Osage.  The  great  body  of  the  Cherokee  in  the 
East  were  strongly  opposed  to  any  recognition  of  the  western  hand, 
seeing  in  such  action  only  the  beginning  of  an  effort  looking  toward 
the  ultimate  removal  of  the  whole  tribe.  The  Government  lent  sup- 
port to  the  scheme,  however,  and  a  steady  emigration  set  in  until,  in 
lM'.t.  the  emigrant^  were  said  to  number  several  thousands.  Unsuc- 
cessful endeavors  were  made  to  increase  the  number  by  inducing  the 
Shawano  and  Delaware*  of  Missouri  and  the  Oneida  of  New  York  to 
join  them.' 

In  L818  Tollunteeskee  (Ata'lunti'ski),  principal  chief  of  the  Arkan- 
sas Cherokee,  while  on  a  visit  to  old  friends  in  the  East,  had  become 
acquainted  with  one  of  the  officers  of  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions,  and  had  asked  for  the  establishment  of 
a  mission  among  his  people  in  the  West.  In  response  to  the  invitation 
the  Reverend  Cephas  Washburn  and  his  assistant.  Reverend  Alfred 
Finney,  with  their  families,  set  out  the  next  year  from  the  old  Nation. 
and  after  a  long  and  exhausting  journey  reached  the  Arkansas  country, 
where,  in  the  spring  of  1820,  they  established  Dwight  mission,  adjoin- 
ing the  agency  at  the  mouth  of  Illinois  creek,  on  the  northern  bank 
of  the  Arkansas,  in  what  is  now  Pope  county,  Arkansas.  The  name 
was  bestowed  in  remembrance  of  Timothy  Dwight.  a  Yale  president 
and  pioneer  organizer  of  the  American  Hoard.  Tollunteeskee  having 
died  in  the  meantime  was  succeeded  as  principal  chief  by  his  brother. 
John  Jolly,8  the  friend  and  adopted  father  of  Samuel  Houston.     Jolly 

1  See  ante,  pp.  105-106;  Nuttall.  who  was  oil  the  ground,  gives  them  only  L.500. 
2Washburn,  Cephas,  Reminiscences  "i*  the  Indians,  pp.  81,103;  Richmond,  1869. 


moosey]  TROUBLES    WITH    OSAGE-    1SI7-^'  137 

had  removed  from  bis  old  borne  at  the  mouth  of  Hiwassee,  in  Ten- 
nessee, in  1 81  v. 

In  the  spring  of   L819  Tl as  Nuttall,  the  naturalist,  ascended   the 

Arkansas,  ami  he  gives  an  interesting  accounl  of  the  western  Cherokee 
as  he  found  theinal  the  time,  [n  going  up  the  stream,  "both  banks  of 
the  river,  as  we  proceeded,  were  lined  with  the  houses  and  farms  of 
the  Cherokee,  and  though  their  die--  was  a  mixture  of  indigenous 
and  European  taste,  yel  in  their  houses,  which  are  decently  furnished, 
and  in  their  farms,  which  were  well  fenced  and  stocked  with  cattle,  we 
perceive  a  happy  approach  toward  civilization.  Their  numerous  fami- 
lies, also,  well  fed  and  clothed,  argue  a  propitious  progress  in  their 
population.  Their  superior  industry  either  as  hunters  or  farmers 
proves  the  value  of  property  among  them,  and  they  are  no  longer 
strangers  to  avarice  and  the  distinctions  created  by  wraith.  Some  of 
them  are  possessed  of  property  to  the  amount  of  many  thousands  of 
dollars,  ha\  e  houses  handsomely  and  conveniently  furnished,  and  their 
tables  spread  with  our  dainties  and  luxuries."  He  mentions  an  engage- 
ment some  time  before  between  them  and  the  Osage,  in  which  the 
Cherokee  had  killed  nearly  one  hundred  of  the  Osage,  besides  taking 
a  number  of  prisoners.  He  estimates  them  at  about  fifteen  hundred, 
being  about  half  the  number  estimated  by  the  eastern  Nation  as  hav- 
ing emigrated  to  the  West,  and  only  one-fourth  of  the  official  estimate. 
A  few   Delawares  wen'  living  with  them.2 

The  Osage  troubles  continued  in  spite  of  a  treaty  of  peace  between 
the  two  tribes  made  at  a  council  held  under  the  direction  of  <  rovernor 
Clark  at  St.  Louis,  in  October,  L818.3  Warriors  from  the  eastern 
Cherokee  were  accustomed  to  make  the  long  journey  to  the  Arkansas 
to  assist  their  western  brethren,  and  returned  with  scalps  and  captives.' 

In  the  summer  of  L820  a  second  effort  for  peace  was  made  by  Gov- 
ernor Miller  of  Arkansas  territory.  In  reply  to  his  talk  the  I  (sage 
complained  that  the  Cherokee  had  failed  to  deliver  their  Osage  cap 
fives  as  stipulated  in  the  previous  agreement  at  St.  Louis.  This,  it 
appears,  was  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  some  of  these  captives  had 
been  carried  to  the  eastern  Cherokee,  and  a  messenger  was  accordingly 
dispatched  to  secure  and  bring  them  hack.  Another  peace  conference 
was  held  soon  afterward  at  Fort  Smith,  hut  to  very  little  purpose,  as 
hostilities  were  soon  resumed  and  continued  until  the  United  States 
actively  interposed  in  the  fall  of  L822.5 

In  this  year  also  Sequoya  visited  the  western  ( Jherokee  to  introduce 

'Nuttall,  Journal  ol  Travels  into  the  Arkansas  Territory,  etc.,  p.  129;  Philadelphia,  1821. 

-Ibid.,  pp.  123-136.    The  battle  mentioned  seems  t.>  in-  the  same  noted  somewhat  differently  by 

:     Reminiscent  es,  p.  120 
•Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  op.  <  it    i>.  222 
•  Washburn,  >>]■-  fit..  i>.  160,  and  personal  information  trom  .1.  D,  Wafford. 

op.  cit.   pp.  242,  243;  Washhum,  op.  cit.,  pp.  112-122  et  passim;  see  also  sk< 
and  Tooantuh  or  Spring-frog,  in  McKenney  and  Hall,  Indian  Tribes,  i  and  ii,  185S. 


138  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ass.19 

to  them  the  knowledge  of  his  great  invention,  which  was  at  once  taken 
up  through  the  influence  of  Takatoka  (IVgata'ga).  a  prominent  chief 
who  had  hitherto  opposed  every  effort  of  the  missionaries  to  intro- 
duce their  own  schools  and  religion.  In  consequence  perhaps  of  this 
encouragement  Sequoya  removed  permanently  to  the  West  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  and  became  henceforth  a  member  of  the  western  Nation.1 

Like  other  Indians,  the  western  ( iherokee  held  a  firm  belief  in  witch- 
craft, which  led  to  frequent  tragedies  of  punishment  or  retaliation. 
In  L824  a  step  forward  was  marked  by  the  enactment  of  a  law  making 
it  murder  to  kill  any  one  for  witchcraft,  and  an  offense  punishable 
with  whipping  to  accuse  another  of  witchcraft.8  This  law  may  have 
been  the  result  of  the  silent  working  of  missionary  influence,  sup- 
ported by  such  enlightened  men  as  Sequoya. 

The  treaty  which  assigned  the  Arkansas  lands  to  the  western  Cher- 
okee had  stipulated  that  a  census  should  be  made  of  the  eastern  and 
western  divisions  of  the  Nation,  separately,  and  an  apportionment  of  the 
national  annuity  forthwith  made  on  that  basis.  The  western  line  of 
the  Arkansas  tract  had  also  been  left  open,  until  according  to  another 
stipulation  of  the  same  treaty,  the  whole  amount  of  land  ceded  through  it 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  the  East  could  be  ascer- 
tained in  order  that  an  equal  quantity  might  be  included  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  western  tract.3  These  promises  had  not  yet  been 
fulfilled,  partly  because  of  the  efforts  of  the  Government  to  bring 
about  a  larger  emigration  or  a  further  cession,  partly  on  account  of 
delay  in  the  state  surveys,  and  partly  also  because  the  Osage  objected 
to  the  running  of  a  line  which  should  make  the  Cherokee  their  next 
door  neighbors.4  With  their  boundaries  unadjusted  and  their  annui- 
ties withheld,  distress  and  dissatisfaction  overcame  the  western  Cher- 
okee, many  of  whom,  feeling  themselves  absolved  from  territorial 
restrictions,  spread  over  the  country  on  the  southern  side  of  Arkansas 
river,"'  while  others,  under  the  lead  of  a  chief  named  The  Bowl 
(Diwa'di).  crossed  Red  river  into  Texas — then  a  portion  of  Mexico — in 
a  vain  attempt  to  escape  American  jurisdiction." 

A  provisional  western  boundary  having  been  run,  which  proved 
unsatisfactory  both  to  the  western  Cherokee  and  to  the  people  of 
Arkansas,  an  effort  was  made  to  settle  the  difficulty  by  arranging  an 
exchange  of  the  Arkansas  tract  for  a  new  country  west  of  the  Arkansas 
line.  So  strongly  opposed,  however,  were  the  western  Cherokee  to 
this  project  that  their  council,  in  L825,  passed  a  law.  as  the  eastern 
Cherokee  and  the  Creeks  had  already  done,  fixing  the  death  penalty 

1  Washburn.  Reminiscences,  p.  17s.  lsii'.l;  see  also  ante  p.  206. 

°-  Ibid,  p.  138. 

»See  Treaty  of  1S17.  Indian  Treaties,  1837. 

» Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Report  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  243, 244, 1888. 

5  Ibid,  p.  243. 

6  Author's  personal  information;  see  p.  143. 


TREAT*    OF    WASHINGTON-     L82S  139 

for  anyone  of  the  tribe  who  should  undertake  to  cede  or  exchange  iand 
belonging  to  the  Nation.' 

After  a  long  series  of  negotiations  such  pi'essure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  a  delegation  which  visited  Washington  in  1828  thai  consent 
was  al  last  obtained  to  an  exchange  of  the  Arkansas  tract  for  another 
piece  of  seven  million  acres  lying  farther  west,  together  with  "a  per- 
petual outlet  west"  of  the  trad  thus  assigned,  as  fat-  west  a-  the 
sovereignty  of  the  United  States  migh<  extend.4  The  boundaries 
given  for  this  seven-million-acre  tract  and  the  adjoining  western 
outlet  were  modified  by  treat \  at  Fort  Gibson  five  years  later  so  as  to 
he  practically  equivalent  to  the  present  territory  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation  in  Indian  Territory,  with  the  Cherokee  strip  recently  ceded. 

The  preamble  of  the  Washington  treaty  of  May  6,  L828,  recites  that 
"  Whereas,  it  being  the  anxious  desire  of  thet  rovernment  of  the  United 

States  to  secure  to  the  Cherokee  nati f  Indians.  ;ls  well  those  now 

living  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  of  Arkansas  as  those  of  their 
friends  and  brothers  who  reside  in  state-  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  who  may  wish  to  join  their  brothers  of  the  West,  a  permanent 
//"///-.and  which  shall,  under  the  mosl  solemn  guarantee  of  the  United 
States,  he  and  remain  theirs  forever  a  home  that  shall  never,  in  all 
future  time,  he  eml larrassed  by  having  extended  around  it  the  lines 
or  placed  over  it  the  jurisdiction  of  a  territory  or  state,  nor  he  pressed 
upon  by  the  extension  in  any  way  of  any  of  the  limits  of  any  existing 
territory  or  state;  and  whereas  the  present  location  of  the  Cherokees 
in  Arkansas  being  unfavorable  to  their  present  repose,  and  tending, 
a-  the  past  demonstrates,  to  their  future  degradation  and  misery,  and 
the  ( 'herokees  being  anxious  to  avoid  such  consequences,"  etc.  there- 
fore, they  vfd>'  everything  confirmed  to  them  in  1817. 

Article  2  defines  the  boundaries  of  the  new  tract  and  the  western 
outlet  to  lie  given  in  exchange,  lying  immediately  west  of  the  present 
Arkansas  line,  while  the  next  article  provides  for  the  removal  of  all 
whites  and  others  residing  within  the  said  boundaries,  "so  that  no 
obstacles  arising  out  of  the  presence  of  a  white  population,  or  anj 
population  of  any  other  sort,  -hall  exist  to  annoy  the  Cherokees,  and 
also  to  keep  all  such  from  the  west  of  said  line  in  future.*' 

Other  articles  provide  for  payment  for  improvements  left  behind; 
for  a  cash  sum  of  §50,000  to  pay  for  trouble  and  expense  of  removal 
and  to  compensate  for  the  inferior  quality  of  the  lands  in  the  new 
tract:  for  $6,000  to  pay  for  recovering  stock  which  may  stray  away 
•■  in  quest  of  the  pastures  from  which  they  may  he  driven  ;"  $8,760  for 
spoliations  committed  by  Osage  and  whites;  $500  to  George  Guess 
(Sequoya)-  who  was  himself  one  of  the  signers— in  consideration  of 
the  beneficial  results  to  his  tribe  from  the  alphabet  invented  by  him: 
120,000  in  ten  annual  payments  for  education;  $1,000  for  a  printing 

1  Royce,  Cherokee  Saturn,  op  cit.,  p.  215.  -  [bid.    pp    H7  248. 


140  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

press  and  type  to  aid  in  the  enlightenment  of  the  people  "in  their  own 
and  our  language";  a  personal  indemnity  for  false  imprisonment:  and 
for  the  removal  and  reestablishment  of  the  Dwight  mission. 

In  article  6  "it  is  moreover  agreed  by  the  United  States,  whenever 
the  Cherokee  may  desire  it.  to  give  them  a  set  of  plain  laws,  suited  to 
their  condition:  also,  when  they  wish  t<>  lay  off  their  lands  and  own 
them  individually,  a  surveyor  shall  be  sent  to  make  the  surveys  at  the 
cost  of  the  United  States."  This  article  was  annulled  in  1833  by 
request  of  the  Cherokee. 

Article  9  provides. for  the  Fort  Gibson  military  reservation  within 
the  new  tract,  while  article  7  hinds  the  Cherokee  to  surrender  and 
remove  from  all  their  lands  in  Arkansas  within  fourteeiijnonths. 

Article  8  shows  that  all  this  was  intended  to  he  only  preliminary  to 
the  removal  of  the  whole  Cherokee  Nation  from  the  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, a  consummation  toward  which  the  Jackson  administration  and 
the  state  of  Georgia  immediately  began  t<>  bend  every  effort.  It  is  as 
follows: 

Article  S.  The  Cherokee  nation,  west  of  tin-  Mississippi,  having  bythis  agreement 
freed  themselves  from  the  harassing  and  ruinous  effects  consequent  upon  a  location 
amidst  a  white  population,  ami  secured  to  themselves  and  their  posterity,  under  the 
solemn  sanction  of  the  guarantee  of  the  United  States  as  contained  in  this  agreement, 
a  large  extent  of  unembarrassed  country;  and  that  their  brothers  yet  remaining  in 
the  states  may  he  induced  to  join  them  and  enjoy  the  repose  and  blessings  of  such  a 
state  in  the  future,  it  i.-  further  agreed  mi  the  part  of  the  United  States  that  to  each 
h,  ul  of  a  (  herokee  fannh  now  reoi  ling  within  the  chartered  limits  cf  1  eorgi  i,  or 
of  either  of  the  states  oast  of  the  Mississippi,  who  may  desire  to  remove  west,  shall 

he  given,  mi  enrolling  himself  for  emigration,  a  g 1  rifle,  a  blanket,  a  kettle,  and 

five  pounds  of  tobacco;  (and  to  each  member  of  his  family  one  blanket),  also  a  just 
compensation  fur  the  property  lie  may  abandon,  to  he  assessed  by  persons  to  he 
app  anted  by  the  President  .if  the  United  states.  The  cost  of  the  emigration  of  all 
such  shall  also  he  borne  by  the  United  states,  ami  good  and  suitable  ways  opened 
ami  procured  for  their  comfort,  accomi latioh,  and  support  by  the  way.  and  pro- 
visions fur  twelve  months  after  their  arrival  at  the  agency;  and  to  each  person,  or 
head  of  a  family,  if  he  take  along  with  him  four  persons,  shall  ho  paid  immediately 
on  his  arriving  at  the  agency  and  reporting  himself  and  his  family  or  followers  as 
emigrants  or  permanent  settlers,  in  addition  to  the  above,  provided  he  and  they  shall 
have  ,  migrated  from  within  the  chartered  limits  of  the  st.it,  of  Georgia,  the  sum  of  fifty 
dollars,  and  this  sum  in  proportion  to  any  greater  or  less  number  that  may  accompany 
him  from  within  the  aforesaid  chartered  limits  of  the  State  of  Georgia. 

A  Senate  amendment,  defining  the  limits  of  the  western  outlet,  was 
afterward  found  to  he  impracticable  in  its  restrictions  and  was  can- 
celed by  the  treaty  made  at  Fort  Gibson  in  is:;:;.1 

Tin"  Washington  treaty  was  signed  by  several  delegates,  including 
Sequoya,  four  of  them  signing  in  Cherokee  characters.     As  the  laws 

iTreatj  of  Washington,  May  6,  1828,  Indian  Treaties,  pp  123-428,1837;  treaty  of  Fort  Gibson,  1-:;:;, 
ibid.,  pp.56]  65  see  also  for  synopsis,  Eoyce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
pp  229,230,1888. 


BUREAU   OF   AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY 


NINLTEENTH    ANNUAL    REPORT      PL.    VI 


TAHCHEE     ITATSh     OR     DUTCH 
From  Catlin's  painting  of  183-1 


t nkv]  EMIGRATION    TO   TEXAS       1828  111 

of  the  western  Cherokee  made  it  a  capital  offense  to  negotiate  any  sale 
or  exchange  of  land  excepting  l>y  authority  of  council,  and  the  dele- 
gates had  acted  without  such  authority,  they  were  so  doubtful  as  to 
what  might  happen  on  their  return  that  the  Secretary  of  War  senl 
with  them  a  letter  of  explanation  assuring  the  Cherokee  thai  their 
representatives  had  acted  with  integrity  and  earnest  zeal  for  their 
people  and  had  done  the  best  that  could  be  done  with  regard  to  the 
treaty.  Notwithstanding  this,  they  found  the  whole  tribe  so  strongly 
opposed  to  the  treaty  that  their  own  lives  and  property  were  unsafe. 
The  national  council  pronounced  them  guilty  of  fraud  and  deception 
and  declared  the  treaty  null  and  void,  as  having  been  made  without, 
authority,  and  asked  permission  to  send  on  a  delegation  authorized  to 
arrange  all  differences.1  In  the  meantime,  however,  the  treaty  had 
been  ratified  within  three  weeks  of  its  conclusion,  and  thus,  hardly  ten 
years  after  they  had  cleared  their  fields  on  the  Arkansas,  the  western 
Cherokee  were  forced  to  abandon  their  cabins  and  plantations  and 
move  once  more  into  the  wilderness. 

A  considerable  number,  refusing  to  submit  to  the  treaty  or  to  trust 
longer  to  guarantees  and  promises,  crossed  Red  river  into  Texas  and 
joined  the  Cherokee  colony  already  located  there  by  The  Bowl,  under 
Mexican  jurisdiction.  Among  those  thus  removing  was  the  noted 
chief  Tahchee  (Tatsi')  or  •■Dutch,"  who  had  been  one  of  the  earliest 
emigrants  to  the  Arkansas  country.  After  several  years  in  Texas, 
during  which  he  led  war  parties  against  the  wilder  tribes,  he  recrossed 
Red  river  and  soon  made  himself  so  conspicuous  in  raids  upon  the 
Osage  that  a  reward  of  five  hundred  dollars  was  ottered  by  General 
Arbuckle  for  his  capture.  To  show  his  defiance  of  the  proclamation, 
he  deliberately  journeyed  to  Fori  Gibson,  attacked  a  party  of  Osage 
at  a  trading-  post  near  by,  and  scalped  one  of  them  within  hearing  of 
the  drums  of  the  fort.  With  rifle  in  one  hand  and  the  bleeding  scalp 
in  the  other,  he  leaped  a  precipice  and  made  his  escape,  although  a 
bullet  grazed  his  cheek.  On  promise  of  amnesty  and  the  withdrawal 
id'  the  reward,  he  afterward  returned  and  settled,  with  his  followers, 
on  the  Canadian,  southwest  of  Fort  Gibson,  establishing  a  reputation 
among  army  officers  as  a  valuable  scout  and  guide.8 

By  treaties  made  in  L826  and  L827  the  Creeks  had  ceded  all  their 
remaining  lands  in  Georgia  and  agreed  to  remove  to  Lndian  Territory. 
Some  of  these  emigrants  had  settled  alone-  the  northern  bank  of 
the  Arkansas  and  on  Verdigris  river,  on  lands  later  found  to  he 
within  the  limits  of  the  territory  assigned  to  the  western  Cherokee 
by  the  treaty  of  L828.     This  led  to  jealousies  and  collisions  between 

■  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Aim.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  !■.  248,  1888. 

2  For  a  sketch  of  Tahchee,  with  portraits,  see  McKenney  and  Hall,  i,  pp. 
American  Indians  ii,  pp.  121,122,  1844.    Washburn  also  mentions  the  emigration  to  Texas 
upon  the  treaty  of  1828  i  Reminiscences,  p.  -ii'.  1869). 


142  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

the  two  tribes,  and  in  order  to  settle  the  difficulty  the  United  States 
convened  a  joint  council  of  ("recks  and  Cherokee  at  Fort  Gibson,  with 
the  result  that  separate  treaties  were  concluded  with  each  on  February 
14.  1833,  defining-  their  respective  bounds  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
concerned.  By  this  arrangement  the  upper  Verdigris  was  confirmed 
t<>  the  Cherokee,  and  the  Creeks  who  had  settled  along  that  portion  of 
the  stream  agreed  to  remove  to  Creek  territory  immediately  adjoining 
on  the  south.' 

By  the  treaty  made  on  this  occasion  with  the  Cherokee  the  bound- 
aries of  the  tract  of  seven  million  acres  granted  by  the  treaty  of  L828 
are  denned  so  as  to  correspond  with  the  present  boundaries  of  the 
Cherokee  country  in  Indian  territory,  together  with  a  strip  two  miles 
wide  along  the  northern  border,  which  was  afterward  annexed  to  the 
state  ot'  Kansas  liy  the  treaty  of  1866.  A  tract  in  the  northeastern 
corner,  between  Neosho  or  Grand  river  and  the  Missouri  line,  was  set 
apart  for  the  use  of  the  Seneca  and  several  other  remnants  of  tribes 
removed  from  their  original  territories.  The  western  outlet  estab- 
lished by  the  treaty  of  1828  was  reestablished  as  a  western  extension 
from  the  seven-million-acre  tract  thus  bounded,  being  what  was  after- 
ward known  as  the  Cherokee  strip  or  outlet  plus  the  two-mile  strip 
extending  westward  along  the  south  line  of  Kansas. 

After  describing  the  boundaries  of  the  main  residence  tract,  the  first 
article  continues: 

In  addition  to  the  seven  millions  of  acres  of  land  thus  provided  for  and  bounded 
the  United  States  further  guarantee  to  the  Cherokee  nation  a  perpetual  outlet  west 
and  a  tree  and  unmolested  use  of  all  the  country  lying  west  of  the  western  boundary 
of  said  seven  millions  of  acres,  as  far  west  as  the  sovereignty  <>f  the  United  States  and 
their  right  ef  soil  extend — provided,  however,  that  if  the  saline  or  salt  plain  on  the 
great  western  prairie  shall  fall  within  said  limits  prescribed  for  said  outlet  the  right 
is  reserved  to  the  United  States  to  permit  other  tribes  of  red  men  to  get  salt  on  said 
plain  in  common  with  the  Cherokees — and  letters  patent  shall  be  issued  by  the 
United  staters  as  soon  as  iiractieable  for  the  lands  hereby  guaranteed. 

The  third  article  cancels,  at  the  particular  request  of  the  Cherokee, 
that  article  of  the  treaty  of  1838  by  which  the  government  was  to  give 
to  the  Cherokee  a  set  of  laws  and  a  surveyor  to  survey  lands  for  indi- 
viduals, when  so  desired  by  the  Cherokee.2 

Their  differences  with  the  Creeks  having  been  thus  adjusted,  the 
Arkansas  Cherokee  proceeded  to  occupy  the  territory  guaranteed  to 
them,  where  they  were  joined  a  few  years  later  by  their  expatriated 
kinsmen  from  the  east.  By  tacit  agreement  some  of  the  Creeks  who 
had  settled  within  the  Cherokee  bounds  were  permitted  to  remain. 
Among  these  were  several  families  of  Uchee — an  incorporated  tribe 

i Treaties  at  Fort  Gibson.  February  14.  1833,  with  Creeks  and  Cherokee,  in  Indian  Treaties,  pp. 
56]    "■'.'.  1837. 

s Treaty  of  1833,  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  561-665,1837;  Etoyce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau 
of  Ethnology,  pp.  249-253.  1888;  see  also  Treaty  of  New  Eehota,  1835,  ante,  pp.  123-125. 


BUREAU   OF   AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY 


NINETEENTH    ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.    VII 


SPRING-FROG    OR    TOOANTUH      DU'TSU'i 
i  From  McKcnney  and  Ball's  copy  of  the  original  painting  ol  aboul  L830) 


THE    SPANISH    GKAN1  143 

of  the  Creek  confederacy  who  had  fixed  their  residence  al  the  spot 
where  the  town  of  Tahlequah  \\:i-  aftei'ward  established-  They 
remained  here  until  swept  off  by  smallpox  some  sixty  years  ago. ' 

THE    TEXAS    BAND       L817    1900 

As  already  stated,  a  band  of  western  Cheixikee  under  Chief  Bowl, 
dissatisfied  \\  itli  the  delay  in  fulfilling  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  L817, 
bad  Left  Arkansas  and  crossed  Red  river  into  Texas,  then  under 
Mexican  jurisdiction,  where  the}  were  joined  a  few  years  later  by 
Tahchee  and  other-  of  the  western  band  who  were  opposed  to  the 
treat}  of  L828.  Here  they  united  with  other  refugee  Indians  from 
the  United  States,  forming  together  a  loose  confederacy  known  after- 
ward  as  "the  Cherokee   and    their  associated   bands,"  < sisting  of 

Cherokee,  Shawano,  Delaware,  Kickapoo,  Quapaw,  Choctaw,  Biloxi, 
"Iawanie"  (Heyowani,  Yowani),  "Unataqua"  (Nada'ko  or  Ana- 
darko,  another  Caddo  subtribe),  "Tahookatookie"  (?),  Alabama  (a 
(reek  subtribe),  and  "Cooshatta"  (Koasa'ti,  another  Creek  subtribe). 
The  Cherokee  being  the  largest  and  most  important  band,  their  child'. 
Bowl — known  to  the  whites  as  Colonel  Bowles— was  regarded  as  the 
chief  and  principal  man  of  them  all. 

The  refugees  settled  chiefly  alone-  Angelina,  Neches,  and  Trinity 
rivers  in  eastern  Texas,  where  Bowl  endeavored  to  obtain  a  grant  of 
land  for  their  use  from  the  Mexican  government.  According  to  the 
Texan  historians  they  were  tacitly  permitted  to  occupy  the  country 
and  hope-  were  held  out  that  a  grant  would  lie  issued,  hut  the  papers 
had  not  been  perfected  when  the  Texas  revolution  began.2  According 
to  the  Cherokee  statement  the  grant  was  actually  issued  and  the  Span- 
ish document  inclosed  in  a  tin  box  was  on  the  person  of  Bowl  when  he 
was  killed.3  On  complaint  of  some  of  the  American  colonists  in  Texas 
President  Jackson  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding  any  Indian-  to 
cross  the  Sabine  river  from  the  United  States.4 

In  L826-27  a  dissatisfied  American  colony  in  eastern  Texas,  under  the 
leader-hip  of  Hayden  Edward-,  organized  what  was  known  a-  the 
"Fredonia  rebellion"  against  the  Mexican  government.  To  secure 
the  alliance  of  the  Cherokee  and  their  confederates  the  Americans 
entered  into  a  treaty  by  which  the  Indians  were  guaranteed   the  lands 

■  Author's  personal  information.  In  189]  the  author  opened  two  Uehee  graves  on  the  grounds  of 
Cornelius  Boudinot,  at  Tahlequah,  finding  with  one  body  a  number  of  French,  Spanish,  and  Imeri 
can  silver  coins  wrapped  in  cloth  and  deposited  in  two  packages  on  each  sidi  of  the  head  They  are 
now  in  the  National  Museum  at  Washington, 

-  Bonnell,  Topographic  Description  of  Texas,  p,  ill;  Austin,  1840;  Thrall,  History  of  Texas,  p.  58; 
New  York,  1876. 

'Author's  personal  information  from  J.  D.  Wafford  and  other  old  Cherokee  residents  and  fr recenl 

Cherokee  delegates.  Bancroft  agrees  with  Bonnell  and  Thrall  that  no  grant  was  formally  issued, 
but  states  that  the  Cherokee  chiei  established  In*  people  in  Texas  "  confiding  in  promises  made  to 
bim,  and  a  conditional  agreement  in  1822  '  with  the  Spanish  governor  Historj  "i  the  North  Mexican 
States  and  Texas,  u,  p  103,  1889).  It  i>  probable  that  the  paper  carried  to  Bowl  was  the  later 
Houston  treaty.    See  next  page.  'Thrall,  op.  cit,,s,  p.  58. 


144  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ass.19 

occupied  by  them,  but  without  specification  as  to  boundaries.  The 
Fredonia  movement  .soon  collapsed  and  nothing  tangible  seems  to  have 
come  of  the  negotiations.1 

In  the  fall  of  1835  the  Texan  revolution  began,  resulting  in  the  seces- 
sion of  Texas  from  Mexico  and  her  establishment  as  an  independent 
republic  until  annexed  later  to  the  United  States.  General  Samuel 
Houston,  a  leading  member  of  the  revolutionary  body,  was  an  old 
friend  of  the  Cherokee,  and  set  forth  so  strongly  the  claims  of  them 
and  their  confederates  that  an  act  was  passed  by  the  convention  pledg- 
ing to  these  tribes  all  the  lands  which  they  had  held  under  the  Mexican 
government.  In  accordance  with  this  act  General  Houston  and  John 
Forbes  were  appointed  to  hold  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokee  and  their 
associated  bands.  They  met  the  chiefs,  including  Bowl  and  Big-mush 
(( .atun'wa'll.  "Hard-mush"), of  the  Cherokee,  at  Bowl's  village  on  Feb- 
ruary 23,  L836,  and  concluded  a  formal  trinity  by  which  the  Cherokee 
and  their  allies  received  a  fee  simple  title  to  all  the  land  lying  "  west  of 
the  San  Antonio  road  and  beginning  on  the  west  at  a  point  where  the 
said  road  crosses  the  river  Angelina,  and  running  up  said  river  until 
it  reaches  the  mouth  of  the  first  large  creek  below  the  great  Shawnee 
village,  emptying  into  the  said  river  from  the  northeast,  thence  run- 
ning with  said  creek  to  its  main  source  and  from  thence  a  due  north 
line  to  the  Sabine  and  with  .said  river  west.  Then  starting  where  the 
San  Antonio  road  crosses  the  Angelina  and  with  said  road  to  where  it 
crosses  the  Nechesand  thence  running  up  the  east  side  of  said  river  in 
a  northwest  direction."  The  historian  remarks  that  the  description  is 
somewhat  vague,  but  is  a  literal  transcription  from  the  treaty.2  The 
territory  thus  assigned  was  about  equivalent  to  the  present  Cherokee 
county.  Texas. 

The  treaty  provoked  such  general  dissatisfaction  among  the  Texans 
that  it  was  not  presented  to  the  convention  for  ratification.  General 
Houston  became  President  of  Texas  in  November.  1836,  but  notwith- 
standing all  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Cherokee,  the  treaty  was 
rejected  by  the  Texas  senate  in  secret  session  on  December  It',.  1837 
Texas  having  in  the  meantime  achieved  victorious  independence  was 
now  in  position  to  repudiate  her  engagements  with  the  Indians,  which 
she  did.  not  only  with  the  Cherokee,  but  with  the  Comanche  and 
other  wild  tribes,  wdiich  had  been  induced  to  remain  neutral  during 
the  struggle  on  assurance  of  being  secured  in  possession  of  their 
lands. 

In  the  meantime  President  Houston  was  unremitting  in  his  effort  to 
secure  the  ratification  of  the  Cherokee  treaty,  but  without  success. 
On  the  other  hand  the  Cherokee  were  accused  of  various  depreda- 
tions, and  it  was  asserted  that  they  had  entered  into  an  agreement  with 

i  Thrall,  Texas,  p.  46, 1879.  ;  Ibid.,  p.  143,  1840. 

-Bunnell,  Te.xiis,  pp.  14J.14::.  1840. 


EXPULSION     FROM     l  i:\.\s  — 1839  1  1  5 

Mexico  by  which  they  were  to  be  secured  in  the  territory  in  question 
on  condition  of  assisting  to  drive  oul  the  Americans.1  The  cha 
runic  rather  late  in  the  day.  and  it  was  evident  thai  Presidenl  Houston 
put  no  faith  in  it,  as  be  still  continued  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
( Iherokee,  e\  en  so  far  as  to  order  the  boundary  line  to  be  run.  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  i  to). 

In  December,  1838,  Houston  was  succeeded  as  Presidenl  l>\  Mirabeau 
B.  Lamar,  who  at  once  announced  his  intention  to  expel  every  Indian 
tribe  from  Texas,  declaring  in  his  inaugural  message  that  "the  sword 
<hould  mark  the  boundaries  of  the  republic."  At  this  time  the  Indians 
in  eastern  Texas,  including  the  ( Iherokee  and  their  twelve  confederated 
bands  and  some  others,  were  estimated  at  L,800  warriors,  or  perhaps 
8,1 persons/' 

A  small  force  of  troops  sent  to  take  possession  of  the  salt  springs  in 
the  Indian  country  at  the  head  of  the  Neches  was  notified  by  Bowl 
that  such  action  would  be  resisted.  The  Indians  were  then  informed 
that  they  musl  prepare  to  leave  the  country  in  the  fall,  bul  thai  they 
would  be  paid  for  the  impi-ovements  abandoned.  In  the  meantime 
the  neighboring  Mexicans  made  an  effort  to  free  themselves  from 
Texan  rule  and  sent  overtures  to  the  Indians  to  make  common  cause 
with  them.  This  being  discovered,  the  crisis  was  prei  ipitated,  and  a 
commission  consisting  of  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  (secretary 
of  war  of  the  republic),  Vice-President  Burnet,  and  some  other 
officials,  backed  up  by  several  regiments  of  troops,  was  sent  to  the 
Cherokee  village  on  Angelina  river- to  demand  of  the  Indians  that  they 
remove  at  once  across  the  border.  The  Indians  refused  and  were 
attacked  and  defeated  on  July  L5,  L839,  by  the  Texan  troops  under 
command  of  General  Douglas.  They  were  pursued  and  a  second 
engagement  took  place  the  next  morning,  resulting  in  the  death  of 
Bowl  himself  and  his  assistant  chief  <  iatfuYwa'li.  "Hard-mush,"  and  the 
dispersion  of  the  Indian  forces,  with  a  loss  in  the  two  engagements  of 
about  55  killed  and  80  wounded,  the  Texan  loss  being  comparatively 
trifling.  The  first  fight  took  place al  a  hill  close  to  the  main  Cherokee 
village  on  the  Angelina,  where  the  Indian-  made  a  stand  and  defended 
their  position  well  for  some  time.  The  second  occurred  at  a  ravine 
near  Neches  river,  where  they  wire  intercepted  in  their  retreat.  Says 
Thrall,  "After  this  fight  the  Indians  abandoned  Texas,  leaving  their 
tine  lands  in  possession  of  the  w  hites."  ' 

By  these  two  defeats  the  forces  of  the  Cherokee  and  their  confeder- 
ates were  completely  broken  up.  A  part  of  the  Cherokee  recrossed 
Red  river  and  rejoined  their  kinsmen  in  Indian  territory,  bringing 
with  them  the  blood-stained  canister  containing  the  patent  for  their 

'Bonm-ll.  Texas,  pp.  1 1  :.  1  il. 
I     pp.  144, 146. 

<  Bonnell,  op.  eit.,  pp.  116-150;  Thrall,  op.  'it.,  pp.  118-120. 
19    ETH— 01 10 


146  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Texas  land,  which  Row]  had  carried  about  with  him  since  the  treaty 
with  Houston  and  which  he  had  upon  his  person  when  shot.  It  is 
still  kept  in  the  Nation.'  Others,  with  the  Kickapoo,  Delawares, 
and  Caddo,  scattered  in  small  hands  along  the  western  Texas  frontier, 
where  they  were  occasionally  heard  from  afterward.  On  Christmas 
day  of  the  same  year  a  fight  occurred  on  Cherokee  creek.  San  Saba 
count}',  in  which  several  Indians  were  killed  and  a  number  of  women 
and  children  captured,  including  the  wife  and  family  of  the  dead  chief 
Bowl.2  Those  of  the  Cherokee  wTho  did  not  return  to  Indian  territory 
gradually  drifted  down  into  Mexico,  where  some  hundreds  of  them 
are  now  permanently  and  prosperously  domiciled  far  south  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Guadalajara  and  LakeChapala,  communication  being 
still  kept  up  through  occasional  visits  from  their  kinsmen  in  the  terri- 
tory.3 

THE    CHEROKKE    NATION    IN    THE    WEST — 1840-1900 

With  the  final  removal  of  the  Cherokee  from  their  native  country 
and  their  reunion  and  reorganization  under  new  conditions  in  Indian 
Territory  in  L840  their  aboriginal  period  properly  comes  to  a  close 
and  the  rest  may  be  dismissed  in  a  few  paragraphs  as  of  concern  rather 
to  the  local  historian  than  to  the  ethnologist.  Having  traced  for  three 
full  centuries  their  gradual  evolution  from  a  savage  tribe  to  a  civilized 
Christian  nation,  with  a  national  constitution  and  national  press  printed 
in  their  own  national  alphabet,  we  can  afford  to  leave  the  rest  to 
others,  the  principal  materials  being  readily  accessible  in  the  Cherokee 
national  archives  at  Tahlequah,  in  the  tiles  of  the  Gheroket  Advocate 
and  other  newspapers  published  in  the  Nation,  and  in  the  annual 
reports  and  other  documents  of  the  Indian  office. 

For  many  years  the  hunter  and  warrior  had  been  giving  place  to  the 
farmer  and  mechanic,  ami  the  forced  expatriation  made  the  change 
complete  and  final.  Torn  from  their  native  streams  and  mountains, 
their  council  fires  extinguished  and  their  townhouses  burned  behind 
them,  and  transported  bodily  to  a  far  distant  country  where  every- 
thing was  new  and  strange,  they  were  obliged  perforce  to  forego  the 
old  life  and  adjust  themselves  to  changed  surroundings.  The  ballplay 
was  neglected  and  the  green-corn  dance  proscribed,  while  the  heroic 
tradition  of  former  days  became  a  fading  memory  or  a  tale  to  amuse  a 
child.  Instead  of  ceremonials  and  peace  councils  we  hear  now"  of  rail- 
road deals  and  contracts  with  cattle  syndicates,  and  instead  of  the  old 
warrior  chiefs  who  had  made  the  Cherokee  name  a  terror — Oconostota, 
Hanging-maw,  Poublehead.  and  Pathkiller — we  find  the  destinies  of  the 

1  Author's  personal  information  from  .1.  I'.  Wafford  and  other  old  western  Cherokee,  and  recent 
Cherokee  delegates;  by  some  this  is  said  u>  have  been  :i  Mexican  patent,  lint  it  is  probably  the  "ik- 
given  by  Texas.    See  ante,  i>.  143. 

"Thrall,  Texas,  p.  120,  1876. 

3  Author's  personal  information  from  Mexican  and  Cherokee  sources 


REORGANIZATION     IN    THE    WEST       1840  117 

nation  guided  henceforth  by  shrewd  mixed-blood  politicians,  bearing 
white  men's  names  and  speaking  the  white  man's  language,  and  fre 
quentlj  with  hardlj  enough  Indian  blood  to  show  itself  in  the  features. 
The  change  was  no<  instantaneous,  nor  is  ii  even  yet  complete,  for 
although  tin-  tendency  is  constantly  away  from  the  old  things,  and 
although  frequent  intermarriages  are  rapidlj  blea'ching  out  the  brown 
of  the  Indian  skin,  there  are  still  several  thousand  full-blood  Chero- 
kee —enough  to  constitute  a  large  1 1-  i  1  >*  •  if  set  off  by  themselves  who 
speak  only  their  native  language  and  in  secret  bow  down  to  the  nature- 
gods  <>!'  their  fathers.  Here,  as  in  other  lands,  the  conservative 
element  has  taken  refuge  in  the  mountain  districts,  while  the  mixed- 
bloods  and  the  adopted  whites  are  chiefly  on  the  richer  low  grounds 
and  in  the  railr I  towns. 

On  the  reorganization  of  the  united  Nation  the  council  ground  at 
Tahlequah  was  designated  as  the  seat  of  government,  and  the  present 
town  was  soon  afterward  laid  out  upon  the  spot, taking  its  name  from 
the  old  Cherokee  town  of  Talikwa,',  or  Tellico,  in  Tennessee.  The 
missions  were  reestablished,  the  Acfrvocatt  was  revived,  and  the  work 
of  civilization  was  again  taken  up,  though  under  great  difficulties,  as 
continued  removals  and  persecutions,  with  the  awful  suffering  and 
mortality  of  the  last  great  emigration,  had  impoverished  and  more 
than  decimated  the  Nation  and  worn  out  the  courage  even  of  the 
bravest.  The  bitterness  engendered  by  the  New  Echota  treaty  led 
to  a  series  of  murders  and  assassinations  and  other  acts  of  outlawry. 
amounting  almost  to  civil  war  between  the  Ross  and  Ridge  factions, 
until  the  Government  was  at  last  obliged  to  interfere.  The  Old  Set- 
tler- also  had  their  grievances  and  complaints  against  the  newcomer-. 
so  that  the  history  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  for  the  next  twenty  years 
i-  largely  a  chronicle  of  factional  quarrels,  through  which  civilization 
and  every  good  work  actually  retrograded  behind  the  condition  of  a 
generation  earlier. 

Sequoya,  who  had  occupied  a  prominent  position  in  the  affairs  of 

the  Old  Settlers  and  assisted  much  in  the  reorganization  of  the  Nati 

had  become  seized  with  a  desire  to  make  linguistic  investigations  among 
the  remote  tribes,  very  probably  with  a  view  of  devising  a  universal 
Indian  alphabet.  His  mind  dwelt  also  on  the  old  tradition  of  a  lost 
band  of  Cherokee  living  somewhere  toward  the  western  mountains. 
In  1841  and  L842,  with  a  few  Cherokee  companions  and  with  hi-  pro- 
visions and  papers  loaded  in  an  ox  cart,  he  made  several  journey-  into 
the  West,  received  everywhere  with  kindness  by  even  the  wildest  t  ribes. 
Disappointed  in  his  philologic  results,  he  started  out  in  L843  in  quest 
of  the  lost  Cherokee,  who  were  believed  to  be  somewhere  in  northern 
Mexico,  but.  being  now  an  old  man  and  worn  out  by  hardship,  he  sank 
under  the  effort  and   died     alone  and  unattended,  it    i<   said — near  the 


148  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

village  of  San  Fernando,  Mexico,  in  August  of  that  year.  Rumors 
having  come  of  his  helpless  condition,  a  party  had  been  sent  out  from 
the  Nation  to  bring  him  back,  but  arrived  too  late  to  find  him  alive. 
A  pension  of  three  hundred  dollars,  previously  voted  to  him  by  the 
Nation,  was  continued  to  his  widow — the  only  literary  pension  in  the 
United  States.  Besides  a  wife  he  left  two  sons  and  a  daughter.1 
Sequoyah  district  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  was  named  in  his  honor,  and 
the  great  trees  of  California  (Sequoia  gigantea)  also  preserve  his 
memory. 

In  L846  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Washington  by  which  the  con- 
flicting claims  of  the  Old  Settlers  and  later  emigrants  were  adjusted, 
reimbursement  was  promised  for  sums  unjustly  deducted  from  the 
five-million-dollar  payment  guaranteed  under  the  treaty  of  1835,  and 
a  general  amnesty  was  proclaimed  for  all  past  offenses  within  the 
Nation."  Final  settlement  of  the  treaty  claims  has  not  yet  been  made, 
and  the  matter  is  still  a  subject  of  litigation,  including  all  the  treaties 
and  agreements  up  to  the  present  date. 

In  1859  the  devoted  missionary  Samuel  Worcester,  author  of 
numerous  translations  and  first  organizer  of  the  Advocate,  died  at 
Park  Hill  mission,  in  the  Cherokee  Nation,  after  thirty-five  years 
spent  in  the  service  of  the  Cherokee,  having  suffered  chains,  impris- 
onment, and  exile  for  their  sake.3 

The  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  in  1861  found  the  Cherokee 
divided  in  sentiment.  Being  slave  owners,  like  the  other  Indians 
removed  from  the  southern  states,  and  surrounded  by  southern  influ- 
ences, the  agents  in  charge  being  themselves  southern  sympathizers, 
a  considerable  party  in  each  of  the  tribes  was  disposed  to  take  active 
part  with  the  Confederacy.  The  old  Ridge  part}',  headed  by  Stand 
Watie  and  supported  by  the  secret  secession  organization  known  as 
the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  declared  for  the  Confederacy.  The 
National  party,  headed  by  John  Ross  and  supported  by  the  patriotic 
organization  known  as  the  Kitoowah  society — whose  members  were 
afterward  known  as  Pin  Indians — declared  for  strict  neutrality.  At 
last,  however,  the  pressure  became  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  and  on 
October  T,  L'861,  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Tahlequah,  with  General 
Albert  Pike,  commissioner  for  the  Confederate  states,  by  which  the 
Cherokee  Nation  cast  its  lot  with  the  Confederacy,  as  the  Creeks, 
Choctaw,  Chickasaw,  Seminole,  Osage,  Comanche,  and  several  smaller 
tribes  had  already  done.4 

iW.  A.  Phillips.  Sequoyah,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  September,  1*70;  Foster.  Sequoyah,  1885;  Royc.e, 
Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Hep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  302,  1888;  letter  of  William  P.  Ross,  former 
editor  of  Cherokee  Advocate,  March  11, 18S9,  in  archives  of  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology;  Cherokee 
Advocate,  October  19,  1844,  November  J,  1844,  and  March  6,  1845;  author's  personal  information.  San 
Fernando  seems  to  have  been  a  small  village  in  Chihuahua,  but  is  not  shown  on  the  maps. 

-For  full  discussion  see  Royee,  op.  eit.,  pp. 298-812. 

3  Pilling,  Bibliography  of  the  Iroquoian  Languages  i  bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology),  p.  17  1, 1888. 

<See  treaties  with  Cherokee, October  7,1861,and  with  other  tribes.in  Confederate  States  Statutes 
at  Large,  1804;  Royee,  op.  cit.,  pp.  324-828;  Greeley,  American  Conflict,  n,  pp.  30-31.  1866;  Reports  of 
Indian  Commissioner  for  i860  to  1862. 


thk   u\  11.    w  \i:  149 

Two  Cherokee  regiments  were  raised  for  the  Confederate  service, 

under  c mand  of  Stand  Watie  and  Colonel  Drew,  respectively,  the 

former  being  commissioned  as  brigadier-general.  Thej  participated 
in  several  engagements,  chief  among  them  being  the  battle  of  Pea 
Ridge,  Arkansas,  on  .March  7.  1m'>2.'  In  the  following  summer  the 
Union  forces  entered  the  Cherokee  country  and  senl  a  proposition  i<> 
Ross,  urging  him  to  repudiate  the  treaty  with  the  Confederate  states, 
but  the  offer  was  indignantlj  declined.  Shortly  afterward,  however, 
the  men  of  Drew's  regiment,  finding  themselves  unpaid  and  generally 
neglected  by  their  allies,  went  over  almost  in  a  body  to  the  Union 
side,  thus  compelling  Ross  to  make  an  arrangement  with  the  Union 
commander,  Colonel  Weir.  Leaving  the  Cherokee  country,  Ross 
retired  to  Philadelphia,  from  which  be  did  not  return  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  In  the  meantime  Indian  Territory  was  ravaged  alter- 
nately by  contending  factions  and  armed  bodies,  and  thousands  of 
loyal  fugitives  were  obliged  to  lake  refuge  in  Kansas,  where  they 
were  eared  for  by  the  government.  Among  these,  at  the  close  of  1862, 
were  two  thousand  Cherokee.     In  the  following  spring  thej  were  sent 

hack  to  their  homes  under  an 1  escort  to  give  them  an  opportunity 

to  put  in  a  crop,  seeds  and  tools  being  furnished  for  the  purpose,  hut 
had  hardly  begun  work  when  they  were  forced  to  retire  by  the 
approach  of  Stand  Watie  and  his  regiment  of  Confederate  Cherokee, 
estimated  at  seven  hundred  men.  Stand  Watie  and  his  men.  with  the 
( !onfederate  ( Ireeks  and  others,  scoured  the  country  at  will,  destroying 
or  carrying  off  everything  belonging  to  the  loyal  Cherokee,  who  had 
now.  to  the  number  of  nearly  seven  thousand,  taken  refuge  at  Fort 
Gibson.  Refusing  to  lake  sides  againsl  a  government  which  was  still 
unable  to  protect  them,  they  were  forced  to  see  all  the  prosperous 
accumulations  of  twenty  years  of  industry  swept  off  in  this  guerrilla 
warfare.  In  stock  alone  their  losses  were  estimated  at  more  than 
300, head. 

"The  events  of  the  war  brought  to  them  more  of  desolation  and 
ruin  than  perhaps  to  any  other  community.  Raided  and  sacked  alter- 
nately, not  only  by  the  Confederate  and  Union  forces,  bul  I » s  the  vin- 
dictive ferocity  and  hate  of  their  own  factional  divisions,  their  country 
became  a  blackened  and  desolate  waste.  Driven  from  comfortable 
home-,  exposed  to  want,  misery,  and  the  element-,  they  perished  like 
sheep  in  a  -now  storm.  Their  houses,  fence-,  and  other  improve- 
ments were  burned,  their  orchard-  destroyed,  their  flocks  and  herds 
slaughtered  or  driven  off,  their  schools  broken  up,  their  schoolhouses 
given  to  the  flames,  and  their  churches  and  public  buildings  sub- 
jected to  a  similar  fate;  and  that  entire  portion  of  their  country  which 

'  In  this  battle  the  Con  assisted  by  from  4,000  to  5,000  Indians  of  the  southern  ■ 

i     erokee,  under  command  of  General  Albert  Pike. 
-  l:, >yce  •  in,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnolog;    i 

p.331. 


150  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

had  been  occupied  by  their  settlements  was  distinguishable  from  the 
virgin  prairie  only  by  the  scorched  and  blackened  chimneys  and  the 
plowed  but  now  neglected  fields."1 

After  rive  years  of  desolation  the  Cherokee  emerged  from  the  war 
with  their  numbers  reduced  from  21,000  to  14,000,a  and  their  whole 
country  in  ashes.  On  July  19,  1866,  by  a  treaty  concluded  at  Tahle- 
quah.  the  nation  was  received  back  into  the  protection  of  the  United 
States,  a  general  amnesty  was  proclaimed,  and  all  confiscations  on 
account  of  the  war  prohibited;  slavery  was  abolished  without  compen- 
sation to  former  owners,  and  all  negroes  residing  within  the  Nation 
were  admitted  to  full  Cherokee  citizenship.  By  articles  L5  and  16 
permission  was  given  tin1  United  States  to  settle  friendly  Indians 
within  the  Cherokee  home  country  or  the  Cherokee  strip  by  consent 
and  purchase  from  the  Nation.  By  article  17  the  Cherokee  sold  the 
800,000-acre  tract  in  Kansas  secured  by  the  treaty  of  1835,  together 
with  a  two-mile  strip  running  along  the  southern  border  of  Kansas, 
and  thereafter  to  be  included  within  the  limits  of  that  state,  thus  leav- 
ing the  Cherokee  country  as  it  was  before  the  recent  cession  of  the 
Cherokee  strip.  Payment  was  promised  for  spoliations  by  United 
States  troops  during  the  war;  and  $3,000  were  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
Cherokee  funds  to  the  Reverend  Evan  Jones,  then  disabled  and  in 
poverty,  as  a  reward  for  forty  years  of  faithful  missionary  labors. 
By  article  26  ""the  United  States  guarantee  to  the  Cherokees  the  quiet 
and  peaceable  possession  of  their  country  and  protection  against 
domestic  feuds  and  insurrection  as  well  as  hostilities  of  other  tribes. 
They  shall  also  be  protected  from  intrusion  by  all  unauthorized  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  attempting  to  settle  on  their  lands  or  reside 
in  their  territory."3 

The  missionary,  Reverend  Evan  Jones,  who  had  followed  the  Cher- 
okee into  exile,  and  his  son,  John  B.  Jones,  had  been  admitted  to 
Cherokee  citizenship  the  year  before  by  vote  of  the  Nation.  The  act 
conferring  this  recognition  recites  that  "we  do  bear  witness  that  they 
have  done  their  work  well."* 

John  Ross,  now  an  old  man,  had  been  unable  to  attend  this  treaty, 
being  present  at  the  time  in  Washington  on  business  for  his  people. 
Before  its  ratification  he  died  in  that  city  on  August  1,  1866,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-seven  years,  fifty-seven  of  which  had  been  given  to 
the  service  of  his  Nation.  No  finer  panegyric  was  ever  pronounced 
than  the  memorial  resolution  passed  by  the  Cherokee  Nation  on  learn- 
ing of  his  death."'  Notwithstanding  repeated  attempts  to  subvert  his 
authority,  his  people  had  remained  steadfast   in  their  fidelity  to  him, 

1  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  op.  cit..  p.  376. 

- 1 1 1 i <  1 . .  p.  376.    A  census  of  1867  siw~  them  13,566  I  ibid.,  p.  :'.">l  I. 

»See  synopsis  and  full  discussion  in  Royce,  op.  cit..  pp.  334-340. 

*  Act  of  Citizenship,  November  7,  1865,  Laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  p.  it.';  St.  Louis,  1868. 

&See  Resolutions  of  Honor,  ibid.,  pp.  137-140. 


BUREAU    OF    AMERICAN    ETHNL 


METEENTH    ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.    VIII 


m 
I 


JOHN     ROSS    (GU'WISGUWI'. 
j  and  II  ill's  i  ..|-  of  il riginal  painting  ol  aboul  183  i 


mooney]  FIRST    RAILROAD  —  LITERAR'X     REVIVAL       L870  151 

and  be  died,  as  be  bad  lived  for  nearly  forty  years,  the  official!;  recog 
nixed  chief  of  the  Nation.  With  repeated  opportunities  to  enrich 
himself  at  the  expense  of  his  tribe,  he  died  a  poor  man.  His  bodj 
was  brought  back  and  interred  in  the  territorj  of  the  Nation.  In 
remembrance  of  the  great  chief  one  of  the  nine  districts  of  the  Chero- 
kee Nation  has  been  called  by  his  Indian  name.  Cooweescoowee  I  t6). 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  late  treaty  the  1  >ela wares  in  Kansas,  to 
the  number  of  985,  removed  t<>  Indian  territory  in  1867  and  became 
incorporated  as  citizens  <d'  the  Chei-okee  Nation.  They  were  followed 
in  1870  by  the  Shawano,  chiefly  also  from  Kansas,  to  the  number  of 
770.1  These  immigrants  settled  chiefly  along  the  Verdigris,  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  Nation.  Under  the  same  treaty  the  Osage, 
Kaw,  Paw  nee.  Ponca,  <  )to  and  Missouri,  and  Tonkawa  were  afterward 
settled  (in  the  western  extension  known  then  as  the  Cherokee  strip. 
The  captive  Nez  Perces  of  Joseph's  hand  werealso  temporarily  located 
there,  but  have  since  been  removed  to  the  states  of  Washington  and 
Idaho. 

In  1870  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  railway,  a  branch  of  the 
Union  Pacific  system,  was  constructed  through  the  lands  of  the  Chero- 
kee Nation  under  an  agreement  ratified  by  the  Government,  it  being 
the  first  railroad  to  enter  that  country.-'  Several  others  have  since 
been  constructed  or  projected. 

The  same  year  saw  a  Cherokee  literary  revival.  The  publication  of 
the  Advocate,  which  had  been  suspended  since  some  years  before  the 
war,  was  resumed,  and  by  authority  of  the  Nation  John  B.  Jones 
began  the  preparation  of  a  series  of  schoolbooks  in  the  Cherokee 
language  and  alphabet  for  the  benefit  of  those  children  who  knew  no 
English.3 

In  the  spring  of  L881  a  delegation  from  the  Cherokee  Nation  visited 
tin  East  Cherokee  still  remaining  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina 
and  extended  to  them  a  cordial  and  urgent  imitation  to  remove  and 
incorporate  upon  equal  terms  with  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  the  Indian 
territory,  [n  consequence  several  parties  of  East  Cherokee,  number- 
ing in  all  161  persons,  removed  during  the  year  to  the  western  Nation. 
the  expense  being  paid  by  the  Federal  government.  <  >thers  afterwards 
applied  for  assistance  to  remove,  but  as  no  further  appropriation  was 
made  for  the  purpose  nothing  more  was  done.*  iii  1883  the  East 
Cherokee  brought  suit  for  a  proportionate  division  of  the  Cherokee 
funds  and  other  interests  under  previous  treaties,5  but  their  claim  was 


i    tee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann. Rep. Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  356-358    1888    Constitution  and 

Laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  pp.  277-284;  St.  Louis,  1875. 
-Ruviv,  op.  ril 

'Foster,  Sequoyah, pp.  1 17.  148,  1885;  Pilling, Iroquoian  Bibliography,  1888, articles"  Chero 
eate"  and  "John  B.  Jones."  Tbescl  to  have  ended  with  the  arithmetic— cause, 

as  the  Cherokee  national  superintendent  ol  irhiteman." 

-n'U'T  H.Price,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.lxv,1881,and  p.  lxx,  1882;  see  also  p.  175. 
» Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  Ixi 


152  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. a.nn.19 

finally  decided  adversely  three  years  later  on  appeal  to  the  Supreme 
Court.1 

In  L889  the  Cherokee  female  seminary  was  completed  at  Tahlequah 
at  a  cost  of  over  $60,000,  supplementing  the  work  of  the  male  sem- 
inary, built  some  years  before  at  a  cost  of  $90,000.  The  Cherokee 
Nation  was  now  appropriating  annually  over  $80,000  for  school  pur- 
poses, including  the  support  of  the  two  seminaries,  an  orphan  asylum, 
and  over  one  hundred  primary  schools,  besides  which  there  were  a 
number  of  mission  schools.2 

For  a  number  of  years  the  pressure  for  the  opening  of  Indian  terri- 
tory to  white  settlement  had  been  growing  in  strength.  Thousands 
of  intruders  had  settled  themselves  upon  the  lands  of  each  of  the 
five  civilized  tribes,  where  they  remained  upon  various  pretexts  in 
spite  of  urgent  and  repeated  appeals  to  the  government  by  the 
Indians  for  their  removal.  Under  treaties  with  the  five  civilized 
tribe-,  the  right  to  decide  citizenship  or  residence  claims  belonged  to 
the  tribes  concerned,  but  the  intruders  had  at  last  become  so  numerous 
and  strong  that  they  had  formed  an  organization  among  themselves  to 
pass  upon  their  own  claims,  and  others  that  might  lie  submitted  to 
them,  with  attorneys  and  ample  funds  to  defend  each  claim  in  outside 
courts  against  the  decision  of  the  tribe.  At  the  same  time  the  Gov- 
ernment policy  was  steadily  toward  the  reduction  or  complete  breaking 
up  of  Indian  reservations  and  the  allotment  of  lands  to  the  Indians  in 
severalty,  with  a  view  to  their  final  citizenship,  and  the  opening  of 
the  surplus  lands  to  white  settlement.  As  a  part  of  the  same  policy 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  courts  was  gradually  being 
extended  over  the  Indian  country,  taking  cognizance  of  many  things 
hitherto  considered  by  the  Indian  courts  under  former  treaties  with 
the  United  States.  Against  all  this  the  Cherokee  and  other  civilized 
tribes  protested,  but  without  avail.  To  add  to  the  irritation,  com- 
panies of  armed  " boomers "  were  organized  for  the  express  purpose 
of  invading  and  seizing  the  Cherokee  outlet  and  other  unoccupied 
portions  of  the  Indian  territory — reserved  by  treaty  for  future  Indian 
settlement — in  defiance  of  the  civil  and  military  power  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

We  come  now  to  what  seems  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  Indian 
autonomy.  In  1889  a  commission,  afterward  known  as  the  Cherokee 
Commission,  was  appointed,  under  act  of  Congress,  to  '•negotiate 
with  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  with  all  other  Indians  owning  or 
claiming  lands  lying  west  of  the  ninety-sixth  degree  of  longitude  in 
the  Indian  territory,  for  the  cession  to  the  United  States  of  all  their 
title,  claim,  or  interest  of  every  kind  or  character  in  and  to  said 
lands."     In  August  of  that  year  the  commission  made  a  proposition  to 

1  Commissioner  J.  D.  C.  Atkins,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.xlv,  1886,  and  p.  lxxvii,  1887. 
'i>t  L.  E.  Bennett,  in  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  93, 1S90. 


CESSION    OF    CHEROKEE    STRIP— 1892  153 

Chief  J.  B.  Mayes  for  the  cession  of  all  the  Cherokee  lands  thus  de- 
scribed, being  that  portion  known  as  the  Cherokee  outlet  or  strip. 
The  proposition  was  declined  on  the  ground  thai  the  Cherokee  con 
stitution  forbade  its  consideration.1  Other  tribes  were  approached  for 
a  similar  purpose,  and  the  commission  was  continued,  with  changing 
personnel  from  year  to  year,  until  agreements  for  cession  and  the 
taking  of  allotments  had  been  made  with  nearly  all  the  wilder  tribes 
in  what  is  now  Oklahoma. 

[n  the  meantime  the  Attorney -<  1-eneral  had  rendered  a  decision  deny- 
ing the  right  of  Indian  tribes  to  lease  their  kind-  without  permission 
of  the  Government.  At  this  time  the  Cherokee  were  deriving  an 
annual  income  of  $150,000  from  the  lease  of  grazing  privileges  upon 
the  strip,  hut  by  a  proclamation  of  President  Harrison  on  February 
17.  1890,  ordering  the  cattlemen  to  vacate  before  the  end  of  the  year. 
this  income  was  cut  oil  and  the  strip  was  rendered  practically  value- 
less to  them.8  The  Cherokee  were  now  forced  to  come  to  terms,  and 
a  second  proposition  for  the  cession  of  the  Cherokee  strip  was  finally 
accepted  by  the  national  council  on  January  1.  1892.  "It  was  known 
to  the  Cherokees  that  for  some  time  would-be  settlers  on  the  land- of 
the  outlet  had  been  encamped  in  the  southern  end  of  Kansas,  and  by 
every  influence  at  their  command  had  been  urging  the  Government  to 
open  the  country  to  settlement  and  to  negotiate  with  the  Cherokees 
afterwards,  and  that  a  bill  for  that  purpose  had  been  introduced  in 
Congress."  The  consideration  was  nearly  $8,600,000,  or  about  $1.25 
per  acre,  for  something  over  6,000,000  acres  of  land.  One  article  of 
the  agreement  stipulates  for  ■"the  reaffirmation  to  the  Cherokee  Nation 
of  the  right  of  local  self-government."8  The  agreement  having  been 
ratified  by  Congress,  the  Cherokee  strip  was  opened  h\  Presidential 
proclamation  on  September  16,  Is'.':;.' 

The  movement  for  the  abolition  of  the  Indian  governments  and  the 
allotment  and  opening  of  the  Indian  country  had  now  gained  such  force 
thai  by  act  of  Congress  approved  March  3, 1893,  the  President  was 
authorized  to  appoint  a  commission  of  three  -known  later  as  the 
Dawes  Commission, from  its  distinguished  chairman.  Senator  Henry 
L.  Dawes  of  Massachusetts  to  negotiate  with  the  five  civilized  tribes 
of  Indian  territory,  viz.  the  Cherokee.  Choctaw.  Chickasaw,  Creek, 
and  Seminole,  for  ■■the  extinguishment  of  tribal  titles  to  any  land- 
within  that  territory,  now  held  by  any  and  all  of  such  nations  and 
tribe-,  either  by  cession  of  the  same  or  some  part  thereof  to  the  Unit- 
ed States,  or  by  the  allotment  and  division  of  the  same  in  severalty 
among  the  Indian-  of  such  nation-  or  tribes  respectively  as  may  be 


■  of  Indian  <  knnmissioni  r,  p,  22,  1889 

ion  by  President  Harrison  and  order  from  Indian  C missi n  in  deport  of  Indian 

Commissioner,  pp.  lxxii-lxxiii,  i-ji   122,  1890      rhi   tease  figures  are  from  personal  information. 

■  rT.  J.  Morgan,  Report  of  Indian  C aissioner,  pp,  79  80,  1892. 

'Commissioner  I).  M.  Browning,  Report  of  Indian  Commissionei    pp 


154  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE  [eth. 


entitled  to  the  same,  or  by  such  other  method  as  may  be  agreed  upon 
.  .  .  to  enable  the  ultimate  creation  of  a  state  or  states  of  the 
Union,  which  shall  embrace  the  land  within  the  said  Indian  territory."1 
The  commission  appointed  arrived  in  the  Indian  territory  in  January, 
1894,  and  at  once  began  negotiations.2 

At  this  time  the  noncitizen  element  in  Indian  Territory  was  officially 
reported  to  number  at  least  200,000  souls,  while  those  having  rights 
as  citizens  of  the  five  civilized  tribes,  including  full-blood  and  mixed- 
blood  Indians,  adopted  whites,  and  negroes,  numbered  but  70, 500. s 
Not  all  of  the  noncitizens  were  intruders,  many  being  there  by  per- 
mission of  the  Indian  governments  or  on  official  or  other  legitimate 
business,  but  the  great  body  of  them  were  illegal  squatters  or  unrecog- 
nized claimants  to  Indian  rights,  against  whose  presence  the  Indians 
themselves  had  never  ceased  to  protest.  A  test  case  brought  this  year 
in  the  ( 'herokee  Nation  was  decided  by  the  Interior  Department  against 
the  claimants  and  in  favor  of  the  Cherokee.  Commenting  upon  threats 
made  in  consequence  by  the  rejected  claimants,  the  agent  for  the  five 
tribes  remarks:  "It  is  not  probable  that  Congress  will  establish  a 
court  to  nullify  and  vacate  a  formal  decision  of  the  Interior  Depart- 
ment."4 A  year  later  he  says  of  these  intruders  that  "so  long  as  they 
have  a  foothold — a  residence,  legal  or  not — in  the  Indian  country  they 
will  be  disturbers  of  peace  and  promoters  of  discord,  and  while  they 
cry  aloud,  and  spare  not,  for  allotment  and  statehood,  they  arc  but 
stumbling  blocks  and  obstacles  to  that  mutual  good  will  and  fraternal 
feeling  which  must  be  cultivated  and  secured  before  allotment  is  prac- 
ticable and  statehood  desirable."'  The  removal  of  the  intruders  was 
still  delayed,  and  in  1896  the  decision  of  citizenship  claims  was  taken 
from  the  Indian  government  and  relegated  to  the  Dawes  Commission.6 

In  1895  the  commission  was  increased  to  rive  members,  with  enlarged 
jiowers.  In  the  meantime  a  survey  of  Indian  Territory  had  been 
ordered  and  begun.  In  September  the  agent  wrote:  "The  Indians 
now  know  that  a  survey  of  their  lands  is  being  made,  and  whether 
with  or  without  their  consent,  the  survey  is  going  on.  The  meaning 
of  such  survey  is  too  plain  to  be  disregarded,  and  it  is  justly  con- 
sidered as  the  initial  step,  solemn  and  authoritative,  toward  the  oxer- 
throw  of  their  present  communal  holdings.  At  this  writing  surveying 
corps  are  at  work  in  the  Creek.  Choctaw,  and  Chickasaw  Nation-,  and 
therefore  each  one  of  these  tribes  has  an  ocular  demonstration  of  the 
actual  intent  and  ultimate  purpose  of  the  government  of  the  United 

States."  : 

1  Quotation  from  act.  etc..  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner  lor  lsil-l,  p.  J7,  ls'.i.Y 

2  Report  of  Agent  D.M.  Wisdom,  ibid.,  p.  Ml. 
sibid.,  and  statistical  table,  p.  570. 

'  Report  '■!  Agent  D.  M.  Wisdom,  ibid.,  p.  1 15. 

5 Agent  I>.  M.  Wisdom,  in  Report  Indian  Commissioner  for  1S95,  p.  155,  1896. 

1  Commissioner  I'.  M.  Browning,  Report  <>i  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  si.  1896. 

;  Report  of  Agent  I).  M.  Wisdom.  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner  for  1895,  pp.  159,160.1896. 


! by]  i  1 1\  DITIOH    in    1895  1  55 

The  genera]  prosperity  and  advancement  of  the  Chei"okee  Nation  at 
this  time  may  be  judged  from  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  <  !her- 
okee  national  board  of  education  to  |A.gen1  Wisdom.  He  reports  1,800 
children  attending  two  seminaries,  male  and  female,  two  high  schools, 
and  one  hundred  primary  schools,  teachers  being  paid  from  |35  to 
$100  per  month  for  nine  months  in  the  year.  Fourteen  primary 
schools  were  for  the  use  of  the  negro  citizens  of  the  Nation,  besides 
which  they  had  a  fine  high  school,  kept  up,  like  all  the  others,  at  the 
expense  of  the  Cherokee  goverment.  Besides  the  national  schools 
there  were  twelve  mission  schools  helping  to  do  splendid  work  for 
children  of  both  citizens  and  noncitizens.  Children  of  noncitizens 
were  not  allowed  to  attend  the  Cherokee  national  schools,  but  had 
their  o\\  n  subscription  schools.  The  orphan  asylum  ranked  as  a  high 
school,  in  which  L50  orphans  were  hoarded  and  educated,  \\  ith  gradu- 
ates every  year.  It  was  a  large  brick  building  of  three  stories.  80  by 
240  feet.  The  male  seminary,  accommodating  200  pupils,  and  the 
female  seminary,  accommodating  225  pupils,  were  also  large  brick 
structures,  three  stories  in  height  and  L50  by  240  feet  on  the  ground. 
Three  members,  all  Cherokee  by  blood,  constituted  a  board  of  educa- 
tion.    The  secretary  adds  that  the  Cherokee  are  proud  of  their  scl Is 

and  educational  institutions,  and  that  no  other  country  under  the  sun 
is  so  Messed  with  etlucat ional  advantages  at  large.1 

At  this  time  the  Cherokee  Nation  numbered  something  over  25,000 
Indian,  white,  and  negro  citizens;  the  total  citizen  population  of  the 
three  races  in  the  five  civilized  tribes  numbered  about  70,000,  while 
the  noncitizens  had  increased  to  250,000  and  their  number  was  being 
rapidly  augmented.2  Realizing  that  the  swift,  inevitable  end  must  be 
the  destruction  of  their  national  governments,  the  Cherokee  began 
once  more  to  consider  the  question  of  removal  from  the  United  States. 
Thescheme  is  outlined  in  a  letter  written  by  a  brother  of  the  principal 
chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  under  date  of  May  31.  1895,  from  which 

we  quote. 

After  prefacing  that  the  government  of  the  United  State-  seems 
determined  to  break  up  the  tribal  autonomy  of  the  five  civilized 
tribes  and  to  divide  their  lands,  thus  bringing  about  conditions 
under  which  the  Cherokee  could  not  exist,  he  continues: 

Then  for  a  remedy  that  will  lead  us  nut  of  it,  away  from  it.  and  one  that  pr isea 

niir  preservation  as  a  distinct  race  of  people  in  the  enjoyment  of  customs,  social  ami 
political,  that  have  been  handed  down  to  us  from  remote  generations  of  the  past. 
My  plan  is  for  the-  Cherokees  to  sell  their  entire  landed  possessions  to  the  United 

^tatcs.  divide  the  proceeds  thereof  per  capita,  then  such  as  desire  to  do  so  unit.'  in 
ili.'  formation  of  an  Indian  colony,  and  with  their  funds  jointly  purchase  in    Mexico 


iLetterol    \    r .   :  of  the  Board  of  Education,  in  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner  for 

1895,  p.  I'll.  1896.     I  he  authoi  can  add  personal  testimony  as  to  tin npletenesa  <>!  tbi 

establishment 

=  Report  of  Agent  Wisdom,  ibid.,  p.  162. 


156  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

<>r  Smith  America  a  body  of  land  sufficient  for  all  their  purposes;  to  be  forever  their 
joint  home.  ...  I  believe  also  that  for  such  fndians  as  did  not  desire  to  join 
the  colony  and  leave  the  country  provision  should  be  made  for  them  to  repurchase 
their  old  homes,  or  such  <  it  her  lands  in  the  country  here  as  they  might  desire,  and 
they  could  remain  here  and  meet  such  fate  as  awaits  them.  I  believe  this  presents  ' 
the  mi  i-t  feasible  and  equitable  solution  of  the  questions  that  we  must  decide  in  the 
near  future,  and  will  prove  absolutely  just  and  fair  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
our  citizens.  1  also  believe  thai  the  same  could  be  acted  upon  by  any  or  all  of  the 
five  civilized  tribes.     .     .     . l 

The  final  chapter  is  nearly  written.  I5y  successive  enactments 
within  the  last  ten  years  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Indian  courts  has 
been  steadily  narrowed  and  the  authority  of  the  Federal  courts  pro- 
portionately extended;  the  right  to  determine  Indian  citizenship  has 
been  taken  from  the  Indians  and  vested  in  a  Government  commission; 
the  lands  of  the  five  tribes  have  been  surveyed  and  seetionized  by 
Government  surveyors:  and  by  the  sweeping  provisions  of  the  Curtis 
act  of  June  28,  L898,  "for  the  protection  of  the  people  of  the  Indian 
Territory."  the  entire  control  of  tribal  revenues  is  taken  from  the  five 
Indian  tribes  and  vested  with  a  resident  supervising  inspector,  the 
tribal  courts  are  abolished,  allotments  are  made  compulsory,  and 
authority  is  given  to  incorporate  white  men's  towns  in  the  Indian 
tribes.8  By  this  act  the  five  civilized  tribes  are  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  ordinary  reservation  tribes  under  government  agents 
with  white  communities  planted  in  their  midst.  In  the  meantime  the 
Dawes  commission,  continued  up  to  the  present,  has  by  unremitting 
effort  broken  down  the  opposition  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw, 
who  have  consented  to  allotment,  while  the  Creeks  and  the  Seminole 
are  now  wavering.3  The  Cherokee  still  hold  out,  the  Ketoowah  secret 
society  (47)  especially  being  strong  in  its  resistance,  and  when  the  end 
conies  it  is  possible  that  the  protest  will  take  shape  in  a  wholesale 
emigration  to  Mexico.  Late  in  1897  the  agent  for  the  live  tribes 
reports  that  "there  seems  a  determined  purpose  on  the  part  of  many 
fullbloods  ...  to  emigrate  to  either  Mexico  or  South  America 
and  there  purchase  new  homes  for  themselves  and  families.  Such 
individual  action  may  grow  to  the  proportion  of  a  colony,  and  it  is 
understood  that  liberal  grants  of  land  can  be  secured  from  the  coun- 
tries mentioned.'  Mexican  agents  are  now  (1901)  among  the  Cherokee 
advocating  the  scheme,  which  may  develop  to  include  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  five  civilized  tribes.6 

By  the  census  of  1898,  the  most  recent  taken,  as  reported  by  Agent 

1  Letter  oi  Bird  Harris,  May  31,  1895,  in  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner  fur  189ft,  p.  160.  1896. 

^Synopsis  of  Curtis  act,  pp.  T.v-vn.  and  Curtis  act  in  full,  p.  425  et  seq.,  in  Report  of  Indian  Commis- 
sioner tor  1898;  noted  also  in  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  84  et  seq.,  1899. 

1  Commissioner  W.  A.  Jones,  ibid.,  pp.  i,  84  et  seq.  (Curtis  act  and  Dawes  commission). 

1  Report  of  Agent  I».  M.  Wisdom,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  141-144,  1*97 

6  Author's  personal  information:  see  also  House  bill  No.  1165  "  for  the  relief  of  certain  Indians  in 
Indian  Territory,"  etc.,  Fifty-sixth  Congress,  first  session.  l'.HHi. 


i nei  ('    I'SAI.A    AND    < HAKLEY  L57 

Wisdom,  the  Cherokee  Nation  numbered  34,46]   persons,  as  follows: 

Cherokee  by  blood  (including  all  degrees  of  admixture),  26,£ :  inter 

married  whites,  2,300;  negro  Ereedmen,  1,000;  Delaware,  871;  >ha« 
nee,  7: mi.  The  total  acreage  of  the  Nation  was  5,031,351  acres,  which, 
if  divided  per  capita  under  the  provisions  of  the  Curtis  bill,  after 
deducting  60,000  acres  reserved  for  town-site  and  other  purposes, 
would  give  to  each  Cherokee  citizen  111  acres.1  It  tnusl  be  noted 
that  the  official  rolls  include  a  large  number  of  persons  whose  claims 

are  disputed   by   the  Cherokee  authorities. 

nil:    EASTERN    BAND 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  eastern  hand  of  Cherokee  -the  remnant 
which  still  dines  to  the  woods  and  waters  of  the  old  home  country. 
As  has  been  said,  a  considerable  number  had  eluded  the  troop--  in  the 
general  round-up  of  1838  and  had  tied  to  the  fastnesses  of  the  high 
mountains.  Here  they  were  joined  by  others  who  had  managed  to 
break  through  the  guard  at  Calhoun  and  other  collecting  stations,  until 
the  whole  number  of  fugitives  in  hiding  amounted  to  a  thousand  or 
more,  principally  of  the  mountain  Cherokee  of  North  Carolina,  the 
purest-blooded  and  mosl  conservative  of  the  Nation.  About  one-half 
the  refugee  warriors  had  put  themselves  under  command  of  a  noted 
Leader  named  U'tsala,  '"Lichen."'  who  made  his  headquarters  amid  the 
lofty  peaks  at  the  head  of  Oconaluftee,  from  which  secure  hiding 
place,  although  reduced  to  extremity  of  suffering  from  starvation  and 
exposure,  they  defied  every  effort  to  effect  their  capture. 

The  work  of  running  down  these  fugitives  proved  to  be  so  difficult 
an  undertaking  and  so  well-nigh  barren, of  result  that  when  Charley 
and  his  sons  made  their  bold  stroke  for  freedom5  General  Scott  eagerly 
seized  the  incident  as  an  opportunity  for  compromise.  To  this  end  he 
engaged  the  services  of  William  11.  Thomas,  a  trader  who  for  more 
than  twenty  years  had  been  closely  identified  with  the  mountain  Cher- 
okee and  possessed  their  full  confidence,  and  authorized  him  to  submit 
to  U'tsala  a  proposition  that  if  the  latter  would  seize  Charley  and  the 
others  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  attack  upon  the  soldiers  and 
surrender  them  for  punishment,  the  pursuit  would  be  called  off  and 
the  fugitives  allowed  to  stay  unmolested  until  an  effort  could  be  made 
to  secure  permission  from  the  general  government  for  them  to  remain. 

Thomas  accepted  the  commission,  and  taking  with  him  one  or  two 
Indian-  made  his  way  over  secret  paths  to  U'tsala's  hiding  place.  He 
presented  Scott's  proposition  and  represented  to  the  chief  that  by 
aiding  in  bringing  Charley's  party  to  punishment  according  to  the 
rule-  of  war  he  could  secure  respite  tor  his  sorely  pressed  followers, 
with  the  ultimate  hope  that  they  might  he  allowed  to  remain  in  their 

1  Report  of  Agent  I).  M.  Wisdom,  Report  "i  [ndian  Commissioner,  p.  159,  189S. 
ge  131. 


158  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

own  country,  whereas  if  he  rejected  the  offer  the  whole  force  of  the 
seven  thousand  troops  which  hud  now  completed  the  work  of  gather- 
ing up  and  deporting  the  rest  of  the  tribe  would  be  set  loose  upon  his 
own    small    hand    until    the   last  refugee   had    been   either   taken   or 

killed. 

U'tsala  turned  the  proposition  in  his  mind  long  and  seriously.  His 
heart  was  hitter,  for  his  wife  and  little  son  had  starved  to  death  on  the 
mountain  side,  but  he  thought  of  the  thousands  who  were  already  on 
their  Long  march  into  exile  and  then  he  looked  round  upon  his  little 
band  of  followers.  If  only  they  might  stay,  even  though  a  few  must 
lie  sacrificed,  it  was  better  than  that  all  should  die — for  they  had  sworn 
never  to  leave  their  country.  He  consented  and  Thomas  returned  to 
report  to  General  Scott. 

Now  occurred  a  remarkable  incident  which  shows  the  character  of 
Thomas  and  the  masterly  influence  which  he  already  had  over  the 
Indians,  although  as  yet  he  was  hardly  more  than  thirty  years  old.  It 
was  known  that  Charley  and  his  party  were  in  hiding  in  a  cave  of  the 
Great  Smokies,  at  the  head  of  Deep  creek,  but  it  was  not  thought 
likely  that  he  could  be  taken  without  hloodshed  and  a  further  delay 
which  might  prejudice  the  whole  undertaking.  Thomas  determined  to 
go  to  him  and  try  to  persuade  him  to  come  in  and  surrender.  Declin- 
ing Scott's  otter  of  an  escort,  he  went  alone  to  the  cave,  and,  getting 
between  the  Indians  and  their  guns  as  they  were  sitting  around  the 
tire  near  the  entrance,  he  walked  up  to  Charley  and  announced  his 
message.  The  old  man  listened  in  silence  and  then  said  simply,  "I 
will  come  in.  I  don't  want  to  be  hunted  down  by  my  own  people." 
They  came  in  voluntarily  and  were  shot,  as  has  been  already  narrated, 
one  only,  a  mere  boy,  being  spared  on  account  of  his  youth.  This 
boy,  now  an  old  man,  is  still  living.  Wasitu'na,  better  known  to  the 
whites  as  Washington.1 

A  respite  having  thus  been  obtained  for  the  fugitives,  Thomas  next 
went  to  Washington  to  endeavor  to  make  some  arrangement  for  their 
permanent  settlement.  Under  the  treaty  of  New  Echota,  in  1835,  the 
Cherokee  were  entitled,  besides  the  lump  sum  of  five  million  dollars 
for  the  lands  ceded,  to  an  additional  compensation  for  the  improve- 
ments which  they  were  forced  to  abandon  and  for  spoliations  by  white 
citizens,  together  with  a  per  capita  allowance  to  cover  the  cost  of 
removal  and  subsistence  for  one  year  in  the  new  country.  The  twelfth 
article  had  also  provided  that  such  Indians  as  chose  to  remain  in  the 
East  and  become  citizens  there  might  do  so  under  certain  conditions. 


i  Charley's  story  as  here  given  is  from  the  author's  personal  information,  derived  chiefly  from  con- 
versations with  Colonel  Thomas  and  with  Wasitu'na  and  other  old  Indians.  An  ornate  but  some 
u  hat  inaccurate  account  is  given  also  in  Lanman's  Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  written  on 
the  ground  ten  years  after  the  events  deseribed.  The  leading  lactsare  noted  in  General  Scott's  official 
dispatches. 


PURCHASE    OF    Ql   AM. A    KI--I  IM   \TI<>.\-      1842  L59 

cadi  head  of  a  family  thus  remaining  to  be  confirmed  in  a  preemption 
right  i"  L60  acres.  In  consequence  of  the  settled  purpose  of  President 
Jackson  to  deport  e\  cry  Indian,  this  permission  was  canceled  and  sup 
plementary  articles  substituted  by  which  some  additional  compensation 
was  allowed  in  lieu  of  the  promised  preemptions  and  all  individual 
reservations  granted  under  previous  treaties.1  Every  Cherokee  was 
thus  made  a  landless  alien  in  his  original  country. 

The  last  party  of  emigrant  Cherokee  had  started  for  the  West  in 
December,  L838.  Nine  months  afterwards  the  refugees  still  scattered 
about  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee  were  reported 
to  number  L,046.!  By  persistent  effort  at  Washington  from  L836  to 
L842,  including  one  continuous  stay  of  three  years  at  the  capital  city, 
Thomas  finally  obtained  governmental  permission  for  these  to  remain, 
and  their  share  of  the  moneys  due  for  improvements  and  reservations 
confiscated  was  placed  at  his  disposal,  as  their  agent  and  trustee,  for  the 
purpose  of  buying  lands  upon  which  they  could  be  permanently  settled. 
Under  this  authority  he  bought  for  them,  at  various  times  up  to  the 
year  L861,  a  number  of  contiguous  tracts  of  land  upon  Oconaluftee 
river  and  Soco  creek,  within  the  present  Swain  and  Jackson  counties 
of  North  Carolina,  together  with  several  detached  tracts  in  the  more 
western  counties  of  the  same  state.  The  main  body,  upon  the  waters 
of  Oconaluftee, which  was  chiefly  within  the  limits  of  the  cession  of 
L819,  came  afterward  to  he  known  as  the  Qualla  boundary,  or  Qualla 
reservation,  taking  the  name  from  Thomas'  principal  trading  store 
and  agency  headquarters.  The  detached  western  tracts  were  within 
the  final  cession  of  1835,  hut  all  alike  were  bought  by  Thomas  from 
\\  hite  owners.  As  North  ( Jarolina  refused  to  recognize  Indians  a-  land- 
owners within  the  state,  and  persisted  in  this  refusal  until  L866,3 
Thomas,  as  their  authorized  agent  under  the  Government,  held  the 
deeds  in  his  own  name.  Before  it  was  legally  possible  under  the  state 
laws  to  transfer  the  title  to  the  Indians,  his  own  affairs  had  become 
involved  and  his  health  impaired  by  age  and  the  hardships  of  military 
service  so  that  his  mind  gave  way.  thus  leaving  the  whole  question  of 
the  Indian  title  a  subject  of  litigation  until  its  adjudication  by  the 
United  States  in  1875,  supplemented  by  further  decisions  in  1894. 

To  Colonel  William  Holland  Thomas  the  East  Cherokee  of  to-day 
owe  their  existence  as  a  people, and  for  half  a  century  he  was  as  inti- 
mately connected  with  their  history  as  was  John  Ross  with  that  of  the 
main  Cherokee  Nation.  Singularly  enough,  their  connection  with 
Cherokee  affairs  extended  o\-er  nearly  the  same  period,  hut  while 
Ross  participated  in  their  national  matters  Thomas  cave  his  effort  to 

■    Bchota  u<'. ii      :•  !  supplementary  articles,  March  I.  1836,  in  Indian 

Treaties   pp.  I  ilso  full  discussion  of  sami  treat)  in  i: Sation,  Fifth  Ann. 

Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1888. 

op  -II  ,p.292  I  ibid.,p.31  i 


160  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.asn.19 

\ 

a  neglected  bund  hardly  known  in  the  councils  of  the  tribe.  In  his 
many-sided  capacity  he  strikingly  resembles  another  white  man  promi- 
nent in  Cherokee  history,  General  Sam  Houston. 

Thomas  was  born  in  the  year  1805  on  Raccoon  creek,  about  two  miles 
from  Waynesville  in  North  Carolina.  His  father,  who  was  related  to 
President  Zachary  Taylor,  came  of  a  Welsh  family  which  had  immi- 
grated to  Virginia  at  an  early  period,  while  on  his  mother's  side  he 
was  descended  from  a  Maryland  family  of  Revolutionary  stock.  He 
was  an  only  and  posthumous  child,  his  father  having  been  accidentally 
drowned  a  short  time  before  the  boy  was  born.  Being  unusually 
bright  for  his  age,  he  was  engaged  when  only  twelve  years  old  to 
tend  an  Indian  trading  store  on  Soco  creek,  in  the  present  Jackson 
county,  owned  by  Felix  Walker,  son  of  the  Congressman  of  the  same 
name  who  made  a  national  reputation  by  "talking  for  Buncombe." 
The  store  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  creek,  about  a  mile  above  the 
now  abandoned  Macedonia  mission,  within  the  present  reservation,  and 
was  a  branch  of  a  larger  establishment  which  Walker  himself  kept  at 
Waynesville.  The  trade  was  chiefly  in  skins  and  ginseng,  or  "sang," 
the  latter  for  shipment  to  China,  where  it  was  said  to  be  worth  its 
weight  in  silver.  This  trade  was  very  pi'ofitable.  as  the  price  to  the 
Indians  was  but  ten  cents  per  pound  in  merchandise  for  the  green  root, 
whereas  it  now  brings  seventy-five  cents  in  cash  upon  the  reservation, 
the  supply  steadily  diminishing  with  every  year.  The  contract  was 
for  three  years'  service  for  a  total  compensation  of  one.  hundred  dollars 
and  expenses,  but  Walker  devoted  so  much  of  his  attention  to  law 
studies  that  the  Waynesville  store  was  finally  closed  for  debt,  and  at 
the  end  of  his  contract  term  young  Thomas  was  obliged  to  accept  a 
lot  of  second-hand  law  books  in  lieu  of  other  payment.  How  well  he 
made  use  of  them  is  evident  from  his  subsequent  service  in  the  state 
senate  and  in  other  official  capacities.  * 

Soon  after  entering  upon  his  duties  he  attracted  the  notice  of  Yon- 
aguska.  or  Drowning-bear  (Ya'na-giin'ski,  "Bear-drowning-him"),  the 
acknowledged  chief  of  all  the,  Cherokee  then  living  on  the  waters  of 
Tin  kasegee  and  Oconaluftee — the  old  Kituhwa  country.  On  learning 
that  the  boy  had  neither  father  nor  brother,  the  old  chief  formally 
adopted  him  as  his  son.  and  as  such  he  was  thenceforth  recognized  in 
the  tribe  under  the  name  of  Wil-Usdi',  or  "Little  Will."  he  being  of 
small  stature  even  in  mature  age.  From  his  Indian  friends,  particu- 
larly a  boy  of  the  same  age  who  was  his  companion  in' the  -tore,  he 
learned  the  language  as  well  as  a  white  man  has  ever  learned  it.  so  that 
in  his  dec  lining  years  it  dwelt  in  memory  more  strongly  than  his 
mother  tongue.  After  the  invention  of  the  Cherokee  alphabet,  he 
learned  also  to  read  and  write  the  language,, 

In  L819  the  lands  on  Tuckasegee  and  its  branches  were  sold   by  the 


BUREAU    OF    AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY  NINETEENTH    ANNUAL    REPORT      PL.    IX 


COL.   W.    H.   THOMAS      WIL-USDI'i 
Ft photogra 1  1858  kindly  loaned  by  Capt.  James  \v.  Terrell) 


WILLIAM     II.    THOMAS  L61 

Indian-,  and  Thomas's  mother  soon  after  removed  from  Waj  nes^  ille  to 
a  farm  which  she  purchased  on  the  west  bank  of  Oconaluf  tee,  opposite 
the  month  of  Soco,  where  her  son  went  to  live  with  her,  having  now 
--ft  up  in  business  lor  himself  at  Qualla.  Ybnaguska  and  his  immedi- 
ate connection  continued  to  reside  on  a  -mall  reservation  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  while  the  rest  of  the  Cherokee  retired  to  the  west  of 
the  Nantahala  mountains,  though  still  visiting  and  trading  on  Soco. 
After  several  shiftings  Thomas  finally,  soon  after  the  removal  in  ls".s. 
bought  a  farm  on  the  northern  hank  of  Tuckasegee,  just  above  the 
present  town  of  Whittier  in  Swain  county,  and  built  there  a  home- 
stead which  he  called  Stekoa,  after  an  Indian  town  destroyed  by 
Rutherford  which  had  occupied  the  same  site.  At  the  time  of  the 
removal  he  was  the  proprietor  of  five  trading  stores  in  or  adjoining  the 
Cherokee  country,  viz.  at  Qualla  town,  near  the  mouth  of  Soco  creek; 
on  Scott's  creek,  near  Webster;  on  Cheowa,  near  the  present  Robbins 
ville;  at  the  junction  of  Valley  river  and  Hiwassee,  now  Murphy;  and 
at  the  Cherokee  agency  at  Calhoun  (now  Charleston).  Tennessee. 
Besides  carrying  on  a  successful  trading  business  he  was  also  studying 
law  and  taking  an  active  interest  in  local  politics. 

In  his  capacity  as  agent  for  the  eastern  Cherokee  he  laid  off  the. 
lands  purchased  for  them  into  five  districts  or  "towns,"  which  he 
named  Bird  town.  Paint  town.  Wolf  town,  Yellow  hill,  and  Big  cove, 
the  name-  which  they  -till  retain,  the  first  three  beingthose  of  Chero- 
kee clans.1  He  also  drew  up  for  them  a  simple  form  of  government, 
the  execution  of  which  was  in  his  own  and  Ybnaguska's  hands  until  the 
death  of  the  latter,  after  which  the  hand  knew  no  other  chief  than 
Thomas  until  his  retirement  from  active  life.  In  1848  he  was  elected 
to  the  state  senate  and  continued  to  serve  in  that  capacity  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  civil  war.  As  state  senator  he  inaugurated  a  system  of 
road  improvements  for  western  North  Carolina  and  was  also  the  father 
of  the  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad  (now  a  part  of  the  Southern 
-\  stem),  originally  projected  to  develop  the  copper  mines  of  Ducktown, 
Tennessee. 

With  his  colleagues  in  the  state  senate  he  voted  for  secession  in  1861, 
and  at  once  resigned  to  recruit  troops  for  the  Confederacy,  to  which, 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  he  gave  his  whole  time,  thought,  and  effort. 
In  1862  he  organized  the  Thomas  Legion,  consisting  of  two  regiments 
of  infantry,  a  battalion  of  cavalry,  a  company  of  engineers,  and  a  field 
battery,  he  himself  commanding  as  colonel,  although  then  nearly  sixty 
years  of  age.  Four  companies  were  made  up  principally  of  his  own 
Cherokee.     The  Thomas   Legion  operated  chiefly  as  a  frontier  guard 

i  In  the  Cherokee  language  rsiskwa'hl,  --Bird  place,"  Ani'-Wa'dihl,  "Paint  place,     (Va'ya'hl,  "Wolf 
place,"  E'lawa'di,  "Red  earth"  (now  Cherokee  post-office  and  tanufi'yl    "Raven 

place."    There  was  also,  for  a  tune,  a  "  Pretty-woman  town"    Ani'-Gila'hl?). 

19    KTH— Ul 11 


162  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ans.19 

for  the  Confederacy  along  the  mountain  region  southward  from  Cum- 
berland  gap. 

After  tlic  close  of  the  conflict  he  returned  to  his  home  at  Stekoa  and 
again  took  charge,  unofficially,  of  the  affairs  of  the  Cherokee,  whom 
lie  attended  during  the  smallpox  epidemic  of  1866  and  assisted  through 
the  unsettled  conditions  of  the  reconstruction  period.  His  own 
resources  had  been  swept  away  by  the  war.  and  all  his  hopes  had  gone 
down  with  the  lost  cause.  This,  added  to  the  effects  of  three  years  of 
hardship  and  anxiety  in  the  field  when  already  almost  past  the  age 
limit,  soon  after  brought  about  a  physical  and  mental  eollapse,  from 
which  lie  never  afterward  rallied  except  at  intervals,  when  for  a  short 
time  the  old  spirit  would  Hash  out  in  all  its  brightness.  He  died  in 
1893  at  the  advanced  age  of  nearly  ninety,  retaining  to  the  last  the 
courteous  manner  of  a  gentleman  by  nature  and  training,  with  an 
exact  memory  and  the  clear-cut  statement  of  a  lawyer  and  man  of 
affairs.  To  his  work  in  the  state  senate  the  people  of  western  North 
Carolina  owe  more  than  to  that  of  any  other  man,  while  among  the 
older  Cherokee  the  name  of  Wil-Csdi'  is  still  revered  as  that  of  a 
father  and  a  great  chief.1 

Yonaguska.  properly  Ya'iui-giifi'ski,  the  adopted  father  of  Thomas, 
is  the  most  prominent  chief  in  the  history  of  the  East  Cherokee, 
although,  singularly  enough,  his  name  does  not  occur  in  connection 
with  any  of  the  early  wars  or  treaties.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  peace  chief  and  counselor  rather  than  a  war  leader,  and 
in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  isolated  position  of  the  mountain  Cherokee 
kept  them  aloof  in  a  gnat  measure  from  the  tribal  councils  of  those 
living  to  the  west  anil  south.  In  person  he  was  strikingly  handsome, 
being  six  feet  three  inches  in  height  and  strongly  built,  with  a  faint 
tinge  of  red.  due  to  a  slight  strain  of  white  blood  on  his  father's  side. 
relieving  the  brown  of  his  cheek.  In  power  of  oratory  he  is  said  to 
have  surpassed  any  other  chief  of  his  day.  When  the  Cherokee  lands 
on  Tuckasegee  were  sold  by  the  treaty  of  1819,  Yonaguska  continued 
to  reside  on  a  reservation  of  640  acres  in  a  bend  of  the  river  a  short  dis- 
tance above  the  present  Bryson  City,  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Kituhwa.  1  le  afterward  moved  over  to  Oconaluftee,  and  finally,  after 
the  Removal,  gathered  his  people  about  him  and  settled  with  them  on 
Soco  creek  on  lands  purchased  for  them  by  Thomas. 


'The  fact?  concerning  Colonel  Thorna-- '*  <  :nvi  t  uiv  .1' -rived  chiefly  from  the  author's  conversations 
with  Thomas  himself,  supplemented  by  information  from  his  former  assistant,  Capt.  James  W. 
Terrell,  and  others  who  knew  him.  together  with  an  admirable  sketch  in  the  North  Carolina  Univer- 
sity Magazine  for  May  1899,  by  Mrs.  A.  c.  Avery,  his  daughter.  He  is  also  frequently  noticed,  in  con- 
nection with  East  Cherokee  matters,  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs;  in 
the  North  Carolina  Confederate  Roster;  in  Lanman's  Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains;  and  in 
Zeiglerand  Grosscup's  Heart  of  the  Alleghanies,  etc.  Some  manuscript  contributions  to  the  library 
of  the  Georgia  Historical  Society  in  Savannah— now  unfortunately  mislaid— show  his  interest  in 
Cherokee  linguistics. 


> sey]  YONAGUSKA  L63 

Ilr  was  a  prophel  and  reformer  as  well  a~  a  chief.  When  about 
sixty  years  of  age  be  had  a  severe  sickness,  terminating  in  a  trance, 
dui'ing  which  his  people  mourned  him  as  dead.  At  the  end  of  twent} 
four  hours,  however,  he  awoke  to  consciousness  and  announced  thai  he 
hail  been  to  the  spirit  world,  where  he  had  talked  with  friends  who 
had  gone  before,  and  with  God,  who  had  sent  him  hark  witli  a  message 
to  the  Indians,  promising  to  call  him  again  at  a  later  time.  From 
that  day  until  his  death  his  words  were  Listened  to  as  those  of  our 
inspired.  He  had  been  somewhat  addicted  to  liquor,  but  now.  on  the 
recommendation  of  Thomas,  not  only  quit  drinking  himself.  hut  organ 
ized  his  tribe  into  a  temperance  society.  To  accomplish  this  he  called 
his  people  together  in  council,  and.  after  clearly  pointing  out  to  them 
the  serious  effect  of  intemperance,  in  an  eloquent  speech  that  moved 
some  of  his  audience  to  tears,  he  declared  that  God  had  permitted  him 
to  return  to  earth  especially  that  he  might  thus  warn  his  people  and 
banish  whisky  from  among  them.  He  then  had  Thomas  write  out  a 
pledge,  which  was  signed  first  by  the  chief  and  then  by  each  one  of  the 
council,  and  from  that  time  until  after  his  death  whisky  was  unknown 
among  the  East  Cherokee. 

Although  frequent  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  to  induce  him  and 
bis  people  to  remove  to  the  West,  he  firmly  resisted  every  persuasion, 
declaring  that  the  Indians  were  safer  from  aggression  among  their 
locks  and  mountains  than  they  could  ever  be  in  a  land  which  the  while 
man  could  find  profitable,  and  that  the  Cherokee  could  he  happy  only 
in  the  country  w  here  nature  had  planted  him.  While  counseling  peace 
and  friendship  with  the  white  man,  he  held  always  to  his  Indian  faith 
and  was  extremely  suspicious  of  missionaries.  On  one  occasion,  after 
the  first  Bible  translation  into  the  Cherokee  language  and  alphabet, 
some  one  brought  a  copy  of  Matthew  from  New  Echota,  hut  Yona- 
guska  would  not  allow  it  to  he  read  to  his  people  until  it  had  first  been 
read  to  himself.  After  listening  to  one  or  two  chapters  the  old  chief 
dryly  remarked:  "Well,  it  seems  to  be  a  good  book — strange  that  the 
white  people  are  not  better,  after  having  had  it  so  long." 

He  died,  aged  about  eighty,  in  April.  1839,  within  a  year  after  the 
Removal.  Shortly  before  the  end  he  had  himself  carried  into  the 
townhouse  on  Soeo.  of  which  he  had  supervised  the  building,  where, 
extended  on  a  couch,  he  made  a  last  talk  to  his  people,  commend- 
ing Thomas  to  them  as  their  chief  and  again  warning  them  earnestly 
against  ever  leaving  their  own  country.  Then  wrapping  his  blanket 
around  him.  he  quietly  lay  hack  and  died.  He  was  buried  beside 
Soco.  about  a  mile  below  the  old  Macedonia  mission,  with  a  rude 
mound  of  stones  to  mark  the  spot.  He  left  two  wives  and  consid- 
erable property,  including  an  old  negro  slave  named  Cudjo,  who  was 
devotedly  attached  to  him.     One  of  his  daughters.  Kata'Ista.  still  sur- 


104  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


vives,  and  is  the  last  conservator  of  the  potter's  art  among  the  East 
Cherokee.1 

Yonaguska  had  succeeded  in  authority  to  Yane'gwa,  "Big-bear," 
w  ho  appears  to  have  been  of  considerable  local  prominence  in  his  time, 
but  wlio.se  name,  even  with  the  oldest  of  the  band,  is  now  but  a  mem- 
ory. He  was  among  the  signers  of  the  treaties  of  1798  and  1805,  and 
by  the  treaty  of  L819  was  confirmed  in  a  reservation  of  640  acres  as 
one  of  those  living  within  the  ceded  territory  who  were  "believed  to 
be  persons  of  industry  and  callable  of  managing  their  property  with 
discretion,"  and  who  had  made  considerable  improvements  on  the 
tracts  reserved.  This  reservation,  still  known  as  the  Big-bear  farm, 
was  on  the  western  bank  of  Oconaluftee,  a  few  miles  above  its  mouth, 
and  appears  to  have  been  the  same  afterward  occupied  by  Yonaguska.2 

Another  of  the  old  notables  among  the  East  Cherokee  was  Tsunu'la- 
hufi'ski,  corrupted  by  the  whites  to  Junaluska,  a  great  wTarrior,  from 
whom  the  ridge  west  of  YVayncsville  takes  its  name.  In  early  life  he 
was  known  as  (Ifir'kala'skiV1  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Creek  war 
in  1813  he  raised  a  party  of  warriors  to  go  down,  as  he  boasted,  "to 
exterminate  the  Creeks.'"  Not  meeting  with  complete  success,  he 
announced  the  result,  according  to  the  Cherokee  custom,  at  the  next 
dance  after  his  return  in  a  single  word,  (htxiiiu'lilhilngiji',  "I  tried,  but 
could  not,"  given  out  as  a  cue  to  the  song  leader,  who  at  once  took  it 
as  the  burden  of  his  song.  Thenceforth  the  disappointed  warrior  was 
known  as  Tsunu'lahufi'ski,  "'One  who  tries,  but  fails."  He  distinguished 
himself  at  the  Horseshoe  bend,  where  the  action  of  the  Cherokee 
decided  the  battle  in  favor  of  Jackson's  army,  and  was  often  heard  to 
say  after  the  removal:  "If  I  had  known  that  Jackson  would  drive  us 
from  our  homes,  I  would  have  killed  him  that  day  at  the  Horseshoe." 
He  accompanied  the  exiles  of  1838,  but  afterward  returned  to  his  old 
home;  he  was  allowed  to  remain,  and  in  recognition  of  his  serv- 
ices the  state  legislature,  by  special  act,  in  1847  conferred  upon 
him  the  right  of  citizenship  and  granted  to  him  a  tract  of  land  in  fee 
simple,  but  without  power  of  alienation.4  This  reservation  was  in  the 
Cheowa  Indian  settlement,  near  the  present  Robbinsville,  in  Graham 
county,  where  he  died  about  the  year  185S.  His  grave  is  still  to  be 
seen  just  outside  of  Robbinsville. 

1  The  facts  concerning  Yonaguska  are  based  on  the  author's  personal  information  obtained  from 
Colonel  Thomas,  supplemented  from  conversations  with  old  Indians.  The  date  of  his  death  ami  his 
approximate  age  are  taken  from  the  Terrell  roll.  He  is  also  noticed  at  length  in  Lanman's  Letters  from 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  1848,  and  in  Zeigler  and  Grosseup's  Heart  of  the  Alleghanies,  1883.  The 
trance  which,  according  to  Thomas  and  Lanman,  lasted  about  one  day,  is  stretched  by  the  last-named 
authors  to  fifteen  .lays,  with  the  whole  1,200  Indians  marching  and  countermarching  around  the 
sleeping  b<  dy '. 

°  The  name  in  the  treaties  occurs  as  Yonahequah  (1798),  Yohanaqua  (1805),  and  Yonah  (1819).— 
Indian  Treaties,  pp.  82,  123,  268;  Washington,  1837. 

;  The  name  refers  to  something  habitually  falling  from  a  leaning  position. 

*  Act  quoted  in  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner  for  1895,  p.  636,  1896. 


TEMPORARY     INCORPORATION    OF    CATAWBA  L65 

As  illustrative  of  his  shrewdne&s  it  is  t < >  1  < I  thai  he  once  tracked  a 
little  Indian  girl  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  where  she  had  been 
carried  by  kidnappers  and  sold  as  a  slave,  and  regained  her  freedom  by 
proving,  from  experl  microscopic  examination,  that  her  hair  had  none 
of  the  negro  characteristics.1 

Christianity  was  introduced  among  the  Kituhwa  Cherokee  shortly 
before  the  Removal  through  Worcester  and  Boudinot's  translation  of 
Matthew,  first  published  at  New  Echota  in  L829.  In  the  absenceof 
missionaries  the  book  was  read  by  the  Indians  from  house  to  house. 
After  the  Removal  a  Methodist  minister.  Reverend  Ulrich  Keener, 
began  to  make  visits  for  preaching  at  irregular  intervals,  and  was  fol- 
lowed several  years  later  by  Baptist  workers.2 

In  the  fall  of    1839  the  C lissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  reported 

that  the  East  Cherokee  had  recently  expressed  a  desire  to  join  their 
brethren  in  the  West,  but  had  been  deterred  from  so  doing  by  the 
unsettled  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Territory.  He  states  that  "  thej' 
have  a  right  to  remain  or  to  go,"  hut  that  as  the  interests  of  others 
are  involved  in  their  decision  they  should  decide  without  delay/' 

In  L840  about  one  hundred  Catawba,  nearly  all  that  were  left  of  the 
tribe,  being  dissatisfied  with  their  condition  in  South  Carolina,  moved 
up  in  a  body  and  took  up  their  residence  with  the  Cherokee.  Latent 
tribal  jealousies  broke  out.  however,  and  at  their  own  request  nego- 
tiations were  begun  in  1848,  through  Thomas  and  others,  for  their 
removal  to  Indian  Territory.  The  effort  being  without  result,  they 
.soon  after  began  to  drift  back  to  their  own  homes,  until,  in  1852,  there 
were  only  about  a  dozen  remaining  among  the  Cherokee.  In  1890 
only  one  was  left,  an  old  woman,  the  widow  of  a  Cherokee  husband. 
She  and  her  daughter,  both  of  whom  spoke  the  language,  were  expert 
potters  according  to  the  Catawba  method,  which  differs  markedly  from 
that  of  the  Cherokee.  There  are  now  two  Catawba  women,  both  mar- 
ried to  Cherokee  husbands,  living  with  the  tribe,  and  practicing  their 
native  potter's  art.  While  residing  among  the  ( Jherokee,  the  ( 'atawba 
acquired  a  reputation  as  doctors  and  leaders  of  the  dance.1 

On  August  6,  1846,  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Washington  with  the 
representatives  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  west  by  which  the  rights  of 
the  East  Cherokee  to  a  participation  in  the  benefits  of  the  New  Echota 
treaty  of  L835  were  distinctly  recognized,  and  provision  was  made  for 
a  final  adjustment  of  all  unpaid  and  pending  claims  due  under  that 
treaty.     The  right  claimed  by  the  Hast  Cherokee  to  participate  in  the 


The  facta  concerning  Junaluska  are  from  the  author's  information  obtained  from  i  tolonel  Tl m*. 

i  'aptain  James  Terrell,  and  Cherokee  informants. 

-  Author's  information  from  Colonel  rh as. 

'Commissioner Crawford,  November25,  Report  <>(  Indian  Commission!  i 

•Author's  informiitic.n  from  Colonel  Thomas,  Captain  Terrell,  and  Indian  sources;  Commissi rW. 

Medill,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  399, 1848;  i  lommissioner  Orlando  Broun.  Report  of  Indian 
Commissioner  for  1849,  p.  14, 1850. 


166  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


benefits  of  the  New  Echota  treaty,  although  not  denied  by  the  gov- 
ernment, had  been  held  to  be  conditional  upon  their  removal  to  the 
West.1 

In  the  spring  of  L848  the  author.  Lanman,  visited  the  East  Chero- 
kee and  has  left  an  interesting  account  of  their  condition  at  the  time, 
together  with  a  description  of  their  ballplays,  dances,  and  customs 
generally,  having  been  the  guest  of  Colonel  Thomas,  of  whom  he 
speaks  as  the  guide,  counselor,  and  friend  of  the  Indians,  as  well  as 
their  business  agent  and  chief,  so  that  the  connection  was  like  that 
existing  between  a  father  and  his  children.  He  puts  the  number  of 
Indians  at  about  sou  Cherokee  and  100  Catawba  on  the  "Quallatown" 
reservation — the  name  being  in  use  thus  early — with  '200  more  Indians 
residing  in  the  more  westerly  portion  of  the  state.  Of  their  general 
condition  he  says: 

About  three-fourths  of  the  entire  population  can  read  in  their  own  language,  ami, 
though  the  majority  of  them  understand  English,  a  very  few  can  speak  the  language. 
They  practice,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  science  of  agriculture,  ami  have  acquired 
such  a  knowledge  of  the  mechanic  arts  as  answers  them  for  all  ordinary  purposes, 
for  they  manufacture  their  own  clothing,  their  own  ploughs,  and  other  farming  uten- 
sils, their  own  axes,  and  even  their  own  guns.  Their  women  are  no  longer  treated  as 
slaves,  hut  as  equals;  the  men  labor  in  the  fields  and  their  wives  are  devoted  entirely 
to  household  employments.  They  keep  the  same  domestic  animals  that  are  kept  by 
their  white  neighbors,  and  cultivate  all  the  common  grains  of  the  country.  They 
are  probably  as  temperate  as  any  other  class  of  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  honest 
in  their  business  intercourse,  moral  in  their  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds,  anil  distin- 
guished for  their  faithfulness  in  performing  the  duties  of  religion.  They  are  chiefly 
Methodists  and  Baptists,  and  have  regularly  ordained  ministers,  who  preach  to  them 
on  every  Sabbath,  and  they  have  also  abandoned  many  of  their  mere  senseless  super- 
stitions. They  have  their  own  court  and  try  their  criminals  by  a  regular  jury. 
Their  judges  and  lawyers  are  chosen  from  among  themselves.  They  keep  in  order 
the  public  roads  leading  through  their  settlement.  By  a  law  of  the  state  they  have 
a  right  to  vote,  but  seldom  exercise  that  right,  as  they  do  not  like  the  idea  of  being 
identified  with  any  of  the  political  parties.  Excepting  on  festive  days,  they  dress 
after  the  manner  of  the  white  man,  but  far  more  picturesquely.  They  live  in  small 
log  houses  of  their  own  construction,  ami  have  everything  they  need  or  desire  in  the 
way  of  food.  They  are,  in  fact,  the  happiest  community  that  I  have  yet  met  with 
in  this  southern  country. - 

Among  the  other  notables  Lanman  speaks  thus  of  Sala'li,  "Squirrel," 
a  born  mechanic  of  the  band,  who  died  only  a  few  years  since: 

He  is  quite  a  young  man  and  has  a  remarkably  thoughtful  face.  He  is  the  black- 
smith of  his  nation,  and  with  some  assistance  supplies  the  whole  of  Quallatown  with 
all  their  axes  and  plows;  but  what  is  more,  he  has  manufactured  a  number  of  very 
superior  rifles  and  pistols,  including  stock,  barrel,  and  lock,  ami  he  isalso  the  builder 
of  grist  mills,  which  grind  all  the  corn  which  his  people  eat.  A  specimen  of  his 
workmanship  in  the  way  of  a  rifle  may  be  seen  at  the  Patent  Office  in  Washington, 
where  it  was  deposited  by  Mr.  Thomas;  and  I  believe  Salola  is  the  first  Indian  who 

'  Syllepsis  of  the  treaty,  etc.,  in  Royee,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
pp.  300-313,1888;  see  also  ante,  ]..  lis. 
:Lanman,  Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  pp.  94-95,  1849. 


EAST    CHEROKEE    CENSUS  — 1848  167 

ever  manufactured  an  entire  gun.     But  when  it  is  remembered  thai  he  nevei 

a  particle  of  education  in  any  of  the  mechanic  arts  but  is  entirely  self  taught,  his 

attainments  must  be  considered  truly  remarkable.' 

On  July  29,  1848,  Congress  approved  an  art  for  taking  a  census  of 
all  those  Cherokee  who  bad  remained  in  North  Carolina  after  the 
Removal,  and  who  still  resided  east  of  the  Mississippi,  in  order  that 
their  share  of  the  "removal  and  subsistence  fund'1  under  the  New 
Echota  treaty  might  !><■  set  aside  for  them.  A  sum  equivalent  to 
s.v:. :',:'.'  «^  at  the  same  time  appropriated  for  each  one.  or  his  repre 
sentative,  to  be  available  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  bis  remoi  a]  to 
the  Cherokee  Nation  west  and  subsistence  there  for  one  year  whenever 
he  should  elect  so  to  remove.  Any  surplus  over  such  expense  was  tc 
be  paid  to  him  in  cash  after  his  arrival  in  the  west.  The  whole  amount 
thus  expended  was  to  be  reimbursed  to  the  Government  from  the  gen- 
eral fund  to  the  credit  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  under  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  New  Echota.  In  the  meantime  it  was  ordered  that  to  each 
individual  thus  entitled  should  be  paid  the  accrued  interest  on  this  per 
capita  sum  from  the  date  of  the  ratification  of  the  New  Echota  treaty 
(May  23,  L836),  payment  of  interest  at  the  same  rate  to  continue 
annually  thereafter.-'  In  accordance  with  this  act  a  census  of  the  Cher- 
okee then  residing  in  North  Carolina.  Tennessee,  and  Georgia,  was 
completed  in  the  fall  of  1848  by  .1.  C.  Mullay,  making  the  whole  num- 
ber 2,133.  On  the  basis  of  this  enrollment  several  payments  were 
made  to  them  by  special  agents  within  the  next  ten  years,  one  being 
a  pet-capita  payment  by  Alfred  Chapman  in  1851-52  of  unpaid  claims 
arising  under  the  treaty  of  New  Echota  and  amounting  in  the  aggre- 
gate to  $197,534.50,  the  others  being  payments  of  the  annual  interest 
upon  the  ••  removal  and  subsistence  fund"  set  apart  to  their  credit  in 
I  848.  In  the  accomplishment  of  these  payments  two  other  enrollments 
were  made  by  D.  W.  Siler  in  1851  and  by  Chapman  in  1852,  the  last 
being  simply  a  corrected  revision  of  the  Siler  roll,  and  neither  vary- 
ing greatly  from  the  Mullay  roll.3 

Upon  the  appointment  of  Chapman  to  make  the  per  capita  payment 
above  mentioned,  the  Cherokee  Nation  west  had  filed  a  protest  against 
the  payment,  upon  the  double  ground  that  the  East  Cherokee  had  for- 
feited their  right  to  participation,  and  furthermore  that  their  census 
was  believed  to  lie  enormously  exaggerated.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
number  first  reported   by  Mullay   was  only  1.517.  to  which   so   many 


1  Lanman,  Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  p.  111. 

quoted  in  "The  United  States  of  America  it.  William  II.  Thomas  cf  al."\  also  Royce,  Cher- 
okee Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p  313,  1888.  In  the  earlier  notices  the  terms '  N'orth 
Carolina  Cherokee  "  ami  ■■  Eastern  Cherokee  "  are  used  synonymou  ginal  fugitives  were 

all  in  North  Carolina. 

'See  Royce,  op.  ■  it-,  pp.  313-314;  Commissioner  II-  Price,  Report  of  Ind 
1884     Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,    p.   195,  1898;  also  references   bj   Commissioner  W.   Medill, 
Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  399,  1848;  ami  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner  tor  1855,  p,  j  i  i   1856. 


168  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE  [eth.ann.19 

were  subsequently  added  as  to  increase  the  number  by  more  than  600.' 
A  census  taken  by  their  agent,  Colonel  Thomas,  in  1N41.  gave  the 
number  of  East  Cherokee  (possibly  only  those  in  North  Carolina 
intended)  as  L,220,2  while  a  year  later  the  whole  number  residing  in 
North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  Georgia  was  officially  esti- 
mated at  from  l.ooo  to  L,200.3  It  is  not  the  only  time  a  per  capita 
payment  has  resulted  in  a  sudden  increase  of  the  census  population. 

In  L852  (Capt.)  James  \V.  Terrell  was  engaged  by  Thomas,  then  in 
the  state  senate,  to  take  charge  of  his  store  at  Qualla,  and  remained 
associated  with  him  and  inclose  contact  with  the  Indians  from  then  until 
after  the  close  of  the  war.  assisting,  as  special  United  States  agent,  in 
the  disbursement  of  the  interest  payments,  and  afterward  as  a  Con- 
federate officer  in  the  organization  of  the  Indian  companies,  holding  a 
commission  as  captain  of  Company  A,  Sixty-ninth  North  Carolina 
Confederate  infantry.  Being  of  an  investigating  bent.  Captain  Terrell 
was  led  to  give  attention  to  the  customs  and  mythology  of  the  Cher- 
okee, and  to  accumulate  a  fund  of  information  on  the  subject  seldom 
possessed  by  a  white  man.  He  still  resides  at  Webster,  a  few  miles 
from  the  reservation,  and  is  now  seventy -one  years  of  age. 

In  1855  Congress  directed  the  per  capita  payment  to  the  East  Cher- 
okee of  the  removal  fund  established  for  them  in  1848,  provided  that 
North  Carolina  should  first  give  assurance  that  they  would  be  allowed 
to  remain  permanently  in  that  state.  This  assurance,  however,  was 
not  given  until  1S66,  a^nd  the  money  was  therefore  not  distributed, 
but  remained  in  the  treasury  until  1875,  when  it  was  made  applicable 
to  the  purchase  of  lands  and  the  quieting  of  titles  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Indians.4 

From  1855  until  after  the  civil  war  we  find  no  official  notice  of  the 
East  Cherokee,  and  our  information  must  be  obtained  from  other 
sources.  It  was,  however,  a  most  momentous  period  in  their  history. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  Thomas  was  serving  his  seventh  consec- 
utive term  in  the  state  senate.  Being  an  ardent  Confederate  sym- 
pathizer, he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  convention  which  passed  the 
secession  ordinance,  and  immediately  after  voting  in  favor  of  that 
measure  resigned  from  the  senate  in  order  to  work  for  the  southern 
canst".  As  he  was  already  well  advanced  in  years  it  is  doubtful  if  his 
effort  would  have  gone  beyond  the  raising  of  funds  and  other  supplies 
but  for  the  fact  that  at  this  juncture  an  effort  was  made  by  the  Con 
federate  General  Kirby  Smith  to  enlist  the  East  Cherokee  for  active 
service. 

The  agent  sent  for  this  purpose  was  Washington  Morgan,  known  to 
the  Indians  as  A'ganst&'ta,  son  of  that  Colonel  Gideon  Morgan  who 

i  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation, op. eit., p. 313  and  note. 

-  Report  of  tin-  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  459-460, ,1845. 

3  Commissioner  Crawford,  Report  of  Indian  Co 

4  Royce,  op.  cit..  p.  314, 


THE    THOM  \-     LEGION  1  69 

had  commanded  the  Cherokee  at  the  Horseshoe  bend.  By  virtue  of 
his  Indian  blood  and  historic  ancestry  he  was  deemed  the  most  fitting 
emissary  for  the  purpose.  Early  in  1862  be  arrived  among  the 
Cherokee,  and  by  appealing  to  old-time  memories  so  aroused  the  war 
spirit  among  them  that  a  large  number  declared  themselves  ready  to 
follow  wherever  he  led.  Conceiving  the  question  at  issue  in  the  war 
to  be  one  that  did  not  concern  the  Indians,  Thomas  had  discouraged 
their  participation  in  it  and  advised  them  to  remain  at  home  in  quiet 
neutrality.  Now.  however,  knowing  Morgan's  reputation  for  reckless 
daring,  he  became  alarmed  at  the  possible  result  to  them  of  such 
leadership.  Forced  either  to  see  them  go  from  his  own  protection  or 
to  lead  them  himself,  he  chose  the  latter  alternative  and  proposed  to 
them  to  enlist  in  the  Confederate  legion  which  he  was  about  to  organize. 
His  object,  as  he  himself  has  stated,  was  to  keep  them  out  of  danger 
so  far  as  possible  by  utilizing  them  as  scouts  and  home  guards  through 
the  mountains,  away  from  the  path  of  the  large  armies.  Nothing  of 
this  was  said  to  the  Indians,  who  might  not  have  Keen  satisfied  with 
such  an  arrangement.  Morgan  went  back  alone  and  the  Cherokee 
enrolled  under  the  command  of  their  white  chief. ' 

The  "Thomas  Legion,"  recruited  in  1862  by  William  H.  Thomas  for 
the  Confederate  service  and  commanded  by  him  as  colonel,  consisted 
originally  of  one  infantry  regiment  of  ten  companies  (Sixty-ninth 
North  Carolina  Infantry),  one  infantry  battalion  of  six  companies,  one 
cavalry  battalion  of  eight  companies  (First  North  Carolina  Cavalry 
Battalion),  one  field  battery  (Light  Battery)  of  103  officers  and  men. 
and  one  company  of  engineers;  in  all  about  2.800  men.  The  infantry 
battalion  was  recruited  toward  the  close  of  the  war  to  a  full  regiment 
of  ten  companies.  Companies  A  and  B  of  the  Sixty  ninth  regiment 
and  two  other  companies  of  the  infantry  regiment  recruited  later 
were  composed  almost  entirely  of  East  Cherokee  Indians,  most  of  the 
commissioned  officers  being  white  men.  The  whole  number  of  Chero- 
kee thus  enlisted  was  nearly  four  hundred,  or  about  every  able-bodied 
man  in  the  tribe.8 

In  accordance  with  Thomas's  plan  the  Indians  were  employed  chiefly 
as  scouts  and  home  guards  in  the  mountain  region  along  the  Tennessee- 
Carolina  border,  where,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Colonel  String- 

1  Tin-  history  of  the  events  leading  to  the  organization  of  the  "Thomas  Legion "  is  chiefly  man  the 
author's  conversations  with  Colonel  Thomas  himself,  corroborated  and  supplemented  from  other 
sources.  In  the  words  of  Thomas,  "  If  it  had  nol  been  for  the  Indians  I  would  not  have  been  in  the 
war." 

-This  is  believed  i"  be  i  correct  statement  of  the  strength  and  make-up  of  tin-  Thomas  Legion, 
Owing  !■■  i  in-  Imperfection  of  the  records  and  the  absence  of  reliable  memoranda  among  the  surviv- 
ing officers,  no  two  accounts  exactly  coincide.  The  mil  given  in  the  North  Carolina  Confederate 
Roster,  handed  in  by  captain  Terrell,  assistant  quartermaster,  was  compiled  early  in  the  war  and 

-  i tice  "f  tlu'  engineer  company  "i  "i  the  second  Infantry  regiment,  which  Included  tun 

[ndian  companies,    The  information  therein  contained  is  supplemented  Er :onversations 

and  personal  letter laptain  Terrell,  and  from  letters  and  newspaper  articles  by  Lieutenant  Colonel 

Stringfleld  of  the  Sixty-ninth.    Another  statement  isgivenin  Mrs  Avery's  sketch  of  Colonel  n as 

in  thi   Sorth  Carolina  University  Magazine  for  May,  1899. 


170  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ass.1S 

field,  "they  did  good  work  and  service  for  the  South."  The  most 
important  engagement  in  which  they  were  concerned  occurred  at 
Baptist  yap,  Tennessee,  September  15,  1862,  where  Lieutenant  Astu'- 
gata'ga,  "a  splendid  specimen  of  Indian  manhood,"  was  killed  in  a 
charge.  The  Indians  were  furious  at  his  death,  and  before  they  could 
he  restrained  they  scalped  one  or  two  of  the  Federal  dead.  For  this 
action  ample  apologies  were  afterward  given  by  their  superior  officers. 
The  war.  in  fact,  brought  out  all  the  latent  Indian  in  their  nature. 
Before  starting  to  the  front  every  man  consulted  an  oracle  stone  to 
learn  whether  or  not  he  might  hope  to  return  in  safety.  The  start 
was  celebrated  with  a  grand  old-time  war  dance  at  the  townhouse  on 
Soco,  and  the  same  dance  was  repeated  at  frequent  intervals  there- 
after, the  Indians  being  "painted  and  feathered  in  good  old  style,"' 
Thomas  himself  frequently  assisting  as  master  of  ceremonies.  The 
ballplay,  too,  was  not  forgotten,  and  on  one  occasion  a  detachment  of 
Cherokee,  left  to  guard  a  bridge,  became  so  engrossed  in  the  excite- 
ment of  the  game  as  to  narrowly  escape  capture  by  a  sudden  dash  of 
the  Federals.  Owing  to  Thomas's  care  for  their  welfare,  they  suffered 
but  slightly  in  actual  battle,  although  a  number  died  of  hardship  and 
disease.  When  the  Confederates  evacuated  eastern  Tennessee,  in  the 
winter  of  1863-64,  some  of  the  white  troops  of  the  legion,  with  one  or 
two  of  the  Cherokee  companies,  were  shifted  to  western  Virginia,  and 
by  assignment  to  other  regiments  a  few  of  the  Cherokee  were  present 
at  the  final  siege  and  surrender  of  Richmond.  The  main  body  of  the 
Indians,  with  the  rest  of  the  Thomas  Legion,  crossed  over  into  North 
Carolina  and  did  service  protecting  the  western  border  until  the  close 
of  the  war,  when  they  surrendered  on  parole  at  Waynesville,  North 
Carolina,  in  May,  1865,  all  those  of  the  command  being  allowed  to 
keep  their  guns.  It  is  claimed  by  their  officers  that  they  were  the 
last  of  the  Confederate  forces  to  surrender.  About  fifty  of  the  Cher- 
okee veterans  still  survive,  nearly  half  of  whom,  under  conduct  of 
Colonel  Stringfield,  attended  the  Confederate  reunion  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  in  1900,  where  they  attracted  much  attention.1 

In  1863,  by  resolution  of  February  lii,  the  Confederate  House  of 
Representatives  called  for  information  as  to  the  number  and  condition 
of  the  Fast  Cherokee,  and  their  pending  relations  with  the  Federal 
government  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  with  a  view  to  continuing 
these  relations  under  Confederate  auspices.  In  response  to  this 
inquiry  a  report  was  submitted  by  the  Confederate  commissioner  of 
Indian  affairs,  S.  S.  Scott,  based  on  information  furnished  by  Colonel 
Thomas  and  Captain  James  W.  Terrell,  their  former  disbursing  agent, 
showing  that  interest  upon  the  "  removal  and  subsistence  fund  "  estab- 

i  Personal  Information  from  Colonel  W.  H.  Thomas,  LieutenanW3olonel  W.  W.  Stringfield  Captain 
James  W.  Terrell,  Chief  N.  J.  Smith  (first  sergeant  Company  B),  and  others,  with  other  details  from 
Moore's  (Confederate)  Roster  of  North  Carolina  Troops,  iv;  Raleigh,  1S82:  also  list  of  survivors  in 
1890,  bj  Carrington,  in  Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees,  Extra  Bulletin  of  Eleventh  Census,  p.  _i.  1892. 


CHEROKEE    IN    UNION     \i:\IY  171 

lished  in  1848  had  been  paid  annually  up  to  and  including  the  year 
L859,  at  the  rate  of  $3.20  per  capita,  or  an  aggregate,  exclusive  of 
disbursing  agent's  commission,  of  $4,838.40  annually,  based  upon  the 
original  Mullay  enumeration  of  1,517. 

Upon  receipt  of  this  report  it  was  enacted  by  the  Confederate  con- 
gress thai  the  sum  of  $19,352.36  be  paid  the  East  Cherokee  to  cover 
the  interest  period  of  four  years  from  Maj  23,  L860,  to  May  23,  L864. 
In  this  connection  the  Confederate  commissioner  suggested  that  the 
payment  be  made  in  provisions,  of  which  the  Indians  were  then 
greatly  in  need,  and  which,  if  the  payment  were  made  in  cash,  they 
would  be  unable  to  purchase,  on  account  of  the  general  scarcity.  He 
adds  that,  according  to  his  information,  almost  every  Cherokee  capable 
of  bearing  arms  was  then  in  the  Confederate  service.  The  roll  fur- 
nished by  Captain  Terrell  is  the  original  .Mullay  roll  corrected  to  May. 
L860,  no  reference  being  made  to  the  later  Mullay  enumeration  (2,133), 
already  alluded  to.  There  i-  no  record  to  show  that  the  payment  thus 
authorized  was  made,  and  as  the  Confederate  government  was  then  in 
hard  -traits  it  i>  probable  that  nothing  further  was  done  in  the  matter. 

In  submitting  his  statement  of  previous  payments,  Colonel  Thomas, 
their  former  agent,  adds: 

As  the  North  Carolina  Cherokeea  have,  like  their  brethren  west,  taken  up  arms 
against  the  Lincoln  government, it  is  not  probable  that  any  further  advances  of 
interest  will  be  made  bj  that  government  to  any  portion  of  the  Cherokee  tribe.  I 
also  enclose  a  copy  of  the  act  of  July  29,  1848,  so  far  as  relates  t<.  the  North  Carolina 
Cherokees,  and  a  printed  explanation  of  their  rights,  prepared  by  me  in  1851,  and 
submitted  to  the  attorney-general,  and  his  opinion  thereon,  which  may  not  be  alto- 
gether uninteresting  to  those  who  feed  an  interest  in  knowing  something  of  the 
history  of  the  Cherokee  tribe  of  Indians,  whose  destiny  is  so  closely  identified  with 
that  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.1 

In  a  skirmish  near  Bryson  City  (then  Charleston).  Swain  county. 
North  Carolina,  about  a  year  after  enlistment,  a  small  party  of 
Cherokee  -perhaps  a  dozen  in  number — was  captured  by  a  detach- 
nient  of  Union  troops  and  carried  to  Knoxville,  where,  having  become 
dissatisfied  with  their  experience  in  the  Confederate  service,  they 
were  easily  persuaded  to  go  over  to  the  Union  side.  Through 
the  influence  of  their  principal  man.  Digane'skl,  several  other-  were 
induced  to  desert  to  the  Union  army,  making  about  thirty  in  all.  As  a 
part  of  the  Third  North  Carolina  Mounted  Volunteer  Infantry,  they 
served  with  the  Union  forces  in  the  same  region  until  the  (dose  of  the 
war.  when  they  returned  to  their  homes  to  find  their  tribesmen  so 
bitterly  incensed  against  them  that  for  some  time  their  lives  were  in 
danger.     Eight  of  these  are  -till  alive  in  1900.2 

One  of  these  Union  Cherokee  had  brought  back  with  him  the  small- 

1  Thomas-Terrell  manuscript  East  Cherokee  roll,  with  accompanying  letters,  1864  (Bur.Am.Eth. 
archives  I. 

'Personal  information  from  Colonel  VV  H.Thomas,  Captain  J.W.Terrell,  Chief  S  J.Smith,  and 
others;  see  also  Carrington  Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees,  Extra  Bulletin  of  Eleventh  Census,  p  21   1892, 


172  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ass.19 

pox  from  sin  infected  camp  near  Knoxville.  Shortly  after  his  return 
he  became  sick  and  soon  died.  As  the  characteristic  pustules  had  not 
appeared,  the  disease  seeming  to  work  inwardly,  the  nature  of  his 
sickness  was  not  at  first  suspected-  smallpox  having  been  an  unknown 
disease  among  the  Cherokee  for  nearly  a  century — and  his  funeral  was 
largely  attended.  A  week  later  a  number  of  those  who  had  been  pres- 
ent became  sick,  and  the  disease  was  recognized  by  Colonel  Thomas  as 
smallpox  in  all  its  virulence.  It  spread  throughout  the  tribe,  this 
being  in  the  early  spring  of  1866,  and  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of 
Thomas,  who  brought  a  doctor  from  Tennessee  to  wait  upon  them, 
more  than  one  hundred  of  the  small  community  died  in  consequence. 
The  fatal  result  was  largely  due  to  the  ignorance  of  the  Indians,  who. 
finding  their  own  remedies  of  no  avail,  used  the  heroic  aboriginal 
treatment  of  the  plunge  bath  in  the  river  and  the  cold-water  douche, 
which  resulted  in  death  in  almost  every  case.  Thus  did  the  war  bring 
its  harvest  of  death,  misery,  and  civil  feud  to  the  East  Cherokee.1 

Shortly  after  this  event  Colonel  Thomas  was  compelled  by  physical 
and  mental  infirmity  to  retire  from  further  active  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  the  East  Cherokee,  after  more  than  half  a  century  spent  in 
intimate  connection  with  them,  during  the  greater  portion  of  which 
time  he  had  been  their  most  trusted  friend  and  adviser.  Their  affairs 
at  once  became  the  prey  of  confusion  and  factional  strife,  which  con- 
tinued until  the  United  States  stepped  in  as  arbiter. 

In  1868  Congress  ordered  another  census  of  the  East  Cherokee,  to 
serve  as  a  guide  in  future  payments,  the  roll  to  include  only  those 
persons  whose  names  had  appeared  upon  the  Mullay  roll  of  1848  and 
their  legal  heirs  and  representatives.  The  work  was  completed  in  the 
following  year  by  S.  H.  Sweatland,  and  a  payment  of  interest  then 
due  under  former  enactment  was  made  by  him  on  this  basis.8  '"In 
accordance  with  their  earnestly  expressed  desire  to  be  brought  under 
the  immediate  charge  of  the  government  as  its  wards."  the  Congress 
which  ordered  this  last  census  directed  that  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs  should  assume  the  same  charge  over  the  East  Cherokee  as  over 
other  tribes,  but  as  no  extra  funds  were  made  available  for  the  pur- 
pose the  matter  was  held  in  abeyance.3  An  unratified  treaty  made 
this  year  with  the  Cherokee  Nation  west  contained  a  stipulation  that 
any  Cherokee  east  of  the  Mississippi  who  should  remove  to  the  Chero- 
kee nation  within  three  years  should  be  entitled  to  full  citizenship  and 
privileges  therein,  but  after  that  date  could  be  admitted  only  by  act 
of  the  Cherokee  national  council.* 

After  the   retirement    of    Thomas,    in    the   absence   of   any   active 

1  Author's  information  from  Colonel  Thomas  and  others.  Various  informants  have  magnified  the 
number  of  deaths  to  several  hundred,  but  the  estimate  here  given,  obtained  from  Thomas,  is  proba- 
bly more  reliable. 

- ■  Koyee.  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  314, 1888. 

3 Commissioner  F.  A.  Walker,  Report  of  Italian  Commissioner,  p.  25, 1872. 

'Koyee,  op.  eit.,  p.  353. 


ADJUSTMENT    OF    TITLES    1873-76  17.". 

governmental  supervision,  need  was  felt  of  some  central  authority. 
( )n  December  9,  L86S,  a  general  council  of  the  East  ( !herokee  assembled 
a i  ( !heowa,  in  Graham  county,  North  Carolina.  took  preliminary  steps 
toward  the  adoption  of  a  regular  form  of  tribal  government  under 
a  constitution.  N.  J.  Smith,  afterward  principal  chief,  \\a>  clerk 
of  the  council.  The  new  government  was  formally  inaugurated  on 
December  1.  L870.  It  provided  for  a  first  and  a  second  chid'  to 
serve  for  a  term  of  two  years,  minor  officers  to  serve  one  year,  and 
an  annual  council  representing  each  Cherokee  settlement  within  the 
stateof  North  Carolina.  Ka'lahu', "All-bones," commonly  known  to  the 
whites  as  Flying-squirrel  or  Sawnook  (Sawanu'gi),  was  elected  chief. 
A  new  constitution  was  adopted  five  years  later,  by  which  the  chief's 
term  of  office  was  tixed  at  four  years.' 

The  status  of  the  lands  held  by  the  Indians  had  now  become  a  matter 
of  serious  concern.  As  has  been  stated,  the  deeds  had  been  made  out 
by  Thomas  in  his  own  name,  as  the  state  laws  at  that  time  forbade  Indian 
ownership  of  real  estate.  In  consequence  of  his  losses  during  the 
war  and  his  subsequent  disability,  the  Thomas  properties,  of  which 
the  Cherokee  lands  were  technically  a  part,  had  become  involved,  so 
that  the  entire  estate  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  creditors,  the  most 
important  of  whom.  William  Johnston,  had  obtained  sheriff's  deeds  in 
1869  for  all  of  these  Indian  lands  under  three  several  judgments  against 
Thomas,  aggregating  $33,887. 1 1.  To  adjust  the  matter  so  as  to  secure 
title  and  possession  to  the  Indians.  Congress  in  1870  authorized  suit  to 
he  brought  in  their  name  for  the  recovery  of  their  interest.  This  suit 
was  begun  in  May.  Isj:;.  in  the  United  States  circuit  court  for  western 
North  Carolina.  A  year  later  the  matters  in  dispute  were  submitted 
by  agreement  to  a  board  of  arbitrators,  whose  award  was  continued  by 
the  court  in  November.   1S74. 

The  award  finds  that  Thomas  had  purchased  with  Indian  funds  a 
tract  estimated  to  contain  50,000  acres  on  Oconaluftee  river  and  Soco 
creek,  and  known  as  the  Qualla  boundary,  together  with  a  number  of 
individual  tracts  outside  the  boundary;  that  the  Indians  were  Mill 
indebted  to  Thomas  toward  the  purchase  of  the  Qualla  boundary 
lands  for  the  sum  of  $18,250,  from  which  should  be  deducted  $6,500 
paid  by  them  to  Johnston  to  release  titles,  with  interest  to  date  of 
award,  making  an  aggregate  of  $8,486,  toe-ether  with  a  further  sum 
of  $2,478,  which  had  been  intrusted  to  Terrell,  the  business  clerk  and 
assistant  of  Thomas,  and  by  him  turned  over  to  Thomas,  as  creditor  of 
the  Indians,  under  power  of  attorney,  this  latter  sum.  with  interest  to 
date  of  award,  aggregating  $2,697.89;  thus  leaving  a  balance  due  from 
the  Indians  to  Thomas  or  his  Legal  creditor.  Johnston,  of  $7,066.11. 
The  award  declares  that  on  account  of  the  questionable  manner  in 

>  Constitution,  etc.,  quoted  in  Carrington,  Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees,  Extra  Bulletin  Eleventh 
Census,  pp.  ls-ju,  1892;  author's  personal  information 


174  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


which  the  disputed  lands  had  been  bought  in  by  Johnston,  he  should 
be  allowed  to  hold  them  only  as  security  for  the  balance  due  him  until 
paid,  and  that  on  the  payment  of  the  said  balance  of  $7,066.11,  with 
interest  at  6  per  cent  from  the  date  of  the  award,  the  Indians  should 
be  entitled  to  a  clear  conveyance  from  him  of  the  legal  title  to  all  the 
lands  embraced  within  the  Qualla  boundary.1 

To  enable  the  Indians  to  clear  off  this  lien  on  their  lands  and  for 
other  purposes,  Congress  in  LsT'>  directed  that  as  much  as  remained 
of  the  •■  removal  and  subsistence  fund"  set  apart  for  their  benefit  in 
1848  should  be  used  •"in  perfecting  the  titles  to  the  lands  awarded  to 
them,  and  to  pay  the  costs,  expenses,  and  liabilities  attending  their 
recent  litigations,  also  to  purchase  and  extinguish  the  titles  of  any 
white  persons  to  lands  within  the  general  boundaries  allotted  to  them 
by  the  court,  and  for  the  education,  improvement,  and  civilization  of 
their  people."  In  accordance  with  this  authority  the  unpaid  balance 
and  interest  due  Johnston,  amounting  to  $7,212.76,  was  paid  him  in 
the  same  year,  and  shortly  afterward  there  was  purchased  on  behalf  of 
the  Indians  some  fifteen  thousand  acres  additional,  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs  being  constituted  trustee  for  the  Indians.  For  the 
better  protection  of  the  Indians  the  lands  were  made  inalienable  except 
by  assent  of  the  council  and  upon  approval  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  The  deeds  for  the  Qualla  boundary  and  the  15.UO0 
acre  purchase  were  executed  respectively  on  October  9,  1876,  and 
August  11, 1880. 2  As  the  boundaries  of  the  different  purchases  were 
but  vaguely  defined,  a  new  survey  of  the  whole  Qualla  boundary  and 
adjoining  tracts  was  authorized.  The  work  was  intrusted  to  M.  S. 
Temple,  deputy  United  States  surveyor,  who  completed  it  in  1876,  his 
survey  maps  of  the  reservation  being  accepted  as  the  official  standard.3 

The  titles  and  boundaries  having  been  adjusted,  the  Indian  Office 
assumed  regular  supervision  of  East  Cherokee  affairs,  and  in  June. 
1875,  the  first  agent  since  the  retirement  of  Thomas  was  sent  out  in 
the  person  of  W.  C.  McCarthy.  He  found  the  Indians,  according  to 
his  report,  destitute  and  discouraged,  almost  without  stock  or  farming 
tools.  There  were  no  schools,  and  very  few  full-bloods  could  speak 
English,  although  to  their  credit  nearly  all  could  read  and  write  their 
own  language,  the  parents  teaching  the  children.  Under  his  authority 
a  distribution  was  made  of  stock  animals,  seed  wheat,  and  farming 
tools,  and  several  schools  were  started.     In   the  next  year,  however, 

iSee  award  of  arbitrators.  Rufus  Barringer,  John  H.  Dillard,  and  T.  Ruffln,  with  ftdl  statement,  in 
Eastern  Band  of  Cherokee  Indians  against  W.  T.  Thomas  et  al.  H.  R.  Ex.  Doc.  128,  53d  Cong.,  2d  sess., 
1894;  summary  in  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation,  Fifth  Ann.  Kep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  315-318,  1888. 

-s<e  Royce,  op.  Cit.,  pp.  315-318;  Commissioner  T.  .1.  Morgan.  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner, 
p.  xxix,  1890.    The  final  settlement,  under  the  laws  of  North  Carolina,  was  not  completed  until  1894. 

'Royce,  op.  cit.,  pp.  315-318;  Carrington,  Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees,  with  map  of  Temple  survey, 
Extra  Bulletin  of  Eleventh  Census,  1892. 


INVITATION     FROM    WESTERN     BAND       188]  1  7.r) 

the  agency  was  discontinued  and  the  educational  interests  of  i  he  band 
turned  over  to  the  state  school  superintendent.1 

In  the  meantime  Ka'lalnV  had  been  succeeded  as  chief  by  Lloj'd  K. 
Welch  i  l>a  'si  giya'gl),  an  educated  mixed-blood  of  Cheowa,  who  served 
about  five  years,  dying  shortly  after  his  reelection  to  a  second  term 
(48).  He  made  a  good  record  by  his  work  in  reconciling  the  various 
faction-  which  had  sprung  up  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  guiding  influ- 
ence of  Thomas,  and  in  defeating  the  intrigues  of  fraudulent  while 
claimants  and  mischief  makers.  Shortly  before  his  death  the  ( rovern- 
ment,  through  Special  Agent  John  A.  Sibbald,  recognized  his  authority 
as  principal  chief,  together  with  the  constitution  which  had  been 
adopteil  by  the  band  under  his  auspices  in  1ST5.  N.  J.  Smith  (Tsa'- 
ladihi').  who  had  previously  served  as  clerk  of  the  council,  was  elected 
to  his  unexpired  term  and  continued  to  serve  until  the  fall  of  L890.8 

We  find  no  further  official  notice  of  the  East  Cherokee  until  L881, 
when  Commissioner  Price  reported  that  they  were  still  without  agent 
or  superintendent,  and  that  so  far  as  the  Indian  Office  was  concerned 
their  affairs  were  in  an  anomalous  and  unsatisfactory  condition,  while 
factional  feuds  were  adding  to  the  difficulties  and  retarding  the  prog- 
ress of  the  band.  In  thespringof  that  year  a  visiting  delegation  from 
the  Cherokee  Nation  west  had  extended  to  them  an  urgent  imitation 
to  remove  to  Indian  Territory  and  the  Indian  Office  had  encouraged 
the  project,  with  the  result  that  lt',1  persons  of  the  band  removed  dur- 
ing the  year  to  Indian  Territory,  the  expense  being  borne  by  the 
Government.  Others  were  represented  as  being  desirous  to  remove, 
and  the  Commissioner  recommended  an  appropriation  for  the  purpose, 
but  as  Congress  failed  to  act  the  matter  was  dropped.3 

The  neglected  condition  of  the  Ea.st  Cherokee  having  been  brought 
to  the  attention  of  those  old-time  friends  of  the  Indian,  the  Quakers, 
through  an  appeal  made  in  their  behalf  by  members  of  that  society 
residing  in  North  Carolina,  the  Western  Yearly  Meeting,  of  Indiana, 
volunteered  to  undertake  the  work  of  civilization  and  education.  On 
May  31,  L881,  representatives  of  the  Friends  entered  into  a  contract 
with  the  Indians,  subject  to  approval  by  the  Government,  to  establish 
and  continue  among  them  for  ten  years  an  industrial  school  and  other 
common  schools,  to  lie  supported  in  part  from  the  annual  interest  of 
the  trust  fund  held  by  the  Government  to  the  credit  of  the  East  Chero- 
kee and  in  part  by  funds  furnished  by  the  Friends  themselves.  Through 
the  efforts  of  Barnabas  C.  Hobbs,  of  the  Western  Yearly  Meeting,  a 
yearly  contract  to  the  same  effect  was  entered  into  with  the  Commis- 


!  Report  of  Agent  W.  C.  McCarthy,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  343-344,  1875;  and  Report  of 
Indian  Commissione,  pp.  118-119,  1876. 

'Author's  personal  information:  sue  also  Carrington,  Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees;  Zeigler  and 
Grosscup,  Heart  .,i  the  AUeghanies, pp. 35-36, 1883. 

'Commissioner  H.Price,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  Ixiv-lxv,  1881,  and  Report  of  Indian 
Commissioner,  pp.  Ixix-lxx,  1882;  see  also  ante,  p.  151. 


17o  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


sioner  of  Indian  Affairs  later  in  the  same  year,  and  was  renewed  by 
successive  commissioners  to  cover  the  period  of  ten  years  ending  June 

30,  1892,  when  the  contract  system  was  terminated  and  the  Govern- 
ment assumed  direct  control.  Under  the  joint  arrangement,  with  some 
aid  at  the  outset  from  the  North  Carolina  Meeting,  work  was  begun 
in  1881  by  Thomas  Brown  with  several  teachers  sent  out  by  the  Indiana 
Friends,  who  established  a  small  training  school  at  the  agency  head- 
quarters at  Cherokee,  and  several  day  schools  in  the  outlying  settle- 
ments. He  was  succeeded  three  years  later  by  H.  W.  Spray,  an  expe- 
rienced educator,  who,  with  a  corps  of  efficient  assistants  and  greatly 
enlarged  facilities,  continued  to  do  good  work  for  the  elevation  of  the 
Indians  until  the  close  of  the  contract  system  eight  years  later.1  After 
an  interregnum,  during  which  the  schools  suffered  from  frequent 
changes,  he  was  reappointed  as  government  agent  and  superintendent 
in  1898,  a  position  which  he  still  holds  in  1901.  To  the  work  con- 
ducted under  his  auspices  the  East  Cherokee  owe  much  of  what  they 
have  to-day  of  civilization  and  enlightenment. 

From  some  travelers  who  visited  the  reservation  about  this  time  we 
have  a  pleasant  account  of  a  trip  along  Soco  and  a  day  with  Chief 
Smith  at  Yellow  Hill.  They  describe  the  Indians  as  being  so  nearly 
like  the  whites  in  their  manner  of  living  that  a  stranger  could  rarely 
distinguish  an  Indian's  cabin  or  little  cove  farm  from  that  of  a  white 
man.  Their  principal  crop  was  corn,  which  they  ground  for  them- 
selves, and  they  had  also  an  abundance  of  apples,  peaches,  and  plums, 
and  a  few  small  herds  of  ponies  and  cattle.  Their  wants  were  so  few 
that  they  had  but  little  use  for  money.  Their  primitive  costume  had 
long  been  obsolete,  and  their  dress  was  like  that  of  the  whites,  except- 
ing that  moccasins  took  the  place  of  shoes,  and  they  manufactured 
their  own  clothing  by  the  aid  of  spinning-wheels  and  looms.  Finely 
cut  pipes  and  well-made  baskets  were  also  produced,  and  the  good 
influence  of  the  schools  recently  established  was  already  manifest  in 
the  children.8 

In  1882  the  agency  was  reestablished  and  provision  was  made  for 
taking  a  new  census  of  all  Cherokee  east  of  the  Mississippi,  Joseph 
G.  Hester  being  appointed  to  the  work.3  The  census  was  submitted 
as  complete  in  June,  1881,  and  contained  the  names  of  1,881  persons  in 
North  Carolina,  758  in  Georgia,  213  in  Tennessee,  71  in  Alabama,  and 
33  scattering,  a  total  of  2,956. '  Although  this  census  received  the 
approval  and  certificate  of  the  East  Cherokee  council,  a  large  portion 
of  the  band  still  refuse  to  recognize  it  as  authoritative,  claiming  that 
a  large  number  of  persons  therein  enrolled  have  no  Cherokee  blood. 

'See  Commissioner  T.J.Morgan,  Report  of  [ndian  Commissioner,  pp.  141-14.S,  1892;  author's  per- 
sonal information  from  B.  ('.  Hobbs,  Chief  N*.  .1.  Smith,  ami  others.  For  further  notice  of  school 
groM  Hi  see  also  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  426-427,  1897. 

2Zeigler  and  Grosscup.  Heart  of  the  Alleghanies,  pp.  36-42,  1883. 

•^Commissioner  H.  Price,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  Ixix-lxx,  1882. 

*  Kvport  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  li-lii,  ls.s4. 


SUIT     AGAINST    WESTERN    CHEROKEE       1883    8G  177 

The  East  Cherokee  had  never  ceased  to  contend  for  a  participation 
in  the  rights  and  privileges  accruing  to  the  western  Nation  under 
treaties  with  the  Government.  In  L882  a  special  agenf  hud  been  ap- 
pointed to  investigate  their  claims,  and  in  the  following  year,  under 
authority  of  Congress,  the  eastern  hand  of  Cherokee  brought  suit  in 
the  ( lourt  of  Claims  against  the  Tinted  States  and  the  Cherokee  Nation 
west  to  determine  its  rights  in  the  permanent  annuity  fund  and  other 
trust  funds  held  by  the  United  States  for  the  Cherokee  Indians.1  The 
case  was  decided  adversely  t<>  the  eastern  hand,  first  bj  the  Court  of 
Claim-  in  1885, !  and  finally,  on  appeal,  by  the  Supreme  Court  on 
March  1,  lssti.  that  court  holding  in  its  decision  that  the  Cherokee  in 
North  Carolina  had  dissolved  their  connection  with  the  Cherokee 
Nation  and  ceased  to  he  a  part  of  it  when  they  refused  to  accompany 
the  main  body  at  the  Removal,  and  that  if  Indians  in  North  Carolina  or 
in  any  state  east  of  the  Mississippi  wished  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the 
common  property  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  any  form  whatever  they 
must  he  readmitted  to  citizenship  in  the  Cherokee  Nation  and  comply 
with  its  constitution  and  laws.  In  accordance  with  this  decision  the 
agent  in  the  Indian  territory  was  instructed  to  issue  no  more  resi- 
dence permits  to  claimants  tor  Cherokee  citizenship,  and  it  was 
officially  announced  that  all  persons  thereafter  entering  that  country 
without  consent  of  the  Cherokee  authorities  would  he  treated  as 
intruders.3  This  decision,  cutting  off  the  East  Cherokee  from  all 
hope  of  sharing  in  any  of  the  treaty  benefits  enjoyed  by  their  western 
kinsmen,  was  a  sore  disappointment  to  them  all.  especially  to  Chief 
Smith,  who  had  worked  unceasingly  in  their  behalf  from  the  institu- 
tion of  the  proceedings.  In  view  of  the  result.  Commissioner  Atkins 
strongly  recommended,  as  the  best  method  of  settling  them  in  perma- 
nent home-,  secure  from  white  intrusion  and  from  anxiety  on  account 
of  their  uncertain  tenure  and  legal  status  in  North  Carolina,  that 
negotiations  be  opened  through  government  channels  for  their 
readmission  to  citizenship  in  the  Cherokee  Nation,  to  he  followed,  if 
successful,  by  the  sale  of  their  lands  in  North  Carolina  and  their 
removal  to  Indian  Territory.4 

In  order  to  acquire  a  more  definite  legal  status,  the  Cherokee  resid- 
ing in  North  Carolina  —being  practically  all  those  of  the  eastern 
band  having  genuine  Indian  interests  —  became  a  corporate  body 
under  the  laws  of  the  state  in  1889.  The  act.  ratified  on  March  11, 
declares  in  its  first  section  ••That  the  North  Carolina  or  Eastern 
Cherokee  Indians,  resident  or  domiciled  in  the  counties  of  Jackson, 
Swain.  Graham,  and  Cherokee,  he  and   at  the  same  time   are    hereby 

i  Commissioner  H.  Price,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  Ixix-lxxi,  i  lian   legisla- 

tion," ibid.,  p.  214;  Commissioner  H.  Price,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  pp.  Ixv  Ixvi,  1883. 

*  Commissioner  J.  I».  e.  Atkins,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  l\  *.  1885. 

'Same  commissioner.  Ke|».n  .»i  the  Indian  Commissioner,  ]>.  xlv,  1886;  decision  quoted  by  same 
commissioner.  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  lxxvii,  l-s; 

■Same  commissioner,  Report  "i  the  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  li,  1886;  reiterated  by  him  in  Report 
lxxvii. 

[9  Kin —  oi 12 


17tS  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

created  and  constituted  a  body  politic  and  corporate  under  the  name, 
style,  and  title  of  the  Eastern  Band  of  Cherokee  Indians,  with  all  the 
rights,  franchises,  privileges  and  powers  incident  and  belonging  to 
corporations  under  the  laws  of  the  state  of  North  Carolina.1 

On  August  2,  1893,  ex-Chief  Smith  died  at  Cherokee,  in  the  fifty- 
seventh  year  of  his  life,  more  than  twenty  of  which  had  been  given 
to  the  service  of  his  people.  Nimrod  Jarrett  Smith,  known  to  the 
Cherokee  as  Tsa'ladihi",  was  the  son  of  a  halfbreed  father  by  an  Indian 
mother,  and  was  born  near  the  present  Murphj1,  Cherokee  county. 
North  Carolina,  on  January  3.  1S3T.  His  earliest  recollections  were 
thus  of  the  miseries  that  attended  the  flight  of  the  refugees  to  the 
mountains  during  the  Removal  period.  His  mother  spoke  very  little 
English,  but  his  father  was  a  man  of  considerable  intelligence,  having 
acted  as  interpreter  and  translator  for  Reverend  Evan  Jones  at  the  old 
Valleytown  mission.  As  the  hoy  grew  to  manhood  he  acquired  a  fair 
education,  which,  aided  by  a  commanding  presence,  made  him  a  per- 
son of  influence  among  his  fellows.  At  twenty -five  years  of  age  he 
enlisted  in  the  Thomas  Legion  as  first  sergeant  of  Company  B,  Sixty- 
ninth  North  Carolina  (Confederate)  Infantry,  and  served  in  that  capacity 
till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  clerk  of  the  council  that  drafted  the 
first  East  Cherokee  constitution  in  186S,  and  on  the  death  of  Principal 
Chief  Lloyd  Welch  in  1880  was  elected  to  fill  the  unexpired  term, 
continuing  in  office  by  successive  reelections  until  the  close  of  1891,  a 
period  of  about  twelve  years,  the  longest  term  yet  filled  by  an  incum- 
bent. As  principal  chief  he  signed  the  contract  under  which  the  school 
work  was  inaugurated  in  1881.  For  several  years  thereafter  his 
duties,  particularly  in  connection  with  the  suit  against  the  western 
Cherokee,  required  his  presence  much  of  the  time  at  ATashington, 
while  at  home  his  time  was  almost  as  constantly  occupied  in  attending 
to  the  wants  of  a  dependent  people.  Although  he  was  entitled  under 
the  constitution  of  the  band  to  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  per  year, 
no  part  of  this  salary  was  ever  paid,  because  of  the  limited  resources  of 
his  people,  and  only  partial  reimbursement  was  made  to  him,  shortly 
before  his  death,  for  expenses  incurred  in  official  visits  to  Washington. 
With  frequent  opportunities  to  enrich  himself  at  the  expense  of  his 
people,  he  maintained  his  honor  and  died  a  poor  man. 

In  person  Chief  Smith  was  a  splendid  specimen  of  physical  man- 
hood, being  six  feet  four  inches  in  height  and  built  in  proportion, 
erect  in  figure,  with  flowing  black  hair  curling  down  over  his  shoulders. 
a  deep  musical  voice,  and  a  kindly  spirit  and  natural  dignity  that 
never  failed  to  impress  the  stranger.  His  widow — a  white  woman — 
and  several  children  survive  him.2 

■See  act  in  full,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  vol.  I,  pp.  680-681,  1891. 

•  From  author's  personal  acquaintance;  see  also  Zeigler  and  Grosscup,  Heart  of  the  Alleghanies, 
pp.  38-39,  Issb;  iVgent  .1.  L.  Holmes,  in  Repiort  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  160,  1S85;  Commissioner 
T.  .1.  Morgan,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p.  142,  1892;  Moore,  Roster  of  the  North  Carolina 
Troops,  iv,  1882. 


BUREAU    OF    AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY  NINETEENTH    ANNUAL    REPORT      PL     X 


CHIEF     N.    J.    SMITH     iTSALADIHI' 


hookey]  PRESENT    CONDITION  L79 

In  isi»-t  the  long-standing  litigation  between  the  Eas<  Cherokee 
and  a  number  of  creditors  and  claimants  to  Indian  land-,  within  and 
adjoining  the  Qualla  boundary  was  finally  settled  bj  a  compromise 
by  which  the  several  white  tenants  and  claimants  within  the  boundary 
agreed  to  execute  a  quitclaim  and  vacate  on  paymenl  to  them  by  the 
Indians  of  sums  aggregating  $24,552,  while  for  another  disputed 
adjoining  tract  of  33,000  acres  the  United  Stales  agreed  to  pay,  for 
the  Indian-,  at  the  rate  of  $1.25  per  acre.  The  necessarj  Government 
approval  having  been  obtained,  Congress  appropriated  a  sufficienl 
amount  for  carrying  into  effect  the  agreement,  thus  at  last  completing 
a  perfect  and  unincumbered  title  t<>  all  the  lands  claimed  by  the 
Indians,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  outlying  tracts  of  comparative. 
unimportance.1 

In  1895  the  Cherokee  residing-  in  North  Carolina  upon  the  reserva 
tion  and  in  the  outlying  settlements  were  officially  reported  to  number 
1.47'.'. '  A  vear  later  an  epidemic  of  grippe  spread  through  the  band, 
with  the  result  that  the  census  of  L897  shows  but  1,312, s  among  those 
who  died  at  this  time  being  Big-witch  (Tskil-e'gwa),  the  oldest  man  of 
the  band,  who  distinctly  remembered  the  Creek  war.  and  Wadi'yahi, 
the  last  old  woman  who  preserved  the  art  of  making  double-walled 
baskets.  In  the  next  year  the  population  had  recovered  to  1,351. 
The  description  of  the  mode  of  living'  then  common  to  most  of  the 
Indians  will  apply  nearly  as  well  to-day: 

While  they  are  industrious,  these  people  are  not  progressive  farmers  ami  have 
learned  nothing  of  modern  methods.  The  same  crops  are  raised  continuously  until 
the  soil  will  yield  no  more  or  is  washed  away,  when  new  ground  is  cleared  or  broken. 
The  value  of  rotation  ainl  fertilizing  has  not  yet  been  discovered  or  taught.     .     .     . 

That  these  people  can  live  at  all  upon  the  products  of  their  small  farms  is  due  to 
the  extreme  simplicity  of  their  food,  dress,  and  manner  of  living.  The  typical 
house  is  of  logs,  is  about  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet,  of  one  room,  just  high  enough  for 
the  occupants  to  stand  erect,  with  perhaps  a  small  loft  for  the  storage  of  extras. 
The  roof  is  of  split  shingles  or  shakes.  There  is  no  window,  the  open  door  furnish- 
ing what  1  i s_r  1 1 1  is  required.  At  .me  end  of  the  house  is  the  fireplace,  with  outside 
chimney  of  stones  or  sticks  chinked  with  clay.  The  furniture  is  simple  and  cheap. 
An  iron  pot,  a  hake  kettle,  a  coffeepot  and  mill,  small  table,  and  a  few  cups,  knives, 
and  spoons  arc  all  that  is  needed.  These,  with  .me  or  two  bedsteads,  homemade,  a 
few  pillows  and  quilts,  with  feather  mattresses  for  «  inter  covering,  as  well  as  for  the 
usual  purpose,  constitute  the  principal  house  possessions.     For  outdoor  work  there 

is  an  ax,  hoe,  ami  shovel  plow.     A  wagon  or  cart  may  1 wned,  hut  i-  uol  essi  u- 

tial.  The  outfit  is  inexpensive  and  answers  every  purpose.  The  usual  food  is  bean 
bread,  with  coffee.  In  the  fall  chestnut  bread  is  also  used.  Beef  is  seldom  eaten. 
but  pork  is  highly  esteemed,  and  a  considerable  number  of  hogs  are  kept,  running 
wild  and  untended  in  summer.4 

By  the  most  recent  official  count,  in  1900,  the  East  Cherokee  resid- 
ing in  North  Carolina  under  direct  charge  of  the  agent   and  included 

I  ommissioner  D.M.  Browning,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner  for  1894,  pp.  81-82,  1  >'.>">:  also  Agent 
T.  W  .  Potti  i.  ibid  .  p     96 
= Agent  T.  W.  Potter,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner  for  1895,  p.  887,  1896. 

:   C   Hart,  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  p  208,1897 
'Agent  J.  C.  Hart.  Report  of  Indian  Commissi r,  pp.  218-219,  1898. 


180  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.axn.19 

within  the  act  of  incorporation  number  1,376,  of  whom  about  L,100 
are  on  the  reservation,  the  rest  living  farther  to  the  west,  on  Nanta- 
hala,  Cheowa,  and  Hiwassee  rivers.  This  does  not  include  mixed- 
bloods  in  adjoining  states  and  some  hundreds  of  unrecognized  claim- 
ants. Those  enumerated  own  approximately  100,000  acres  of 
land,  of  which  83,000  are  included  within  the  Qualla  reservation 
and  a  contiguous  tract  in  Jackson  and  Swain  counties.  They  receive 
no  rations  or  annuities  and  are  entirely  self-supporting,  the  annual 
interest  on  their  trust  fund  established  in  1848,  which  has  dwindled  to 
about  $23,000,  being  applied  to  the  payment  of  taxes  upon  their  unoc- 
cupied common  lands.  From  time  to  time  they  have  made  leases  of 
timber,  gold-washing,  and  grazing  privileges,  but  without  any  great 
profit  to  themselves.  By  special  appropriation  the  government  sup- 
ports an  industrial  training  school  at  Cherokee,  the  agency  head- 
quarters, in  which  170  pupils  are  now  being  boarded,  clothed,  and 
educated  in  the  practical  duties  of  life.  This  school,  which  in  its  work- 
ings is  a  model  of  its  kind,  owes  much  of  its  usefulness  and  high 
standing  to  the  efficient  management  of  Prof.  H.  W.  Spray  (Wilsini'), 
already  mentioned,  who  combines  the  duties  of  superintendent  and 
agent  for  the  band.  His  chief  clerk,  Mr  James  Blythe  (Diskwa''m, 
"Chestnut-bread"),  a  Cherokee  by  blood,  at  one  time  tilled  the  posi- 
tion of  agent,  being  perhaps  the  only  Indian  who  has  ever  served  in 
such  capacity. 

The  exact  legal  status  of  the  East  Cherokee  is  still  a  matter  of  dis- 
pute, they  being  at  once  wards  of  the  government,  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  (in  North  Carolina)  a  corporate  body  under  state 
laws.  They  pay  real  estate  taxes  and  road  service,  exercise  the  voting 
privilege,1  and  are  amenable  to  the  local  courts,  but  do  not  pay  poll 
tax  or  receive  any  pauper  assistance  from  the  counties;  neither  can 
they  make  free  contracts  or  alienate  their  lands  (19).  Under  their 
tribal  constitution  they  are  governed  by  a  principal  and  an  assistant 
chief,  elected  for  a  term  of  four  years,  with  an  executive  council 
appointed  by  the  chief,  and  sixteen  councilors  elected  by  the  various 
settlements  for  a  term  of  two  years.  The  annual  council  is  held  in 
October  at  Cherokee,  on  the  reservation,  the  proceedings  being  in 
the  Cherokee  language  and  recorded  by  their  clerk  in  the  Cherokee 
alphabet,  as  well  as  in  English.  The  present  chief  is  Jesse  Keid 
(Tse'si-Ska'tsi,  '-Scotch  Jesse"),  an  intelligent  mixed-blood,  who  tills 
the  office  with  dignity  and  ability.  As  a  people  they  are  peaceable  and 
law-abiding,  kind  and  hospitable,  providing  for  their  simple  wants  by 
their  own  industry  without  asking  or  expecting  outside  assistance. 
Their  fields,  orchards,  and  fish  traps,  with  some  few  domestic  animals 
and  occasional  hunting,  supply  them  with  food,  while  by  the  sale  of 


i  At  the  recent  election  in  November,  1900,  they  were  debarred  by  the  local  polling  officers  from 
either  registering  or  voting,  and  the  matter  is  now  being  contested. 


hooneyJ  PRESENT    CONDITION  1S1 

ginseng  and  other  medicinal  plants  gathered  in  the  mountains,  with 
fruit  and  honey  of  their  own  raising,  they  procure  what  additional 
supplies  they  need  from  the  traders.  The  majority  are  fairly  com- 
fortable, far  above  the  condition  of  most  Indian  tribes,  and  hut  little, 
if  any.  behind  their  white  neighbors.  In  literary  ability  they  may 
even  be  -aid  to  surpass  them,  as  in  addition  to  the  result  of  nearly 
twenty  years  of  school  work  among  the  younger  people,  nearly  all  the 
men  and  some  of  the  women  can  read  and  write  their  own  language. 
All  wear  civilized  costumes,  though  an  occasional  pair  of  moccasins 
is  seen,  while  the  women  find  means  to  gratify  the  racial  love  of 
color  in  the  wearing  of  red  bandanna  kerchiefs  in  place  of  bonnets.  The 
older  people  still  cling  to  their  ancient  rites  and  sacred  traditions,  hut 
the  dance  and  the  ballplay  wither  and  the  Indian  day  is  nearly  spent. 


Ill— NOTES  TO  THE  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

(1)  Tribal  synonymy  (page  15):  Very  few  Indian  tribes  are  known  to  us  under 
the  names  by  which  they  call  themselves.  One  reason  for  this  is  the  fact  that  the 
whites  have  usually  heard  of  a  tribe  from  its  neighbors,  speaking  other  languages, 
before  coming  upon  the  tribe  itself.  Many  of  the  popular  tribal  names  were  origi- 
nally nicknames  bestowed  by.  neigh  boring  tribes,  frequently  referring  to  some  peculiar 
custom,  and  in  a  large  number  of  cases  would  be  strongly  repudiated  by  the  people 
designated  by  them.  As  a  rule  each  tribe  had  a  different  name  in  every  surrounding 
Indian  language,  besides  those  given  by  Spanish,  French,  Dutch,  or  English  settlers. 

YCm'uiyii' — This  word  is  compounded  from  yunirl  (person)  and  yd  (real  or  prin- 
cipal). The  assumption  of  superiority  is  much  in  evidence  in  Indian  tribal  names; 
thus,  the  Iroquois,  Delawares,  and  Pawnee  call  themselves,  respectively,  Ofiwe- 
honwe,  Leni-lenape',  and  Tsariksi-tsa'riks,  all  of  which  maybe  rendered  "men  of 
men,"  "men  surpassing  other  men,"  or  "real  men." 

KUu'hwagl — This  word,  which  can  not  be  analyzed,  is  derived  from  Kitu'hwa,  the 
name  of  an  ancient  Cherokee  settlement  formerly  on  Tuckasegee  river,  just  above 
the  present  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.  It  is  noted  in  1730  as 
one  of  the  "seven  mother  towns"  of  the  tribe.  Its  inhabitants  were  called  Ani'- 
Kltu'hwagl  (people  of  Kituhwa),  and  seem  to  have  exercised  a  controlling  influence 
over  those  of  all  the  towns  on  the  waters  of  Tuckasegee  and  the  upper  part  of  Little 
Tennessee,  the  whole  body  being  frequently  classed  together  as  Ani'-KItu'hwagl. 
The  dialect  of  these  towns  held  a  middle  place  linguistically  between  those  spoken 
to  the  east,  on  the  heads  of  Savannah,  and  to  the  west,  on  Hiwassee,  Cheowah,  and 
the  lower  course  of  Little  Tennessee.  In  various  forms  the  word  was  adopted  by 
the  Delawares,  Shawano,  and  other  northern  Algonquian  tribes  as  a  synonym  for 
Cherokee,  probably  from  the  fact  that  the  Kituhwa  people  guarded  the  Cherokee 
northern  frontier.  In  the  form  Cuttawa  it  appears  on  the  French  map  of  Vaugondy 
in  1755.  From  a  similarity  of  spelling,  Schoolcraft  incorrectly  makes  it  a  synonym 
for  Catawba,  while  Brinton  incorrectly  asserts  that  it  is  an  Algonquian  term,  fanci- 
fully rendered,  ' '  inhabitants  of  the  great  wilderness. ' '  Among  the  western  Cherokee 
it  is  now  the  name  of  a  powerful  secret  society,  which  had  its  origin  shortly  before  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion. 

Cherokee — This  name  occurs  in  fully  fifty  different  spellings.  In  the  standard  recog- 
nized form,  which  dates  back  at  least  to  1708,  it  has  given  name  to  counties  in  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Alabama,  within  the  ancient  territory  of  the 
tribe,  and  to  as  many  as  twenty  other  geographic  locations  within  the  United  States. 
In  the  Eastern  or  Lower  dialect,  with  which  the  English  settlers  first  became  famil- 
iar, the  form  is  Tsa'ragl',  whence  we  get  Cherokee.  In  the  other  dialects  the  form 
is  Tsa'lagK  It  is  evidently  foreign  to  the  tribe,  as  is  frequently  the  case  in  tribal 
names,  and  in  all  probability  is  of  Choctaw  origin,  having  come  up  from  the  south 
through  the  medium  of  the  Mobilian  trade  jargon.  It  will  be  noted  that  De  Soto, 
whose  chroniclers  first  use  the  word,  in  the  form  Chalaque,  obtained  his  interpreters 
from  the  Gulf  coast  of  Florida.  Fontanedo,  writing  about  the  year  1575,  mentions 
other  inland  tribes  known  to  the  natives  of  Florida  under  names  which  seem  to  be 
182 


mooney]  TRIBAL    SYNONYMY  L83 

of  Choctaw  origin;  For  instance,  the  Canogacole,  interpreted  "wicked  ] ■•  •< >j ■  I. •. " '  the 
final  part  being  apparently  the  ( Ihoctaw  word  okla or  ogvla,  "people",  which  appears 
also  in  Pascagoula,  Bayou  Goula,  and  Pensacola.  Shetimasha,  Atakapa,  and  probably 
Biloxi,  are  also  Choctaw  names,  although  the  tribes  themselves  are  of  other  origins. 
As  the  Choctaw  held  much  of  the  Gulf  coast  and  were  the  principal  traders  of  that 

regi it  was  natural  that  explorers  landing  among  them  should  adopt  their  names 

for  the  more  remote  tribes. 

The  name  seems  t"  refer  to  the  fact  that  the  tribe  occupied  a  rave  country.  In  the 
"Choctaw  Leksikon "  of  Allen  Wright,  1880,  page  87,  we  find  ckolick,  a  noun,  signify- 
ing a  hole,  cavity,  pit,  chasm,  etc.,  and  as  an  adjective  signifying  hollow,  fn  the  man- 
uscript Choctaw  dictionary  of  Cyrus  Byington,  in  the  library  of  the  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  we  find  chiluk,  noun,  a  hole,  cavity,  hollow,  pit,  etc,  with  a 
statement  that  in  its  usual  application  it  means  a  cavity  or  hollow,  and  not  a  hole 
through  anything.  A.-  an  adjective,  the  same  form  is  given  as  signifying  hollow, 
having  a  hole,  as  iii  chiluk,  a  hollow  tree:  aboha  chiluk,  an  empty  house;  chiluk 
chukoa,  to  enter  a  hole.  Other  noun  forms  given  are  chulukund  achiluk  in  thesingu- 
lar  and  chilukoa  in  the  plural,  all  signifying  hole,  pit,  or  cavity.  Verbal  tonus  are 
chilukikbi,  to  make  a  hole,  and  chilukba,  to  open  and  form  a  fissure. 

In  agreement  with  the  genius  of  the  Cherokee  language  tin-  root  form  of  the  tribal 
name  takes  nominal  or  verbal  prefixes  according  to  its  connection  with  the  rest  of 
the  sentence,  and  is  declined,  or  rather  conjugated,  as  follows:  Singular — first  per- 
son. tsi-Tsa'l&ffl,  I  (am)  a  Cherokee:  second  person,  hi-Tsa'l&gl,  thou  art  a  Chero- 
kee; third  person,  a-lia'Ulgi,  he  is  a  Cherokee.  Dual — first  person,  dsti-'Dsa'l&gl, 
we  two  are  Cherokee;  second  person,  sli-Tsa'l&gt,  you  two  are  Cherokee;  third 
person,  ani'-Tba'l&gi,  they  two  are  Cherokee.  Plural — first  person,  atsi-Taa/Vigl, 
we  i  several  i  are  Cherokee;  second  person,  liiixi-Tsn'liii/i.  xt m  (several)  are  Chero- 
kee; third  person,  anV- Tsa/l&ffi,  they  (several)  are  Cherokee.     It  will  be  noti 1 

that  the  third  person  dual  and  plural  are  alike. 

Oyata' ge'ronon' ,  etc. — The  [roquois  (.Mohawk  I  form  is  given  by  Hewitt  as  O-yata'- 
ge'ronofi',  of  which  the  root  is  yala,  cave,  o  is  the  assertive  prefix,  ge  is  the  locative  at, 
and  romotV  is  the  tribal  suffix,  equivalent  to  (  English  I  -to  or  people.  The  word,  which 
has  several  dialectic  forms,  signifies  "inhabitants  of  the  cave  country,"  or  "cave- 
country  people,"  rather  than  "people  who  dwell  in  caves,"  as  rendered  by  Schoolcraft 
The  same  radix  yata  occurs  also  in  the  Iroquois  name  for  the  opossum,  which  is  a 
burrowing  animal.  As  is  well  known,  the  Allegheny  region  is  peculiarly  a  cave  coun- 
try, the  caves  having  been  used  by  the  Indians  for  burial  and  shelter  purposes,  as  is 
proved  by  numerous  remains  found  in  them.  It  is  probable  that  the  Iroquois  simply 
translated  the  name  (Chalaque)  current  in  the  South,  as  we  find  is  the  case  in  the 
West,  where  the  principal  plains  tribes  are  known  under  translations  of  the  same 
names  in  all  the  different  languages.  The  Wyandot  name  for  the  Cherokee, 
Wataiyo-ronon',  and  their  Catawba  name,  ManteraiV.  both  seem  to  refer  to  coming 
out  of  the  ground,  and  may  have  been  originally  intended  to  convey  the  same  idea 
of  cave  ] pie. 

Rickahockan — This  name  is  used  by  the  German  explorer.  Lederer,  in  1670,  as  the 
name  of  the  people  inhabiting  the  i  noun  tains  to  the  southwest  of  the  Virginia  settle- 
ments. On  his  map  he  puts  them  in  the  mountains  on  the  southern  head  streams 
of  Roanoke  river,  in  western  North  Carolina.  He  states  that,  according  to  his  Indian 
informants,  the  Rickahockan  lived  beyond  the  mountains  in  a  land  of  great  waves, 
which  he  interpreted  to  mean  the  sea  shore  i !  I,  but  it  is  more  likely  that  the  Indians 
were  trying  to  convey,  by  means  of  the  sign  language,  the  idea  of  a  succession  of 
mountain  ridges.  The  name  was  probably  of  Powhatan  origin,  and  is  evidently 
identical  with  Rechahecrian  of  the  Virginia  chronicles  of  about  the  same  period,  the 
/•  in  the  latter  form  being  perhaps  a  misprint.  It  may  he  connected  with  Righka- 
hauk,  indicated  mi  Smith's  map  of  Virginia,  in  1607,  as  the  name  of  a  town  within  the 


184  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Powhatan  territory,  and  still  preserved  in  Rockahock,  the  nameot  an  estate  on  lower 
Pamunkey  river.  We  have  too  little  material  of  the  Powhatan  language  to  hazard 
an  interpretation,  bui  it  may  possibly  contain  the  root  of  the  word  for  sand,  which 
appears  as  lekawa,  nikawa,  negaw,  rigawa,  rekwa,  etc,  in  various  eastern  Algonquian 
dialects,  whence  Rockaway  (sand),  and  Recgawawank  (sandy  place) .  The  Pow- 
hatan form,  as  given  by  Strachey,  iaracawh  (sand).  H  e  gives  also  rocoyhook  (otter), 
reihcahahcoik,  hidden  under  a  cloud,  overcast,  rirhthime  or  reilieoun  (a  comb),  and 
rich  ii-h  (to  divide  in  halves). 

TalligevA — As  Brinton  well  says:  "No  name  in  the  Lenape'  legends  has  given  rise  to 
more  extensive  discussion  than  this."  On  Oolden's  map  in  his  "History  of  the  Five 
Nations,"  1727,  we  find  the  "Alleghens"  indicated  upon  Allegheny  river.  Heckewel- 
der,  who  recorded  the  Delaware  tradition  in  1819,  says:  "Those  people,  as  I  was  told, 
calledthemselvesTalligeu  or  Talligewi.  Colonel  John  Gibson,  however,  agentleman 
who  has  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Indians,  and  speaks  several  of  their  languages, 
is  of  the  opinion  that  they  were  not  called  Talligewi,  but  Alligevvi;  and  it  would 
seem  that  he  is  right  from  the  traces  of  their  name  which  still  remain  in  the  country, 
the  Allegheny  river  and  mountains  having  indubitably  been  named  after  them.  The 
Delawares  still  call  the  former  Alligewi  Sipu  (the  river  of  the  Alligewi)" — Indian 
Nations,  p.  48,  ed.  1876.  Loskiel,  writing  on  the  authority  of  Zeisberger,  says  that 
the  Delawares  knew  the  whole  country  drained  by  the  Ohio  under  the  name  of 
Alligewinengk,  meaning  "the  land  in  which  they  arrived  from  distant  places, "  basing 
his  interpretation  upon  an  etymology  compounded  from  talli  or  alii,  there,  icku,  to 
that  place,  and  ewak,  they  go,  with  a  locative  final.  Ettwein,  another  Moravian 
writer,  says  the  Delawares  called  "the  western  country"  Alligewenork,  meaning  a 
warpath,  and  called  the  river  Alligewi  Sipo.  This  definition  would  make  the  word 
come  from  palliton  or  attiton,  to  fight,  to  make  war,  ewak,  they  go,  and  a  locative,  i.  e., 
"they  go  there  to  fight."  Trumbull,  an  authority  on  Algonquian  languages,  derives 
the  river  name  from  v<ulik,  good,  best,  hanne,  rapid  stream,  and  sipu,  river,  of  which 
rendering  its  Iroquois  name,  Ohio,  is  nearly  an  equivalent.  Rafinesque  renders  Tal- 
ligewi as  "there  found,"  from  talli,  there,  and  some  other  root,  not  given  (Brinton, 
Walam  Olum,  pp.  229-230, 1885). 

It  must  be  noted  that  the  names  Ohio  and  Alligewi  (or  Allegheny)  were  not 
applied  by  the  Indians,  as  with  us,  to  different  parts  of  the  same  river,  but  to  the 
whole  stream,  or  at  least  the  greater  portion  of  it  from  its  head  downward.  Although 
Brinton  sees  no  necessary  connection  between  the  river  name  and  the  traditional 
tribal  name,  the  statement  of  Heckewelder,  generally  a  competent  authority  on  Dela- 
ware matters,  makes  them  identical. 

In  the  traditional  tribal  name,  Talligewi  or  Alligewi,  wi  is  an  assertive  verbal  suf- 
fix, so  that  the  form  properly  means  "  he  is  a  Tallige,"  or  "they  are  Tallige."  This 
comes  very  near  to  Tsa'lagi',  the  name  by  which  the  Cherokee  call  themselves,  and 
it  may  have  been  an  early  corruption  of  that  name.  In  Zeisberger' s  Delaware  dic- 
tionary, however,  we  find  wuloh  or  walok,  signifying  a  cave  or  hole,  while  in  the 
"Walam  Olum"  we  have  oligonunk  rendered  "at  the  place  of  caves,"  the  region 
being  further  described  as  a  buffalo  land  on  a  pleasant  plain,  where  the  Lenape', 
advancing  seaward  from  a  less  abundant  northern  region,  at  last  found  food  (Walam 
Olum,  pp.  194-195).  Unfortunately,  like  other  aboriginal  productions  of  its  kind 
among  the  northern  tribes,  the  Lenape  chronicle  is  suggestive  rather  than  complete 
and  connected.  With  more  light  it  may  be  that  seeming  discrepancies  would  disap- 
pear and  we  should  find  at  last  that  the  Cherokee,  in  ancient  times  as  in  the  historic 
period,  were  always  the  southern  vanguard  of  the  Iroquoian  race,  always  primarily 
a  mountain  people,  but  with  their  flank  resting  upon  the  Ohio  and  its  great  tribu- 
taries, following  the  trend  of  the  Blue  ridge  and  the  Cumberland  as  they  slowly 
gave  way  before  the  pressure  from  the  north  until  they  were  finally  cut  off  from  the 
parent  stock  by  the  wedge  of  Algonquian  invasion,  but  always,  whether  in  the  north 


TRIBAL   SYNONYM?  1  85 

or  in  t  lie  south,  keeping  their  distinctive  title  among  the  tribes  as  the  "] pie  of  the 

cave  country." 

As  the  Cherokee  have  occupied  a  prominent  place  in  history  for  so  long  a  period 
their  name  appears  in  many  synonyms  and  diverse  spellings.  The  following  are 
among  the  principal  of  these: 

SYNONYMS 

T~\  i  u.i'  (plural.  Ani'-Tsa'l&gl') .   Proper  form  in  the  Middle  and  Western  Cherokee 

dialects. 
TSA   RAGl'.    Proper  form  in  the  Eastern  or  Lower  Cherokee  dialect. 

Achalaque.  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  1847  (incorrectly  quoting  Garcilaso). 

Chalakee.  Nuttall,  Travels,  124,  L821. 

Chalaque.  Gentleman  of  Elvas,  1557;  Publications  of  Hakluyt  Society,  IX,  60,  1851. 

/•■•■<.   Barcia,  Ensayo,  335, 1723. 
Charakeys.   Homann  heirs'  map,about  17.">0. 
Charikees.  Document  of  1718,  ./Me  Rivers,  South  Carolina, 55, 1856. 
Charokees.  Governor  Johnson,  1720,  fide  Rivers,  Early  History  South  Carolina,  93, 

1874. 
( 'heelah .   Barton,  New  Views,  xli v,  1 798. 
Ckeerake.   Adair,  American  Indians,  226,  1775. 
Cheerakee.  Ibid.,  137. 

Cheerague's.  Moore,  1704,  in  Carroll,  Hist.  Colls.  South  Carolina,  n,  576,  1836. 
i  'In f'/v./.v ,-.   Ross  I'.'i,  1776,  in  Historical  Magazine,  2d  series,  n,  218,  1867. 
Chel-a-ke.  Long,  Expedition  to  Rocky  Mountains,  n,  lxx,  1823. 
Chetakees.  Gallatin,  Trans.  Am.  Antiq.  Soc,  n,  90,  1836. 
Chelaques.   Nuttall,  Travels,  247,  1821. 
Chelekee.  Keane,  in  Stanford's  Compendium,  506,  1878. 
Chellokee.  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  n,  204,  1852. 
Cheloculgee.  White,  Statistics  of  Georgia,  28,  RS49  (given  as  plural  form  of  Creek 

name). 
Chelokees.  Gallatin,  Trans.  Am.  Antiq.  Soc,  n,  104,  1836. 
Cheokees.  Johnson,  1772,  in  New  York  Doc.  Col.  Hist.,  vm,  314,  1857  (misprint 

for  Cherokees). 
flu  raguees.  Coxe,  Carolina,  n,  1741. 
Cherakees.  Ibid.,  map,  1741. 

Clu  rnki.i.  Chanvignerie,  1736,  fide  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  in,  555,  1853. 
Clu  raguees.  Coxe,  Carolana,  13,  1741. 
Cheraguis.  Penicaut,  1699,  in  Margry,  v,  404,  1883. 
Cherickees.  Clarke,  1739,  in  New  York  Doc.  Col.  Hist,  vi,  148,  1855. 
Cherikee.  Albany  conference,  1742,  ibid.,  218. 

Cherokee.  Governor  Johnson,  1708,  in  Rivers,  South  Carolina,  238,  1856. 
Cherookees.  Croghan,  1760,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Colls.,  4th  series,  ix,  372,  1871. 
Cheroquees.  Campbell,  1761,  ibid.,  41'i. 
Cherrackees.  Evans,  1755,  in  Gregg,  Old  Cheraws,  15,  1867. 
Cherrokees.  Treaty  of  1722,  fide  Drake,  Book  of  Indians,  bk.  4,  32,  1848. 
( 1i,  rrykees.  Weiser,  1748,  fide  Kauffman,  Western  Pennsylvania,  appendix,  18,  1851. 
Chirakues.  Randolph,  1699,  in  Rivers,  South  Carolina,  449,  1856. 
(  hirokys.  Writer  about  1825,  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  n,  384,  1841. 
ChoraMs.  Document  of  1748,  New  York  Doc.  Col.  Hist.,  x,  143,  1858. 
Chreokees.  Pike,  Travels,  173,  1811  (misprint,  transposed). 
Shanaki.  Gatschet,  Caddo  MS,  Bureau  Am.  Ethn.,  1882  (Caddo  name). 
Shan-nock.  Matey,  Red  River.  273,  1854  I  Wichita  name). 
Shannaki.  Gatschet,  Fox  MS,   Bureau  Am.  Ethn.,  1882  (Fox  name:   plural   form, 

Shannakiak). 
Shayage.  Gatschet,  Raw  MS,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.,  Is7s  i  Raw  name). 


\  Rafinesque,  in  Marshall,  Kentucky,  i,  23,  1824. 
Zulocans.  I 


186  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Sulluggoes.  Coxe,  Carolana,  22,  1741. 

TcdUce.  Gatschet,  TonkawaMS,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.,  1882  (Tonkawa  name,  ChaUke). 

TceroUec.  Gatechet,  Wichita  Ms,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.,  1882  (Wichita  name,  Cherokiih). 

Tchatakei).  La  Salle,  L682,  in  Margry,  n,  1!<7,  1S77  (misprint). 

TialaHes.  Gallatin,  Trans.  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.,  n,  90,  1836. 

Tsallakee.  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  310,  1847. 

Tsa-16-kee.  Morgan,  Ancient  Society,  113,  1878. 

Tschirokesen.  Wrangell,  Ethn.  Nachrichten,  xni,  1839  (German  form). 

TMlahM.  Grayson,  Creek  MS,  Bur.   Am.   Ethn.,   1885   (Creek  name;   plural  form, 

Tstilgdl'gn  or  Tstdgtil'gi — Mooney). 
Tzerrickey.  Urlsperger,  fide  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend,  i,  26,  1884. 
Tzulukis.  Rafinesque,  Am.  Nations,  i,  123,  1836. 

Znllli-illis. 

Zulocans. 

'  I  Heekewelder,  1819,  Indian  Nations,  48,  reprint  of  1876  (traditional  Dela- 

allhtEwi.  >  ware  name.  singular,  Talliqe? or  AUigef  (see  preceding  explanation). 

Alligewi.    ) 

Alleg.  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  v,  133,  1855. 

AUegans.  Colden,  map,  1727,  fide  Schoolcraft,  ibid.,  in,  525,  1853. 

Allegeui.  Schoolcraft,  ibid.,  v,  133,  1855. 

Alleghans.  Colden,  1727,  quoted  in  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  147,  1847. 

Alleghanys.  Rafinesque,  in  Marshall,  Kentucky,  i,  34,  1824. 

Alleghens.  Colden,  map,  1727,  fide  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  305,  1847. 

Allegvri.  Squier,  in  Beach,  Indian  Miscellany,  26,  1877. 

Alii.  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  v,  133,  1855. 

Attighewis.  Keane,  in  Stanford's  Compendium,  500,  1878. 

Talagans.  Rafinesque,  in  Marshall,  Kentucky,  i,  28,  1824. 

Talega.  Brinton,  Walam  Olum,  201,  1885. 

TaVagewy.  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  n,  36,  1852. 

Tallegwi.  Rafinesque,  fide  Mercer,  Lenape  Stone,  90,  1885. 

TaMgwee.  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  310,  1847. 

Tallike.  Brinton,  Walam  Olum,  230,  1885. 

Kiti-'hwagi  (plural,  Ani'-JCUu'hwagl.     See  preceding  explanation). 

<  'uttawa.  Yaugondy,  map,  Partie  de  l'Amerique,  Septentrionale  1755. 

Gatohua.  l 

Oattochwa.  \  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend,  i,  28,  1884. 

Katowa  (plural,  Katowagi).  ) 

Ketawaugas.  Haywood,  Natural  and  Aboriginal  Tennessee,  233,  1823. 

Kittuwa.  Brinton,  Walam  Olum,  16,  1885  ( Delaware  name) . 

Kuttoowauw.  Aupaumut,  1791,  fide  Brinton,  ibid.,  16  (Mahican  name) . 

Oyata'ge'honoS'.  Hewitt,  oral  information  (Iroquois  (Mohawk)  name.     See  preced- 
ing explanation) . 

Ojadagochroene.   Livingston,  1720,  in  New  York  Doc.  Col.  Hist.,  v,  567,  1855. 

<hiihide<„,irns.    Bleeker,  1701,  ibid.,  iv,  918,  1854. 

Oyadackuehramo.  Weiser,  1753,  ibid.,  vi,  795,  1855. 

Oyadagahroenes.  Letter  of  1713,  ibid.,  v,  386,  1855  (incorrectly  stated  to  be  the  Flat- 
heads,  i.  e.,  either  Catawbas  or  Choctaws) . 

Oyadage'oho.  Gatechet,  Seneca  MS,  1882,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  (Seneca  name). 

0-ya-da/-go-(H/io.  Morgan,  League  of  Iroquois,  337,  1851. 

Oyaudah.  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  448,  1847  (Seneca  name) . 

I'lrnlii'-i/o-ro'-no.  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend,  28,  1884  (Wyandot  name). 

Uyada.  Ibid.    (Seneca  name). 

We-yau-dahi  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  253,  1847. 

Wu-tai-yo-ro-nofl'\   Hewitt,  Wyandot  .Ms.  1893,  Bur.  Am.  Ethn.  (Wyandot  name). 


mooney]  MOBILIAN    TRADE    LANGUAGE  187 

Rickahockans.    Lederer,    1672,    Discoveries,   26,    rt-print    of    L891    (see    preceding 

explanation  i. 
Rickohockans.   Map.  ibid. 

ariam.  Drake,   Book  of  Indians,  hook  4,  l'l\  1848  (from  old  Virginia  docu- 
ments !. 

crians.   Rafinesque,  in  Marshall,  Kentucky,  i,  36,  L824. 
M'vs  i  ri. \\'.  Gatechet,  Catawba  Ms.  1881,   Bur.   Am.   Ethn.   (Catawba  name.     See 

preceding  explanation  |. 
„  rPotier,  Racines   Huronnea  et  Grammaire,   MS.  17.M  (Wyandot 

names.       I  lie    first,    according    to     Hewitt,     is    equivalent     in 

OCHIETARIKOSXOX.  .,  ,       ° 

l     "ndge,  or  mountain,  people    ). 
T'kwe"-tah-e-i'-ha-nk.   Beauchamp,  in  Journal  Am.  Folklore,  v,  225,  1892  (given  as 

the  t  taondaga  name  and  rendered,  "  people  of  a  beautiful  red  color"  |. 
C     '■(,  viole(?).  Fontanedo,  about  1575,  Memoir,  translated  in  French  Hist.  Colls., 

ii,  2-i",  1875 (rendered  "wicked  people"). 

(2)  Mobilian  trade  LANGU  iGE  (page  16):  This  trade  jargon,  based  upon  Choctaw, 
but  borrowing  also  from  all  the  neighboring  dialects  and  even  from  the  more  north- 
ern Algonquian  languages,  was  spoken  and  understood  among  all  the  tribes  of  the  Gulf 
states,  probably  as  far  west  as  Matagorda  bay  and  northward  along  both  hanks  of 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Algonquian  frontier  about  the  entrance  of  the  Ohio.  It  was 
called  Mobilienne  by  the  French,  from  Mobile,  the  great  trading  center  of  the  i  fulf 
region.  Along  the  Mississippi  it  was  sometimes  known  also  as  the  Chickasaw  trade 
language,  the  Chickasaw  being  a  dialect  of  the  Choctaw  language  proper.  Jeffreys, 
in  1761,  compares  this  jargon  in  its  uses  to  the  lingua  franca  of  the  Levant,  and  it 
wa.-  evidently  l>y  the  aid  of  this  intertribal  medium  that  I>e  Soto's  interpreter  from 
Tampa  hay  could  converse  with  all  the  tribes  they  met  until  they  reached  the  Missis- 
sippi. Some  of  the  names  used  hy  Fontanedo  about  1575  for  the  tribes  northward 
from  Appalachee  bay  seem  to  be  derived  from  this  source,  as  in  later  times  were  the 
names  of  the  other  tribes  of  the  Gulf  region,  without  regard  to  linguistic  affinities, 
including  among  others  the  Taensa,  Tunica,  Atakapa,  and  Shetimasha,  representing 
as  many  different  linguistic  stocks.  In  his  report  upon  the  southwestern  tribes  in 
1805,  Sibley  says  that  the  "Mobilian"  was  spoken  in  addition  to  their  native  lan- 
guages by  all  the  Indians  who  had  come  from  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi. 
Among  those  so  using  it  lie  names  the  Alabama,  Apalachi,  Biloxi,  Chactoo,  Pacana, 
Pascagula,  Taensa.  and  Tunica.  Woodward,  writing  from  Louisiana  more  than  fifty 
years  later,  says:  '■There  is  yet  a  language  the  Texas  Indians  call  the  Mobilian 
tongue,  that  ha.-  been  the  trading  language  of  almost  all  the  tribes  that  have  inhab- 
ited the  country.  I  know  white  men  that  now  speak  it.  There  is  a  man  now  living 
near  me  that  is  fifty  years  of  age,  raised  in  Texas,  that  speaks  the  language  well.  It 
is  a  mixture  of  Creek,  Choctaw.  Chickasay,  Xetches  [Natchez],  and  Apelash  [Apa- 
lachi]"— Reminiscences,  79.  For  further  information  see  also  Gatschet,  (reek 
Migration  Legend,  and  Sibley,  Report. 

The  Mobilian  trade  jargon  was  not  unique  of  its  kind.  In  America,  as  in  other 
parts  Of  the  world,  the  common  necessities  of  intercommunication  have   resulted   in 

the  format] f  several  such  mongrel    dialects,   prevailing  sometimes   over   wide 

area-.  In  some  cases,  also,  the  language  of  a  predominant  tribe  serves  as  the  com- 
mon medium  for  all  the  tribes  of  a  particular  region.  In  South  America  we  find  the 
lingoa  geral,  based  upon  the  Tupi'  language,  understood  tor  everyday  purposes  by 
all  the  tribes  of  the  immense  central  region  from  Guiana  to  Paraguay,  including 
almost  the  w  hole  Amazon  basin.  On  the  northwest  coast  w>  find  the  well-known 
"Chinook  jargon,"  which  take>  it-  name  from  a  -mall  tribe  formerly  residing  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  in  common  use  among  all  tie-  tribes  iron.  California  far  up 


MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE 


[ETH.  ANN.  19 


into  Alaska,  and  eastward  to  the  great  divide  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  In  the 
southwest  the  Navaho-Apache  language  is  understood  by  nearly  all  the  Indians  of 

Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  whil i  the  plains  the  Sioux  language  in  the  north  and 

the  Comanche  in  the  south  hold  almost  the  same  position.  In  addition  to  these  we 
have  also  the  noted  "sign  language,"  a  gesture  system  used  and  perfectly  understood 
as  a  fluent  means  of  communication  among  all  the  hunting  tribes  of  the  plains  from 
the  Saskatchewan  to  the  Rio  Grande. 

(3)  Dialects  (page  17):  The  linguistic  affinity  of  the  Cherokee  and  northern 
lroquoian  dialects,  although  now  well  established,  is  not  usually  obvious  on  the 
surface,  but  requires  a  close  analysis  of  words,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  pho- 
netic changes,  to  make  it  appear.  The  superficial  agreement  is  perhaps  most  apparent 
between  the  Mohawk  and  the  Eastern  (Lower)  Cherokee  dialects,  as  both  of  these 
lack  the  labials  entirely  and  use  r  instead  of  /.  In  the  short  table  given  below  the 
Iroquois  words  are  taken,  with  slight  changes  in  the  alphabet  used,  from  Hewitt's 
manuscripts,  the  Cherokee  from  those  of  the  author: 


Mohawk 

Cherokee  (East- 
ern) 

person 

ongwe' 

yufiwl 

fire 

otsi'ra' 

atsi'ra  (atsi'la) 

water 

awen' 

awa'  (ami') 

stone 

onefiya' 

nimviV 

arrow 

ka'non' 

kiuil' 

pipe 

kanonnawefi' 

kanun'nawu 

hand  (arm) 

owe'ya" 

uwa'yl 

milk 

unefi'ta" 

unuii'tl 

five 

wlsk 

hlskl 

tobacco 

[tcarhu-,  Tuscarora] 

tsarfl  (tsalu) 

fish 

otcofi'ta' 

u'tsutl' 

ghost 

o'skefma' 

asgi'na 

snake 

ennatuii 

i'nadu' 

Comparison  of  Cherokee  dialects 


Eastern 
(Lower) 

Middle 

Western 
1  Upper) 

fire 

atsi'ra 

atsi'la 

atsi'la 

water 

awa' 

ama' 

ama' 

dog 

gi'rl' 

gi'll' 

gi'll' 

hair 

gitsu' 

gitsft' 

gitlu' 

hawk 

tsa'nuwa' 

IsVnmvn' 

tlft'nuwa' 

leech 

tsanu'sl' 

tsanu'sl' 

tlanu'sl' 

bat 

tsa'weha' 

tsa'meha' 

tla'meha' 

panther 

tsuntu'tsl 

tsuntu'tsl 

ttuntu'tsl 

jay 

tsay'ku' 

tsay'ku' 

tlay'ku' 

martin  (bird) 

tsutsu' 

tsutsn' 

tlutlti' 

war-club 

atasu' 

atasu' 

atasl' 

heart 

unahu' 

unahu' 

unahwl' 

where? 

ga'tsu 

ga'tsfl 

ha'tlu 

how  much? 

hufigu' 

hufigu' 

hila'gu 

key 

stugi'stl 

stugi'stl 

stui'stl 

I  pick  it  up  (long) 

tslnigi'il 

tslnigi'u 

tsine'ii 

my  father 

agida'ta 

agida'ta 

eda'ta 

my  mother 

a'gitsl' 

a'gitsl' 

etsl' 

my  father's  father 

agini'sl 

agini'sl 

eni'sl 

my  mother's  father 

agidu'tti 

agidu'td 

edu'tO 

mooney]  IROQUOIAN    MIGRATIONS  189 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  Eastern  and  Middle  dialects  arc  aboul  the  same,  except- 
ing for  the  change  of  I  to  r,  and  the  entire  absence  of  the  labial  m  from  the  Eastern 

dialect,  while  the  Western  differs  considerably  fr the  others,  particularly  in  the 

greater  frequency  of  the  liquid  J  and  the  softening  of  the  guttural  g,  the  changes  tend- 
ing to  render  it  the  most  musical  of  all  the  Cherokee  dialects.  It  is  also  the  stand- 
ard literary  dialect.  In  addition  to  these  three  principal  dialects  there  are  some 
peculiar  forms  and  expressions  in  use  by  a  few  individuals  which  indicate  the  former 
existence  of  cue  or  more  other  dialects  now  too  far  extinct  to  be  reconstructed.     As 

in  most  other  tribes,  the  ceremonial  forms  used  by  the  priestl I   ate  so  filled  with 

archaic  and  figurative  expressions  as  to  !«■  almost  unintelligible  to  the  laity. 

(4)  Iroquoian  nar.es  and  migrations  (p.  17):  The  Iroquoian  stock,  taking  its 
name  from  the  celebrated  Iroquois  confederacy,  consisted  formerly  of  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  tribes,  speaking  nearly  as  many  different  dialects,  and  including,  among 
others,  the  following: 

Wyandot,  or  Huron.  ~\ 

Tionontati,  or  Tobacco  nation. 

Attiwan'daron,  or  Neutral  nation.  \  Ontario,  ( lanada. 

Tohotaenrat. 

Wenrorono. 

Mohawk.   | 

Oneida. 

Onondaga.  >  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations,  New  York. 

( layuga. 

Seneca.        J 

Erie.      Northern  t  Mhio,  etc. 

Conestoga,  or  Susquehanna.     Southern  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland. 

Nottoway.  "I 

Meherrim'.J   S"»""'>'"  Virginia. 

Tnscarora.     Eastern  North  Carolina. 

Cherokee.      Western  Carolina,  etc. 

Tradition  and  history  alike  point  to  the  St.  Lawrence  region  as  the  early  home 
of  this  stock.  Upon  this  point  all  authorities  concur.  Says  Hale,  in  his  paper  on 
Indian  Migrations  (p.4):  "The  constant  tradition  of  the  Iroquois  represents  their 
ancestors  a-  emigrants  from  the  region  north  of  the  Oreat  lakes,  where  they  dwelt  in 
early  times  with  their  Huron  brethren.  This  tradition  is  recorded  with  much  par- 
ticularity by  Cadwallader  Colden,  surveyor-general  of  New  York,  who  in  the  early 
part  of  the  last  century  composed  his  well  known  'History  of  the  Five  Nations.'  It 
is  told  in  a  somewhat  different  form  by  David  { 'tisick.  the  Tnscarora  historian,  in  his 
'Sketchesof  Ancient  History  of  the  Six  .Nations,'  and  it  is  repeated  by  Mr.  L.  H. 
Morgan  in  his  now  classical  work.  'The  League  of  the  Iroquois,'  for  which  he-  pro- 
cured his  information  chiefly  among  the  Senecas.  Finally,  as  we  learn  from  the 
narrative  of  the  Wyandot  Indian,  Peter  Clarke,  in  his  1 k  entitled  'Origin  ami  Tra- 
ditional History  of  the  Wyandotts."  the  belief  of  the  Hurons  accords  in  this  respect 
with  that  of  the  Iroquois.  Both  point  alike  to  the  country  immediately  north  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  and  especially  to  that  portion  of  it  lying  east  of  Lake  Ontario,  as  the 
early  home  of  the  Huron-Iroquois  nations."  Nothing  is  known  of  the  tradition-  oi 
the  ( lonestoga  or  the  Nottoway,  hut  the  trail  it  inn  of  the  Tnscarora.  as  given  by  Cusick 

and  other  authorities,  makes  them  a  direct  offsl (  from  the  northern  [roquois,  with 

whom  they  afterward   reunited.     The  traditions  of  the  Cherokee  also,  as  we   have 

seen,  bring  them  from  the  north,  thus npleting  the  cycle.     "The  striking  fact  has 

become  evident  that  the  course  of  migration  of  the  Huron-Cherokee  family  has  been 
from  the  northeast  to  the  southwest — that  is.  from  eastern  Canada,  on  the  Lower  St. 
Lawrence,  to  the  mountains  of  northern  Alabama. " — Hale,  Indian  Migrations,  p.  11. 

The  retirement  of  the  northern  Iroquoian  tribes  from  the  St.  Lawrence  region  was 


190  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [cth.ann.19 

due  to  the  hostility  of  their  Algonquian  neighbors,  by  whom  the  Huronsand  their 
allies  were  forced  to  take  refuge  about  Georgian  hay  and  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario, 
while  the  Iroquois  proper  retreated  to  central  New  York.  In  1535  (artier  found  the 
shores  of  the  river  from  Quebec  to  Montreal  occupied  by  anlroquoian  people,  but  on 
the  settlement  of  the  country  seventy  years  later  the  same  region  was  found  in  pos- 
session of  Algonquian  tribes.  The  confederation  of  the  five  Iroquois  nation-,  probably 
about  the  year  1540,  enabled  them  to  check  the  Algonquian  invasion  and  to  assume 
the  offensive.  Linguistic  and  other  evidence  shows  that  the  separation  of  the  Chero- 
kee from  the  parent  stock  must  have  far  antedated  this  period. 

(5)  Waaam  Ohm  (p.  18):  The  name  signifies  "red  score,"  from  the  Delaware 
walam,  "painted,"  more  particularly  "painted  red."  and  <,hi,u.  "a  score,  tally- 
mark."  The  Walam  Olum  was  first  published  in  1836  in  a  work  entitled  "The 
American  Nations."  by  Constantine  Samuel  Rafinesque,  a  versatile  and  voluminous, 
but  very  erratic,  French  scholar,  who  spent  the  latter  half  of  his  life  in  this  country, 
dying  in  Philadelphia  in  1840.  He  asserted  that  it  was  a  translation  of  a  manuscript 
hi  the  Delaware  language,  which  was  an  interpretation  of  an  ancient  sacred  metrical 
legend  of  the  Delawares,  recorded  in  pictographa  cut  upon  wood,  obtained  in  1820  by 
a  medical  friend  of  his  among  the  Delawares  then  living  in  central  Indiana.  He 
says  himself:  "These  actual  olum  were  first  obtained  in  1820  as  a  reward  for  a 
medical  cure,  deemed  a  curiosity,  and  were  unexplicable.  In  1822  were  obtained 
from  another  individual  the  soul's  annexed  thereto  in  the  original  language,  hut  no 
one  could  be  found  by  me  able  to  translate  them.  I  had  therefore  to  learn  the 
language  since,  by  the  help  of  Zeisberger,  Heckewelder,  and  a  manuscript  diction- 
ary, on  purpose  to  translate  them,  which  I  only  accomplished  in  1833."  On  account 
of  the  unique  character  of  the  alleged  Indian  record  and  Rafinesque's  own  lack  of 
standing  among  his  scientific  contemporaries,  hut  little  attention  was  paid  to  the 
discovery  until  Brinton  took  up  the  subject  a  few  years  ago.  After  a  critical  sifting 
of  the  evidence  from  every  point  of  view  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
work  is  a  genuine  native  production,  although  the  manuscript  rendering  is  faulty. 
partly  from  the  white  scribe's  ignorance  of  the  language  and  partly  from  the  Indian 
narrator's  ignorance  of  the  meaning  of  the  archaic  forms.  Brinton's  edition  (q.  v. ), 
published  from  Rafinesque's  manuscript,  gives  the  legend  in  triplicate  form — picto- 
graph,  Delaware,  and  English  translation,  with  notes  and  glossary,  and  a  valuable 
ethnologic  introduction  by  Brinton  himself. 

It  is  not  known  that  any  of  the  original  woodcut  pictographs  of  the  Walam  Olum 
arc  now  in  existence,  although  a  statement  of  Rafinesque  implies  that  he  had  seen 
them.  As  evidence  of  the  truth  of  his  statement,  however,  we  have  the  fact  that 
precisely  similar  pictographic  series  cut  upon  birch  bark,  each  pictograph  represent- 
ing a  line  or  couplet  of  a  sacred  metrical  recitation,  are  now  known  to  be  common 
among  the  Ojibwa,  Menomini,  and  other  northern  tribes.  In  1762  a  Delaware 
prophet  recorded  his  visions  in  hieroglyphics  cut  upon  a  wooden  stick,  ami  about 
the  year  1S'_>7  a  Kickapoo  reformer  adopted  the  same  method  to  propagate  a  w\\ 
religion  among  the  tribes.  One  of  these  "prayer  sticks"  is  now  in  the  National 
Museum,  being  all  that  remains  of  a  large  basketful  delivered  to  a  missionary  in 
Indiana  by  a  party  of  Kickapoo  Indians  in  1830  (see  plate  and  description,  pp.  665, 
697  et  seq.  in  the  author's  Ghost-dance  Religion,  Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology ). 

(6)  Fish  riyek  (p.  18):  NamsesiSipu  I  Heckewelder,  Indian  Nations,  49),  or  Namas- 
sipi  (Walam  olum,  p.l9S).  Deceived  by  a  slight  similarity  of  sound.  Heckewelder 
makes  this  river  identical  with  the  Mississippi,  but  as  Schoolcraft  shows  (Notes on 
Iroquois,  p.  316)  the  true  name  of  the  Mississippi  is  simply  Misi-sipi,  "great  river," 
and  "fish  river"  would  lie  a  most  inappropriate  name  for  such  a  turbulent  current, 
where  only  the  coarser  species  can  live.  The  mere  fact  that  there  can  be  a  question 
of  identity  among  experts  familiar  with  Indian  nomenclature  would  indicate  that  it 


DK    soro's    ROUTE  191 

was  Qot  one  of  the  larger  streams.  Although  Heckewelder  makes  the  Uligewi,  as  ne 
prefers  to  call  them,  Bee  down  the  Mississippi  after  their  final  defeat,  the  Walam 
Olum  chronicle  says  only  "all  the  Talega  go  south."  It  was  probahly  a  gradual 
withdrawal,  rather  than  a  sudden  and  concerted  flight  (see  Hale,  Indian  Migra- 
tions, pp. 19-22) . 

(7)  First  ippeabance  of  whites  (p.  19):  ft  is  possible  that  this  may  refer  t ■ 

of  the  earlier  adventurers  who  coasted  along  the  North  Atlantic  in  the  first  decades 
after  the  discovery  of  America,  among  whom  were  Sebastian  Cabot,  in  1498;  Verra- 
zano,  in  1">l'4;  and  Gomez,  in  1525.  As  these  voyages  were  not  followed  up  by  per- 
manent occupation  of  the  country  it  is  doubtful  if  they  made  any  lasting  impressii  m 
upon  Indian  tradition.  The  author  lias  chosen  to  assume,  with  Brinton  and  Rati- 
nesque,  that  the  Walam  Olum  reference  is  to  the  .settlement  of  the  Dutch  at  New 
York  and  the  English  in  Virginia  sunn  after  1600. 

(8)  1  > i  Soto's  route  (p.  26):  On  May  30,  1539,  Hernando  de  Soto,  of  Spain,  with 
600  armed  men  and  213  horses,  landed  at  Tampa  hay,  on  the  west  coast  of  Florida,  in 
search  of  gold.  Alter  more  than  four  year-  of  hardship  and  disappointed  wandering 
from  Florida  to  the  great  plains  of  the  West  and  back  again  to  the  Mississippi,  where 
De  Soto  died  and  his  body  was  consigned  to  the  great  river,  311  men,  all  that  were 
left  of  the  expedition,  arrived  finally  at  Pdnuco,  in  Mexico,  on  September  in.  1543. 

For  the  history  of  this  expedition,  the  most  important  ever  undertaken  by  Spain 
within  eastern  United  State.-,  v.e  have  four  original  authorities.  First  is  the 
brief,  hut  evidently  truthful  (Spanish)  report  of  Biedma,  an  officer  of  tin'  expedi- 
tion, presented  to  the  King  in  1544.  immediately  after  the  return  to  Spain.  Next 
in  order,  hut  of  first  importance  for  detail  and  general  appearance  of  reliability,  is 
the  narrative  of  an  anonymous  Portuguese  cavalier  of  the  expedition,  commonly 
known  as  the  i  lentleman  of  Elvas,  originally  published  in  the  Portuguese  language 
in  1557.  Xext  comes  the  (Spanish)  narrative  of  Garcilaso,  written,  hut  not  pub- 
lished, in  1587.  t'nlike  the  others,  the  author  was  not  an  eyewitness  of  what  lie 
describes,  hut  made  up  his  account  chiefly  from  the  oral  recollections  of  an  old 
soldier  of  the  expedition  more  than  forty  years  after  the  event,  this  information 
being  supplemented  from  papers  written  by  two  other  soldiers  of  De  Soto.  Is  might 
he  expected,  the  ( iarcilaso  narrative,  although  written  in  flowery  style,  abounds  in 
exaggeration  and  trivial  incident,  and  com]. ares  unfavorably  with  the  other  accounts, 
while  probably  giving  more  of  the  minor  happenings.  The  fourth  original  account 
is  an  unfinished  (Spanish)  report  by  Ranjel,  secretary  of  tin-  expedition,  written 
-o  ,ii  after  reaching  Mexico,  and  afterward  incorporated  with  considerable  change  by 
Oviedo,  in  his  "Historia  natural  j  general  de  las  Indias."  As  this  fourth  narrative 
remained  unpublished  until  1851  and  has  never  been  translated,  it  has  hitherto  been 
entirely  overlooked  by  the  commentators,  excepting  Winsor,  who  notes  it  inciden- 
tally. In  general  it  agrees  well  with  the  Klvas  narrative  and  throws  valuable  light 
upon  the  history  of  the  expedition. 

The  principal  authorities,  while  preserving  a  general  unity  of  narrative,  differ 
greatly  in  detail,  especially  in  estimates  of  numbers  and  distances,  frequentl}  to  such 
an  extent  that  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to  reconcile  their  different  statements.  In  gen- 
eral the  Gentleman  of  Klvas  is  most  moderate  in  his  expression,  while  Biedma  takes 
a  middle  ground  and  Garcilaso  exaggerates  greatly.  Thus  the  first  named  gives 
De  Soto  600  men.  Hied  ma  make-  the  number  620,  while  Garcilaso  says  1,000.  At  a 
certain  stage  of  the  joumej  the  Portuguese  Gentleman  gives  De  Soto  Tun  Indian-  as 
escort,  Biedma  say-  sou,  while  <  rarcilaso  makes  it  8,000  It  the  battle  of  Ma\  ilia  the 
Klvas  account  gives  is  Spaniards  and  2,500  Indians  killed.  Biedmasays 20  Spaniards 

killed,  without  giving  an  estimate  of  the  Indians,  while  Garcilaso  ha-  82  Spaniards 
and  over  1  l.iioo  Indians  killed.  In  distances  there  is  as  great  discrepancy.  Thus 
Biedma  makes  the  distance  from  ( luaxule  to  Chiaha  four  days,  Garcilaso  has  it  six 
days,  and  Elvas  seven  days.     As  to  the  length  of  an  average  day's  march  we  find  it 


192  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ash.19 

estimated  all  the  way  from  "four  leagues,  more  or  less"  (<  rarcilaso  |  to  "  every  day 
seven  or  eight  leagues"  (Elvas).  In  another  place  the  Elvas  chronicler  state-  thai 
they  usually  made  five  or  six  leagues  a  day  through  inhabited  territories,  but  that  in 
crossing  uninhabited  regions — as  that  between  Canasagua  and  Chiaha,  they  marched 
every  day  as  far  as  possible  for  fear  of  running  out  of  provisions.  One  of  the  most 
glaring  discrepancies  appears  in  regard  to  the  distance  between  Chiaha  and  Coste. 
Both  the  Portuguese  writer  and  Garcilaso  put  Chiaha  upon  an  island — a  statement 
which  in  itself  is  at  variance  with  any  present  conditions, — but  while  the  former 
makes  the  island  a  fraction  over  a  league  in  length  the  latter  says  that  it  was  five 
leagues  long.  The  next  town  was  Coste,  which  Garcilaso  puts  immediately  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  same  island  while  the  Portuguese  Gentleman  represents  it  as  seven 
days  distant,  although  he  himself  has  given  the  island  the  shorter  length. 

Notwithstanding  a  deceptive  appearance  of  exactness,  especially  in  the  Elvas  and 
Banjel  narratives,  which  have  the  form  of  a  daily  journal,  the  conclusion  is  irresist- 
ible that  much  of  the  record  was  made  after  dates  had  been  forgotten,  and  the 
sequence  of  events  had  become  confused.  Considering  all  the  difficulties,  dangers, 
and  uncertainties  that  constantly  beset  the  expedition,  it  would  be  too  much  to  expect 
the  regularity  of  a  ledger,  and  it  is  more  probable  that  the  entries  were  made,  not 
from  day  to  day,  but  at  irregular  intervals  as  opportunity  presented  at  the  several 
resting  places.  The  story  must  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  our  later  knowledge  of 
the  geography  and  ethnology  of  the  country  traversed. 

Each  of  the  three  principal  narratives  has  passed  through  translations  and  later 
editions  of  more  or  less  doubtful  fidelity  to  the  original,  the  English  edition  in  some 
cases  being  itself  a  translation  from  an  earlier  French  or  Dutch  translation.  English 
speaking  historians  of  the  expedition  have  usually  drawn  their  material  from  one  or 
the  other  of  these  translations,  without  knowledge  of  the  original  language,  of  the 
etymologies  of  the  Indian  names  or  the  relations  of  the  various  tribes  mentioned,  or 
of  the  general  system  of  Indian  geographic  nomenclature.  One  of  the  greatest  errors 
has  been  the  attempl  to  give  in  every  case  a  fixed  local  habitation  to  a  name  which 
in  some  instances  is  not  a  proper  name  at  all,  ami  in  others  is  merely  a  descriptive 
term  or  a  duplicate  name  occurring  at  several  places  in  the  same  tribal  territory. 
Thus  Tali  is  simply  the  Creek  word  talua,  town,  and  not  a  definite  place  name  as 
represented  by  a  mistake  natural  in  dealing  through  interpreters  with  an  unknown 
Indian  language.  Tallise  and  Tallimuchase  are  respectively  "Old  town"  and  "New 
town"  in  Creek,  and  there  can  lie  no  certainty  that  the  same  names  were  applied  to 
the  same  places  a  century  later.  Canasagua  is  a  corruption  of  a  Cherokee  name 
which  occurs  in  at  least  three  other  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country  in  addition 
to  the  one  mentioned  in  the  narrative,  and  almost  every  old  Indian  local  name 
was  thus  repeated  several  times,  as  in  the  case  of  such  common  names  as  Short 
creek,  Whitewater,  Richmond,  or  Lexington  among  ourselves.  The  fact  that  only 
one  name  of  the  set  has  been  retained  on  the  map  does  not  prove  its  identity  with  the 
town  of  the  old  chronicle.  Again  such  loose  terms  as  "a  large  river,"  "a  beautiful 
valley,"  have  been  assumed  to  mean  something  more  definitely  localized  than  the 
wording  warrants.  The  most  common  error  in  translation  has  been  the  rendering 
of  the  Spanish  "despoblado"  as  "desert."  There  are  no  deserts  in  the  Gulf  states, 
and  the  word  means  simply  an  uninhabited  region,  usually  the  debatable  strip 
between  two  tribes. 

There  have  been  many  attempts  to  trace  lie  Soto's  route.  As  nearly  every  historian 
who  lias  written  of  the  southern  states  lias  given  attention  to  this  subject  it  is 
unnecessary  to  enumerate  them  all.  ( if  some  thirty  works  consulted  by  tin-  author, 
in  addition  to  the  original  narratives  already  mentioned,  not  more  than  two  or  three 
can  be  considered  as  speaking  with  any  authi  irity,  the  rest  simply  copying  from  these 
without  investigation.  The  first  attempt  to  locate  the  route  definitely  was  made 
by  Meek  (Romantic  Passages,  etc.)  in  1839  (reprinted  in  1857),  his  conclusions  being 


■■< i  i  DE    BOTO  S    ROUTE  1  93 

based  upon  his  general  knowledge  of  the  geography  of  the  region.  In  is:>i  Picketl 
tried  to  locate  ttic  route,  chiefly,  he  asserts,  from  [ndian  tradition  as  related  by 
mixed-bloods.  How  much  dependence  can  be  placed  upon  [ndian  tradition  as  thus 
interpreted  three  centuries  after  the  event  it  is  unnecessary  to  say.  Both  these 
writers  have  brought  De  Soto  down  the  Coosa  river,  in  which  they  have  been 
followed  without  investigation  by  Irvine.  Shea  and  others,  but  none  of  these  was 
awan-  of  the  existence  of  a  Suwali  tribe  or  correctly  acquainted  with  the  Indian 
nomenclature  of  the  upper  country,  or  of  the  Creek  country  as  so  well  summarized 
bj  Gatschet  in  his  Creek  Migration  Legend.     They  are  also  mistaken  in  assuming 

that  only  De  Soto  passed  through  thi untry,  whereas  we  now  know  thai  several 

Spanish  explorers  ami  numerous  French  adventurers  traversed  the  same  territory, 
the  latest  expeditions  of  course  being  freshest  in  Indian  memory.  Jones  in  his 
"De  Soto's  March  Through  Georgia"  simply  dresses  up  the-  earlier  statements  in 
more  literary  style,  sometimes  changing  surmises  to  positive  assertions,  without 
mentioning  his  authorities.  Maps  of  the  supposed  route,  all  bringing  De  Soto  down 
the  ( loosa  instead  of  the  ( lhattahoochee,  have  been  published  in  [rving's  ( ionquest  of 
Florida,  the  Hakluyt  Society's  edition  of  the  Gentleman  of  El va's  account,  and  in 
Buckingham  Smith's  translation  of  the  same  narrative,  as  well  as  in  several  other 
works.  For  the  eastern  portion,  with  which  we  have  to  deal,  all  of  these  arc  prac- 
tically duplicates  of  one  another.  On  several  old  Spanish  and  French  maps  the 
names  mentioned  in  the  narrative  seem  to  have  been  set  down  merely  to  till  space, 
without  much  reference  to  the  text  of  the  chronicle.  For  a  list  and  notices  of  prin- 
cipal writers  who  have  touched  upon  this  subject  see  the  appendix  to  Shea's  chapter 
on  "Ancient  Florida"  in  Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  n;  Bos- 
ton, 1886.  We  shall  speak  only  of  that  part  of  the  route  which  lav  near  the  <  Iherokee 
mountains. 

The  first  location  which  concerns  us  in  the  narrative  is:  Cofitaehiqui,  the  town 
from  which  De  Soto  set  out  for  the  Cherokee  country.  The  name  appears  variously 
as  Cofitachequi  (Ranjel),  Cofitachique  (Biedma),  Cofachiqui  (Garcilaso),  Cutifa- 
Chiqui  (by  transposition,  Elvas),  Cofetacque  (Vandera),  Catafachique  (Williams) 
and  Cosatachiqui  (misprint,  Brooks  MSS),  and  the  Spaniards  first  heard  of  the 
region  as  Yupaha  from  a  tribe  farther  to  the  south.  The  correct  form  appeals  to  lie 
that  first  given,  which  Gatschet,  from  later  information  than  that  quoted  in  his 
(feck   Migration  Legend,  makes  a   Hitchitee  word  about  equivalent  to  "Dogwood 

town,"  fromco/i,  "dogw 1,"  coftta,  "dogwood  thicket,"  zndchiki,  "house,"  orcol- 

lectively  "town."     McCulloch  puts  the  town  upon  the  headwaters  of  the  Ocmulgee; 

Williams  locates  it  on  the  Chattah dice;  Gallatin  on  the  Oconc r  the  Savannah; 

Meek  and  Monette,  following  him,  probably  in  the  fork  of  the  Savannah  and  the 
Broad;  1'ickett.  with  Jones  and  others  following  him.  at  Silver  bluff  on  the  east 
i  north)  hank  of  the  Savannah,  in  Barnwell  county,  South  Carolina,  about  25  mile-  by 
water  below  the  present  Augusta.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  at  the  very  outset  of  our 
inquiry  the  commentators  differ  by  a  distance  equal  to  more  than  half  the  width  of 
the  stat  i -of  ( Jeorgia.  It  will  suffice  here  to  say,  without  going  into  the  argument,  that, 
the  author  is  inclined  to  believe  that  the  Indian  town  was  on  or  near  Silver  bluff, 
which  was  noted  for  its  extensive  ancient  remains  as  far  back  as  Bartram's  time 
(Travels.  313),  and  where  the  noted  George  Galphin  established  a  trading  post  in 
1736.  The  original  site  has  since  been  almost  entirely  worn  away  by  the  river. 
According  to  the  Indians  of  Cofitaehiqui,  the  town,  which  was  on  the  farther  i  north) 

bank  of  the  stream,  was  tw  o  day's  journey  from  the  sea,  probably  by  canoe,  and  the 
sailors  «  ith  the  expedition   believed  tin-  river  to  be  the  same  one  that  entered  al  St. 

Helena,  which  was  a  very  close  guess.  The  Spaniards  were  shown  here  European 
articles  which  they  were  told  had  been  obtained  from  white  men  who  had  entered  the 
river's  mouth  many  years  before.  These  they  conjectured  to  have  been  the  men 
with  Ayllon,  who  had  landed  on  that  coast  in  1520  and  again  in  1524.  The  town  was 
probably  the  ancient  capital  of  the  I'.hee  Indians,  who,  before  their  absorption  by 

!'.»    F.TH- 111 13 


194  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

the  Creeks,  held  or  claimed  most  of  the  territory  on  both  banks  of  Savannah  river 
from  the  Cherokee  border  t"  within  about  forty  miles  of  Savannah  ami  westward  to 
the*  >geeeheeand  Cannouchee rivers  (see Gatschet,  ( Ireek  Migration  Legend,  i,  17-34). 
The  country  was  already  on  the  decline  in  1540  from  a  recent  fatal  epidemic,  but 
was  yet  populous  ami  wealthy,  and  was  ruled  by  a  woman  chief  whose  authority 
extended  for  a  considerable  distance.  The  town  was  visited  also  by  Pardoin  1567  and 
again  by  Torres  in  HiL's,  w  hen  it  was  still  a  principal  settlement,  as  rich  in  pearls  as  in 
De  Soto's  time  i  Brooks  MSS,  in  the  archives  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology). 

Somewhere  in  southern  Georgia  De  Soto  had  been  told  of  a  rich  province  called 
Coca  (Coosa,  the  Creek  country)  toward  the  northwest.  At  Cofltachiqui  he  again 
heard  of  it  and  of  one  of  its  principal  towns  called  ( 'hiaha  ((  heliaw  )  as  being  twelve 
da\  s  inland.  Although  on  first  hearing  of  it  lie  had  kept  on  in  the  other  direction 
in  order  to  reach  Cofltachiqui,  he  now  determined  to  go  there,  and  made  the 
queen  a  prisoner  to  compel  her  to  accompany  him  a  part  of  the  way  as  guide.  ( 'oca 
province  was.  though  he  did  not  know  it,  almost  due  west,  and  he  was  in  haste  to 
reach  it  in  order  to  obtain  corn,  as  his  men  and  horses  were  almost  worn  out  from 
hunger.  It  is  apparent,  however,  that  the  unwilling  queen,  afraid  of  being  carried 
beyond  her  own  territories,  led  the  Spaniards  by  a  roundabout  route  in  the  hope  of 
making  her  escape,  as  she  finally  did,  or  perhaps  of  leaving  them  to  starve  and  die  in 
the  mountains,  precisely  the  trick  attempted  by  the  Indians  upon  another  Spanish 
adventurer,  Coronado,  entering  the  great  plains  from  the  Pacific  coast  in  search  of 
golden  treasure  in  the  .same  year. 

Instead  therefore  of  recrossing  the  river  to  the  westward,  the  Spaniards,  guided 
by  the  captive  queen,  took  the  direction  of  the  north  ("la  vuelta  del  norte" — 
Biedma),  and,  after  passing  through  several  towns  subject  to  the  queen,  came  in 
seven  days  to  "the province  of  Chalaque"  (Elvas).  Elvas,  Garcilaso,  and  Ranjel 
agree  upon  the  spelling,  but  the  last  named  makes  the  distance  only  two  days  from 
Cofltachiqui.  Biedma  does  not  mention  the  country  at  all.  .  The  trifling  difference 
in  statement  of  live  days  in  seven  need  not  trouble  us,  as  Biedma  makes  the  whole 
distance  from  Cofltachiqui  to  Xuala  eight  days,  and  from  Guaxuleto  Chiaha  four  days, 
where  Elvas  makes  it,  respectively,  twelve  and  seven  days.  Chalaque  is,  of  course, 
Cherokee,  as  all  writers  agree,  and  De  Soto  was  now  probably  on  the  waters  of 
Keowee  river,  the  eastern  head  stream  of  Savannah  river,  where  the  Lower  Chero- 
kee had  their  towns.     Finding  the  country  bare  of  corn,  he  made  no  stay. 

Proceeding  six  days  farther  they  came  next  to  Guaquili,  where  they  were  kindly 
received.  This  name  occurs  only  in  the  Ranjel  narrative,  the  other  three  being 
entirely  silent  in  regard  to  such  a  halting  place.  The  name  has  a  Cherokee  sound 
(Wakili),  but  if  we  allow  for  a  dialectic  substitution  of  /  for  r  it  may  be  connected 
with  such  Catawba  names  as  Congaree,  Wateree,  and  Sugeree.  It  was  probably  a 
village  of  minor  importance. 

They  came  next  to  the  province  of  Xuala,  or  Xualla,  as  the  Divas  narrative  more 
often  has  it.  In  a  French  edition  it  appears  as  Chouala.  Ranjel  makes  it  three 
days  from  Guaquili  or  five  from  Chalaque.  Elvas  also  makes  it  live  days  from 
Chalaque,  while  Biedma  makes  it  eight  days  from  Cofltachiqui,  a  total  discrepancy 
of  four  days  from  the  last-named  place.  Biedma  describes  it  as  a  rough  mountain 
country,  thinly  populated,  but  with  a  few  Indian  houses,  and  thinks  that  in  these 
mountains  the  great  river  of  Fspiritu  Santo  (the  Mississippi)  had  its  birth.  Ranjel 
describes  the  town  as  situated  in  a  plain  in  the  vicinity  of  rivers  and  in  a  country 
with  greater  appearance  of  gold  mines  than  any  they  had  yet  seen.  The  Portuguese 
gentleman  describes  it  as  having  very  little  corn,  and  says  that  they  reached  it  from 
Cofltachiqui  over  a  hilly  country.  In  his  final  chapter  he  states  that  the  course 
from  Cofltachiqui  to  this  place  was  from  south  to  north,  thus  agreeing  with  Biedma. 
According  to  Garcilaso  (pp.  136-137)  it  was  fifty  leagues  by  the  road  along  which  the 
Spaniards  had  come  from  Cofltachiqui  to  the  first  valley  of  the  province  of  Xuala, 


moosey]  .         dk    SOTO'S    ROUTE  I  ".r> 

with  but  few  mountains  on  the  way,  ami  the  town  itself  was  situated  close  under  a 
mi  mil  tain  ( "  a  la  tali  la  de  una  sierra  "  beside  a  small  bul  rapid  stream  which  formed 
the  boundary  of  the  territory  of  Cofitachiqui  in  this  direction.  From  Ranjel  we 
learn  that  on  the  same  day  after  leaving  this  place  for  the  nexl  "province"  the 
Spaniards  crossed  a  very  hi^l untain  ridge  ("una  sierra  tnuy  alta" 

Without  mentioning  the  name,  Pickett  >  1851  refers  to  Kuala  as  "a  town  in  the 
present  Habersham  county,  Georgia,"  but  gives  no  reason  for  this  opinion.  Rye 
and  Irving,  of  the  same  date,  arguing  from  a  slight  similarity  of  name,  think  it  may 
have  been  on  the  site  of  a  fun  hit  Cherokee  town,  Qualatchee,  on  the  head  of  Chat- 
tahoochee river  in  Georgia.     The  resemblance,  however,  is  rather  farfetched,  and 

moreover  this  same  name  is  found  on   Keowee  river   in  South  Carolina.    .1 s 

i  De  Soto  in  <  reorgia,  1880)  interprets  '  rarcilaso's  description  to  refer  to  "  Sai :hee 

valley.  Habersham  county"  which  should  be  White  county— and  the  neighboring 
Mount  yonah,  overlooking  the  fact  that  the  same  description  of  mountain,  valley, 
and  swift  flowing  stream  might  apply  equally  well  to  any  one  of  twenty  other 
localities  in  this  southern  mountain  country.  With  direct  contradiction  Garcilaso 
says  that  the  Spaniards  rested  here  fifteen  days  because  they  found  provisions  plenti- 
ful, while  the  Portuguese  Gentleman  says  that  they  stopped  but  two  days  because 
they  found  so  little  corn!  Ranjel  makes  them  stop  four  days  and  says  they  found 
abundant  provisions  and  assistance. 

However  that  maj  have  been,  there  can  lie  no  question  of  tin-  identity  of  the 
name.  As  the  province  of  Chalaque  is  the  country  of  the  Cherokee,  so  the  province 
of  Xuala  is  the  territory  of  the  Suwali  or  Sara  Indians,  better  known  later  as 
Cheraw,  who  lived  in  early  times  in  the  piedmont  country  about  the  head  of  Broad 
river  in  North  Carolina,  adjoining  the  Cherokee,  who  still  remember  them  under 
the  name  of  Ani'-Suwa'li.  A  principal  trail  to  their  country  from  the  west  led  up 
Swannanoa  river  ami  across  the  gap  which,  fur  this  reason,  was  kmiwn  to  the 
( Jherokee  as  Suwa'li-nunna,  "  Suwali  trail,"  corrupted  by  the  whites  to  Swannanoa. 
Leilerer.  who  found  them  in  the  same  general  region  in  1670,  calls  this  gap  the 
"Suala  pass"  ami  the  neighboring  mountains  the  Sara  mountains,  "which,"  lie 
says,  "The  Spaniards  make  Simla."  They  afterward  shifted  to  the  mirth  and 
finally  returned  ami  were  incorporated  with  the  Catawba  (see  Mooney,  Simian  Tribes 
•  if  the  East,  bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1894). 

Up  to  this  point  the  Spaniards  had  followed  a  mirth  course  from  Cofitachiqui 
(Biedma  ami  Elvas),  but  they  now  turned  to  the  west  i  Elvas,  final  chapter).  On 
the  same  day  on  which  they  left  Xnala  they  crossed  "a  very  high  mountain  ridge," 
and  descended  the  next  day  to  a  wide  meadow  bottom  I  "savana"  I,  through  which 
Qowed  a  river  which  they  concluded  was  a  part  of  the  Espiritu  Santo,  the  Mississippi 
(Ranjel).  Biedma  speaks  of  crossing  a  mountain  country  ami  mentions  the  river, 
which  he  also  says  they  thought  to  he  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi.  ( ianilasu 
Bays  that  this  portion  of  their  mute  was  through  a  mountain  country  without  inhabi- 
tants i  "desp.  ihladn"  i  ami  the  I'.  .it  iiL'iioe  gentleman  describes  it  as  being  over  "  very 
rough  ami  high  ridges."  In  live  days  of  such  travel — fur  here,  for  a  wonder,  all  the 
narratives  agree — they  ram.-  to  Guaxule.  This  is  the  form  given  by  Garcilaso  and 
the  Gentleman  of  Elvas;  Biedma  has  Guasula,  and  Ranjel  Guasili  or  Guasuli.  The 
translators  am!  commentators  have  given  its  such  forms  as  Guachoule,  Quaxule, 
Quaxulla,  and  Quexale.  According  to  the  Spanish  method  of  writing  Indian  words 
the  name  was  pronounced  Washule'  or  W'asuli,  which  has  a  Cherokee  sound,  although 
it  can  not  he  translated.  Buckingham  Smith  I  Narratives,  p.  222  I  hints  that  the  Span- 
iards may  have  changed  (oiasili  to  Guasule,  because  of  the  similarity  of  tin-  latter 
form  to  a  town  name  in  southern  Spain.  Smh  corruptions  of  Indian  name  arc  of 
frequent  occurrence.  <  rarcilaso  speaks  of  it  as  a  "  province  and  town,"  while  Biedma 
ami  Ranjel  call  it  simply  a  town  ("pueblo").  Before  reaching  this  place  the  Indian 
queen  had  managed  to  make  her  escape.     All  the  chroniclers  tell  of  the  kind  recep- 


196  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

tion  which  the  Spaniards  met  here,  hut  th<'  only  description  of  the  town  itself  is  from 
Garcilaso,  who  says  that  it  was  situated  in  the  midst  of  many  small  streams  which 
came  down  from  the  mountains  round  about,  that  it  consisted  of  three  hundred 
houses,  which  is  probably  an  exaggeration,  though  it  goes  to  show  that  the  village 
was  of  considerable  size,  and  that  the  chief's  house,  in  which  the  principal  officers 
were  lodged,  was  upon  a  high  hill  (  "un  cerro  alto"  ),  around  which  was  a  roadway 
( " paseadero' ' )  wide  enough  for  six  men  to  walk  abreast.  By  the  "chief's  house" 
we  are  to  understand  the  town-house,  while  from  various  similar  references  in  other 
parts  of  the  narrative  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  "hill"  upon  which  it  stood  was 
an  artificial  mound.  In  modern  Spanish  writing  such  artificial  elevations  are  more 
often  called  lomas,  but  these  early  adventurers  may  be  excused  for  not  noting  the 
distinction.  Issuing  from  the  mountains  round  about  the  town  were  numerous  small 
streams,  which  united  to  form  the  river  which  the  Spaniards  henceforth  followed 
from  here  down  to  Chiaha,  where  it  was  as  large  as  the  Guadalquivir  at  Sevilla 
( ( larcilaso). 

Deceived  by  the  occurrence,  in  the  Portuguese  narrative,  of  the  name  Canasagua, 
which  they  assumed  could  belong  in  but  one  place,  earlier  commentators  have 
identified  this  river  with  the  Coosa,  Pickett  putting  Guaxule  somewhere  upon  its 
upper  waters,  while  Jones  improves  upon  this  by  making  the  site  "identical,  or  very 
nearly  so,  with  Coosawattee  Old  town,  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  Murray  county," 
Georgia.  As  we  shall  show,  however,  the  name  in  question  was  duplicated  in  several 
states,  and  a  careful  study  of  the  narratives,  in  the  light  of  present  knowledge  of  the 
country,  makes  it  evident  that  the  river  was  not  the  Coosa,  but  the  Chattahoochee. 

Turning  our  attention  once  more  to  Xuala,  the  most  northern  point  reached  by 
De  Soto,  we  have  seen  that  this  was  the  territory  of  the  Suwala  or  Sara  Indians,  in 
the  eastern  foothills  of  the  Alleghenies,  about  the  head  waters  of  Broad  and  Catawha 
rivers,  in  North  Carolina.  As  the  Spaniards  turned  here  to  the  west  they  probably 
did  not  penetrate  far  beyond  the  present  South  Carolina  boundary.  The  "very  high 
mountain  ridge"  which  they  crossed  immediately  after  leaving  the  town  was  in  all 
probability  the  main  chain  of  the  Blue  ridge,  while  the  river  which  they  found  after 
descending  to  the  savanna  on  the  other  side,  and  which  they  guessed  to  be  a  branch 
of  the  Mississippi,  was  almost  as  certainly  the  upper  part  of  the  French  Broad,  the 
first  stream  flowing  in  an  opposite  direction  from  those  which  they  had  previously 
encountered.  They  may  have  struck  it  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hendersonville  or 
Brevard,  there  being  two  gaps,  passable  for  vehicles,  in  the  main  ridge  eastward 
from  the  first-named  town.  The  uninhabited  mountains  through  which  they  strug- 
gled for  several  days  on  their  way  to  Chiaha  and  Coca  (the  Creek  country)  in  the 
southwest  were  the  broken  ridges  in  which  the  Savannah  and  the  Little  Tennessee 
have  their  sources,  and  if  they  followed  an  Indian  trail  they  may  have  passed  through 
the  Rabun  gap,  near  the  present  Clayton,  Georgia.  Guaxule,  and  hot  Xuala,  as  Jones 
supposes,  was  in  Nacoochee  valley,  in  the  present  White  county,  Georgia,  and  the 
small  streams  which  united  to  form  the  river  down  which  the  Spaniards  proceeded 
to  Chiaha  were  the  headwaters  of  the  Chattahoochee.  The  hill  upon  which  the 
townhouse  was  built  must  have  been  the  great  Nacoochee  mound,  the  most  promi- 
nent landmark  in  the  valley,  on  the  east  bank  of  Sautee  creek,  in  White  county, 
about  twelve  miles  northwest  of  Clarkesville.  This  is  the  largest  mound  in  upper 
Georgia,  with  the  exception  of  the  noted  Etowah  mound  near  Cartersville,  and  is  the 
'only  one  which  can  fill  the  requirements  of  the  case.  There  are  but  two  consider- 
able mounds  in  western  North  Carolina,  that  at  Franklin  and  a  smaller  one  on  Oeona- 
luftee  river,  on  the  present  East  Cherokee  reservation,  and  as  both  of  these  are  on 
streams  flowing  away  from  the  Creek  country,  this  fact  alone  would  bar  them  from 
consideration.  The  only  large  mounds  in  upper  Georgia  are  this  one  at  Nacoochee 
and  the  group  on  the  Etowah  river,  near  Cartersville.  The  largest  of  the  Etowah 
group  is  some  fifty  feet  in  height  and  is  ascended  on  one  side  by  means  of  a  roadway 


MOONKY] 


DE   SOTO'S    EOUTE  197 


about  fifty  feet  wide  at  the  base  and  narrowing  gradually  to  the  top.  Had  this  been 
the  mound  of  the  narrative  it  is  hardly  possible  that  the  chronicler  would  have  failed 
to  notice  also  the  two  other  mounds  of  the  group  or  the  other  one  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  each  of  these  being  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet  in  height,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  great  ditch  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length  which  encircles  the  group. 
Moreover,  Cartersville  is  at  some  distance  from  the  mountains,  and  the  Etowah  river 
at  this  point  does  not  answer  the  description  of  a  small  rushing  mountain  stream. 

There   is   no   considerable   mound   at    Coosawatee  or   in  any  of    the  thre< unties 

adj.  lining. 

The  Nacoochee  mound  has  been  cleared  and  cultivated  for  many  years  ami  ih.es 
not  now  show  any  appearance  of  a  roadway  up  the  Bide,  but  from  its  great  height 

We  may  he  reasonably  sure  that  some  such  means  of  easy  ascent  existed  in  ancient 
times.  In  other  respects  it  is  the  only  mound  in  the  whole  upper  country  which 
tills  the  conditions.  The  valley  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  spots  in  Georgia  and 
numerous  ancient  remains  give  evidence  that  it  was  a  favorite  center  of  settlement  in 
early  days.  At  the  beginning  of  the  modern  historic  period  it  was  held  by  the 
Cherokee,  who  had  there  a  town  called  Nacoochee,  but  their  claim  was  disputed  by 
the  Creeks.  The  Gentleman  of  Elvas  states  that  Guaxule  was  subject  to  the  queen 
of  Cofitachiqui,  but  this  may  mean  only  that  the  people  of  the  two  towns  or  trihes 
were  in  friendly  alliance.  The  modern  name  is  pronounced  Nagutil'  by  the  <  Ihero- 
kee,  who  say.  however,  that  it  is  not  of  their  language.  The  terminal  may  Ik-  the 
Creek  udshi,  "small."  or  it  may  have  a  connection  with  the  name  of  the  Tehee 
Indians. 

From  Guaxule  the  Spaniards  advanced  toCanasoga  (Ranjel)  orCanasagua  I  Elvas  I, 
one  or  two  days'  march  from  Guaxule,  according  to  one  or  the  other  authority. 
Garcilaso  and  Biedma  do  not  mention  the  name.  As  Garcilaso  states  that  from 
Guaxule  to  Chiaha  the  march  was  down  the  bank  of  the  same  river,  which  we 
identify  with  the  Chattahoochee,  the  town  may  have  been  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  present  Gainesville.  As  we  have  seen,  however,  it  is  unsafe  to  trust  the  estimates 
of  distance.  Arguing  from  the  name,  Meek  infers  that  the  town  was  about  Cona- 
sauga  river  in  Murray  county,  and  that  the  river  down  which  they  inarched  to  reach 
it  was  "no  doubt  the  Etowah,"  although  to  reach  the  first  named  river  from  the 
Etowah  it  would  be  necessary  to  make  another  sharp  turn  to  the  north.  From  the 
same  coincidence  Pickett  puts  it  on  the  Conasauga,  "in  the  modern  county  of  Mur- 
rav.  Georgia,"  while  Jones,  on  the  same  theory,  locates  it  "  at  or  near  the  junction 
of  the  Connasauga  and  Coosawattee  rivers,  in  originally  Cass,  now  Gordon  county." 
Here  his  modern  geography  as  well  as  his  ancient  is  at  fault,  as  the  original  Cass 
county  is  now  Bartow,  the  name  having  been  changed  in  consequence  of  a  local  dis- 
like for  General  Cass.  The  whole  theory  of  a  march  down  the  Coosa  river  rests 
upon  this  coincidence  of  the  name.  The  same  name  however,  pronounced  G&nsd'ffl 
by  the  Cherokee,  was  applied  by  them  to  at  least  three  different  locations  within 
their  old  territory,  while  the  one  mentioned  in  the  narrative  would  make  the  fourth. 
The  others  were  (1)  on  Oostanaula river,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Conasauga.  where 
afterward  was  New  Echota,  in  Cordon  county,  Georgia;  (2)  on  Canasauga  creek,  m 
McMinn  county,  Tennessee;  (3)  on  Tuckasegee  river,  about  two  miles  above  Web- 
ster, in  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina.  At  each  of  these  places  are  remains  of 
ancient  settlement.  It  is  possible  that  the  name  of  Kenesaw  mountain,  near  .Mari- 
etta, in  Cobb  county,  <  reorgia,  may  be  a  corruption  of  GansagI,  and  if  so,  theCanasagua 
of  the  narrative  may  have  been  somewhere  in  this  vicinity  on  the  Chattahoochee. 
The  meaning  of  the  name  is  lost. 

On  leaving  Canasagua  they  continued  down  the  same  river  which  they  had  fol- 
lowed from  Cuaxule  (Garcilaso  I,  and  after  traveling  several  days  through  an  unin- 
habited (  "despoblado"  ,)  country  I  HI  vast  arrived  at  Chiaha.  which  was  subject  to  the 
great  chief  of  Coca  (Elvasj .     The  name  is  spelled  Chiaha  by  Ranjel  and  the  <  tenth- 


198  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  Leth.ann.19 

man  of  Elvas,  Chiha  by  Biedma  in  the  Documentos,  China  by  a  misprint  in  an 
English  rendering,  and  Ychiaha  byGarcilaso.  It  appears  as  Chiha  on  an  English  map 
of  17iii'  reproduced  in  Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  page  31,  1897.  Gallatin  spells 
it  Ichiaha,  while  Williams  and  Fairbanks,  by  misprint,  make  it  Chiapa.  According 
t < <  both  Ranjel  and  Elvas  the  army  entered  it  on  the  5th  of  June,  although  the 
former  makes  it  tour  days  from  Canasagua,  while  the  other  makes  it  five.  Biedma 
says  it  was  four  days  from  Guaxule,  and,  finally,  Garcilaso  says  it  was  six  days  and 
thirty  leagues  from  Guaxule  and  on  the  same  river,  which  was,  here  at  Chiaha,  as 
large  as  the  Guadalquivir  at  Sevilla.  As  we  have  seen,  there  is  a  great  discrepancy 
in  the  statements  of  the  distance  from  ( lofitachiqui  to  this  point.  All  four  authorities 
agree  that  the  town  was  on  an  island  in  the  river,  along  which  they  had  been 
marchingfor  some  time  (Garcilaso,  Ranjel),  but  while  the  Elvas  narrative  makes 
the  island  "two  crossbow  shot"  in  length  above  the  town  and  one  league  in  length 
below  it,  Garcilaso  calls  it  a  "great  island  more  than  five  leagues  long."  On  both 
sides  of  the  island  the  stream  was  very  broad  and  easily  waded  (Elvas).  Finding 
welcome  and  food  for  men  and  horses  the  Spaniards  rested  here  nearly  a  month 
(June  5-28,  Ranjel;  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven  days,  Biedma;  thirty  days,  Elvas). 
In  spite  of  the  danger  from  attack  De  Soto  allowed  his  men  to  sleep  under  trees  in 
the  open  air,  "because  it  was  very  hot  and  the  people  should  have  suffered  great 
extremity  if  it  had  not  been  so"  ( Elvas).  This  in  itself  is  evidence  that  the  place 
was  pretty  far  to  the  south,  as  it  was  yet  only  the  first  week  in  June.  The, town  was 
subject  to  the  chief  of  the  great  province  of  Coca,  farther  to  the  west.  From  here 
onward  they  began  to  meet  palisaded  towns. 

On  the  theory  that  the  march  was  down  Coosa  river,  every  commentator  hitherto 
has  located  Chiaha  at  some  point  upon  this  stream,  either  in  Alabama  or  Georgia. 
Gallatin  (1836)  says  that  it  "must  have  been  on  the  Coosa,  probably  some  distance 
below  tin-  site  of  New  Echota."  He  notesa  similarity  of  sound  between  Ichiaha  and 
"Echoy."  (Itseyl),  a  Cherokee  town  name.  Williams  (1837)  says  that  it  was  on 
Mobile  (i.  e.,  the  Alabama  or  lower  Coosa  river).  Meek  (1839)  says  "there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  Chiaha  was  situated  but  a  short  distance  above  the  junction  of  the 
Coosa  and  Chattooga  rivers,"  i.  e.,  not  far  within  the  Alabama  line.  He  notes  the 
occurrence  of  a  "Chiaha"  (Chehawhaw)  creek  near  Talladega,  Alabama.  In  regard 
to  the  island  upon  which  the  town  was  said  to  have  been  situated  he  says:  "There 
is  no  such  island  now  in  the  Coosa.  It  is  probable  that  the  Spaniards  either  mistook 
the  peninsula  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  rivers,  the  Coosa  and  Chattooga,  for  an 
island,  or  that  those  two  rivers  were  originally  united  so  as  to  form  an  island  near 
their  present  confluence.  We  have  heard  this  latter  supposition  asserted  by  per- 
sons well  acquainted  with  the  country." — Romantic  Passages,  p.  222, 1857.  Monette 
(1846)  puts  it  on  Etowah  branch  of  the  Coosa,  probably  in  Floyd  county,  Georgia. 
Pickett  (1851),  followed  in  turn  by  Irving,  Jones,  and  Shea,  locates  it  at  "the  site  of 
the  modern  Rome."  The  "island"  is  interpreted  to  mean  the  space  between  the 
two  streams  above  the  continence. 

Pickett,  as  has  been  stated,  bases  his  statements  chiefly  or  entirely  upon  Indian 
traditions  as  obtained  from  halfbreeds  or  traders.  How  much  information  can  be 
gathered  from  such  sources  in  regard  to  events  that  transpired  three  centuries  before 
may  lie  estimated  by  considering  how  much  an  illiterate  mountaineer  of  the  same 
region  might  lie  able  to  tell  concerning  the  founding  of  the  Georgia  colony.  Pickett 
himself  seems  to  have  been  entirely  unaware  of  the  later  Spanish  expeditions  of 
Pardo  and  De  Luna  through  the  same  country,  as  he  makes  no  mention  of  them 
in  his  history  of  Alabama,  but  ascribes  everything  to  De  Soto.  Concerning  Chiaha 
he  says: 

"The  most  ancient  Cherokee  Indians,  whose  tradition  has  been  handed  down  to 
us  through  old  Indian  trailers,  disagree  as  to  the  precise  place  [!]  where  De  Soto 
crossed  the  Oostanaula  to  get  over  into  the  town  of  Chiaha— some  asserting  that  he 


]>K    SOTO'S    ROUTE  199 

passed  over  that  river  seven  miles  above  its  junction  with  tin-  Etowah,  and  that 
he  marched  from  thence  down  t"  Chiaha,  which,  all  contend,  lay  immediately  ;it  the 
confluence  of  the  two  rivers;  while  other  ancient  Indians  asserted  thai  lie  crossed, 
with  his  army,  immediately  opposite  i In-  town.  Bu(  this  is  no(  verj  important. 
Coupling  the  Indian  traditions  with  theaccounl  by  <  larcellasso  and  thai  by  the  Por- 
tuguese rvi'H  itness,  we  are  inclined  to  believe  the  hitter  traditi  m  thai  the  expedition 
continued  to  advance  down  the  western  side  of  the  Oostanaula  until  thej  halted  in 
view  of  the  mouth  of  the  Etowah.  De  Soto,  having  arrived  immediately  opposite 
the  great  town  of  Chiaha,  uo\i  the  site  of  Rome,  crossed  the  Oostanaula,"  etc.  (His- 
tory of  Alabama,  p.  23,  reprint,  1896  .  He  overlooks  the  fai  I  thai  1 Ihiaha  was  nol  a 
Cherokee  town,  but  belonged  to  the  province  of  Coca — i.  e.,  the  territorj  of  the 
Creek  [ndians. 

\  careful  study  of  the  four  original  narratives  makes  it  plain  that  the  expedition 
did  ii"t  descend  either  the  '  tostanaula  or  the  Etowah,  and  thai  consequently  <  ;hiaha 
could  not  have  been  at  their  junction,  the  present  site  of  Rome.     On  the  othei  hand 

the  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  the  march  was  down  the  Chattal thee  from  its 

extreme  head  springs  in  the  mountains,  and  that  the  Chiaha  of  the  narrative  was 
the  Lower  Creek  town  of  the  same  name,  more  pommonly  known  as  Chehaw,  for- 
merly on  this  river  in  the  neighborh I  of  the  modern  city  of  Columbus,  Georgia, 

while  Coste,  in  the  narrative  the  next  adjacent  town,  was  Kasi'ta,  "r  Cusseta,  of  the 
same  group  of  villages.  The  falls  at  this  point  mark  the  geologic  break  line  where 
the  river  changes  from  a  clear,  swift  current  to  a  broad,  slow-moving  stream  ol  the 
lower  country.  Attracted  by  the  fisheries  and  the  fertile  bottom  lands  the  Lower 
Creeks  established  here  their  settlement  nucleus,  and  here,  up  to  the  ln-ginning  of 
the  present  century,  they  had  within  easy  distance  of  each  other  on  both  sides  of 
the  river  some  fifteen  towns,  among  which  were  Chiaha  (Chehaw  .  I  hiahudshi 
(Little  Chehaw),  and  Kasi'ta  (Cusseta).  Most  of  these  settlements  were  within 
what  are  now  Muscogee  and  Chattahoochee  counties,  Georgia,  and  Lee  and  Russell 
counties,  Alabama  (see  town  list  and  map  in  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend). 
Large  mounds  and  other  earthworks  on  both  sides  of  the  river  in  the  vicinity  of 
Columbus  attest  the  importance  of  tin-  site  in  ancient  days,  while  the  general  appear- 
ance indicates  that  at  times  the  adjacent  low  grounds  were  submerged  or  cut  off  by 

Overflows  from  the  main  stream.  A  principal  trail  crossed  here  from  the  I  Icniulgee, 
pa  — in-  I  iy  Tuskegee  to  the  Upper  Creek  towns  about  the  junction  of  the  Coosa  and 

Talla] sa    in   Alabama.      \t   the    beginning  of   the  present  century  this  trail  was 

know  n  to  the  trailers  a-  "  De  Soto's  trace  "  (W Iward,  Reminiscences,  p.  76).     As 

the  Indian  towns  frequently  shift  their  position  within  a  limited  range  on  account 
of  epidemics,  freshets,  or  impoverishment  of  the  soil,  it  is  not  neeessarj  to  assume 
that  they  occupied  exactly  the  same  sites  in  1540  as  in  1800,  1  mt  only  that  as  a  group 
they  were  in  the  same  general  vicinity.  Thus  Kasi'ta  itself  was  at  one  period  above 
the  falls  and  at  a  later  period  some  eight  miles  belowthem.     Both  Kasi'ta  and  Chiaha 

were  principal  towns,  with  several  branch  villages. 

The  time  given  as  occupied  on  the  march  from  Canasagua  to  Chiaha  would  seem 
too  little  for  the  actual  distance,  but  as  we  have  seen,  the  chroniclers  do  no1  agree 
among  themselves.     We  can  easily  believe  that  the  Spaniards,  buoyed  up  by  the 

certainty  of  finding  f 1  and   rest  at  their  next  halting  place,  made  better  progress 

along  the  smooth  rivertrail  than  while  blundering  helplessly  through  the  mountains 
at  the  direction  of  a  most  unwilling*  guide.  If  Canasagua  was  any  w  here  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Kenesaw,  in  Cobb  county,  the  time  mentioned  in  the  Elvas  or  ( larcilaso 
narrative  would  probably  have  been  sufficient  for  reaching  <  Ihiaha  at  the  falls.  The 
uninhabited  country  between  the  two  towns  was  the  neutral  ground  between  the 

two  hostile  tribes,  the  Cherokee  and  the  ( 'reeks,  and  it  is  worth  noting  that  Kene 
saw  mountain  was  made  a  point  on  the  boundary  line  afterward  established  betwe<  n 
the  two  tribes  through  the  mediation  of  the  United  States  government. 


200  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.anx.  1 

There  is  no  large  island  in  either  the  Coosa  or  the  Chattahoochee,  and  we  are 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  what  the  chronicle  describes  as  an  island  was  really  a 
portion  of  the  bottom  land  temporarily  cut  off  by  back  water  from  a  freshet.  In  a 
similar  way  "The  Slue,"  east  of  Flint  river  in  Mitchell  county,  may  have  been 
formed  by  a  shifting  of  the  river  channel.  Two  months  later,  in  Alabama,  the 
Spaniards  reached  a  river  so  swollen  by  rains  that  they  were  obliged  to  wait  six 
days  before  they  could  cross  (Elvas).  Lederer,  while  crossing  South  Carolina  in 
1670,  found  his  farther  progress  barred  by  a  "great  lake,"  which  he  puts  on  his  map 
as  "Ushery  lake,"  although  there  is  no  such  lake  in  the  state;  but  the  mystery  is 
explained  by  Lawson,  who,  in  going  over  the  same  ground  thirty  years  later,  found 
all  the  bottom  lands  under  water  from  a  great  flood,  the  Santee  in  particular  being 
36  feet  above  its  normal  level.  As  Lawson  was  a  surveyor  his  figures  may  be  con- 
sidered reliable.  The  "Ushery  lake"  of  Lederer  was  simply  an  overflow  of  Catawba 
river.  Flood  water  in  the  streams  of  upper  Georgia  and  Alabama  would  quickly  be 
carried  off,  but  would  be  apt  to  remain  for  some  time  on  the  more  level  country 
below  the  falls. 

According  to  information  supplied  by  Mr  Thomas  Robinson,  an  expert  engineering 
authority  familiar  with  the  lower  Chattahoochee,  there  was  formerly  a  large  mound, 
now  almost  entirely  washed  away,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river,  about  nine  miles 
below  Columbus,  while  on  the  western  or  Alabama  bank,  a  mile  or  two  farther  down, 
there  is  still  to  be  seen  another  of  nearly  equal  size.  "At  extreme  freshets  both  of 
these  mounds  were  partly  submerged.  To  the  east  of  the  former,  known  as  the 
Indian  mound,  the  flood  plain  is  a  mile  or  two  wide,  and  along  the  eastern  side  of 
the  plain  stretches  a  series  of  swamps  or  wooded  sloughs,  indicating  an  old  river  bed. 
All  the  plain  between  the  present  river  and  the  sloughs  is  river-made  land.  The 
river  bluff  along  by  the  mound  on  the  Georgia  side  is  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  above 
tlie  present  low-water  surface  of  the  stream.  About  a  mile  above  the  mound  arc  the 
remains  of  what  was  known  as  Jennies  island.  At  ordinary  stages  of  the  river  no 
island  is  there.  The  eastern  channel  was  blocked  by  government  works  some 
years  ago,  and  the  whole  is  filled  up  and  now  used  as  a  cornfield.  The  island 
remains  can  be  traced  now,  I  think,  for  a  length  of  half  a  mile,  with  a  possible 
extreme  width  of  300  feet.  .  .  .  This  whole  country,  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
is  full  of  Indian  lore.  I  have  mentioned  both  mounds  simply  to  indicate  that  this 
portion  of  the  river  was  an  Indian  locality,  and  have  also  stated  the  facts  about  the 
remains  of  Jennies  island  in  order  to  give  a  possible  clew  to  a  professional  who  might 
study  the  ground." — Letter,  April  22,  1900. 

Chiaha  was  the  first  town  of  the  "  province  of  Coca,"  the  territory  of  the  Coosa  or 
Creek  Indians.  The  next  town  mentioned,  Coste  (Elvas  and  Ranjel),  Costehe 
(Bieilma)  or  A  coste  (Garcilaso),  was  Kasi'ta,  or  Cusseta,  as  it  was  afterward  known 
to  the  whites.  While  Garcilaso  puts  it  at  the  lower  end  of  the  same  island  upon 
which  Chiaha  was  situated,  the  Elvas  narrative  makes  it  seven  days  distant!  The 
modern  towns  of  Chehaw  and  Cusseta  were  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other  on  the 
Chattahoochee,  the  former  being  on  the  western  or  Alabama  side,  while  Cusseta,  in 
1799,  was  on  the  east  or  Georgia  side  about  eight  miles  below  the  falls  at  Columbus, 
and  in  Chattahoochee  county,  which  has  given  its  capital  the  same  name,  Cusseta. 
From  the  general  tone  of  the  narrative  it  is  evident  that  the  two  towns  were  near 
together  in  De  Soto's  time,  and  it  may  be  that  the  Elvas  chronicle  confounded  Kasi'ta 
with  Koasati,  a  principal  Upper  Creek  town,  a  short  distance  below  the  junction  of 
the  Coosa  and  Tallapoosa.  At  Coste  they  crossed  the  river  ami  continued  westward 
"through  many  towns  subject  to  the  cacique  of  Coca"  (Elvas)  until  they  came  to  the 
great  town  of  Coca  itself.  This  was  Kusa  or  Coosa,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Upper 
Creeks.  There  were  two  towns  of  this  name  at  different  periods.  One,  described  by 
Adair  in  1775  as  "the great  and  old  beloved  town  of  refuge,  Koosah,"  was  on  the  east 
bank  of  Coosa  river,  a  few  miles  southwest  of  the  present  Talladega,  Alabama.    The 


muonf.vJ  DK    SOTO'S    ROUTE  201 

other,  known  as  "Old < toosa,"  and  probablj  of  more  ancient  origin,  was  on  the  west 
side  oi  Alabama  river,  near  the  present  site  of  Montgomery  (see  Gatschet,  Creek 
Migration  Legend  I.  It  was  probablj  the  latter  \\  bich  was  visited  bj  l>o  Soto,  and  later 
..ii  by  Iv  Luna,  in  1559.  Beyond  (  toca  they  passed  through  another  <  Ireek  town,  ap- 
parently lower  doy  n  on  the  Alabama,  the  name  of  which  is  variously  spelled  5  taua 
(Elvas,  Force  translation!.  Ytava  (Elvas,  Hakluyt  Society  translation),  or  Ctaba 
(Ranjel),  and  which  may  be  connected  with  ['tiwft',  Etowah  or  "  Hightower,"  the 
Dame  of  a  former  Cherokee  settlement  near  the  bead  of  Etowah  river  in  Georgia. 
The  Cherokee  regard  this  as  a  foreign  name,  and  its  occurrence  in  upper  Georgia,  as 
well  as  in  central  Alabama,  may  help  to  support  the  tradition  that  the  southern 
Cherokee  border  was  formerly  held  by  the  ('reeks. 

1 1,  Soto's  route  beyond  the  Cherokee  country  does  not  concern  us  except  as  it 
throws  light  upon  his  previous  progress.  In  the  seventeenth  chapter  the  Elvas  nar- 
rative summarizes  that  portion  from  the  landing  at  Tampa  bay  toapoint  insouthern 
Alabama  as  follows:  "  From  the  Tort  de  Spirit..  Santo  to  Apalache,  which  is  about  an 
hundred  leagues,  the  governor  went  from  east  to  west;  an.  1  from  Apalache  to  ( lutifa- 
chiqui,  which  are  430  leagues,  from  the  southwest  to  the  northeast;  ami  from  Cutifa- 
chiqui  to  Xualla,  which  are  about  L'">0  leagues,  from  the  south  to  the  north;  anil  from 
Xuallato  Tascaluea,  which  are  250  leagues  more,  an  hundred  and  ninety  of  them  he 
traveled  from  east  to  west,  to  wit.  to  the  province  of  Coca;  and  the  other  60,  from 
Coca  to  Tascaluca,  from  the  north  to  the  south." 

Chisca  (Elvas  and  Ranjel),  the  mountainous  northern  region  in  search  of  which 
men  were  sent  from  Chiaha  to  look  for  copper  and  gold,  was  somewhere  in  the 
Cherokee  country  of  upper  Georgia  or  Alabama.  The  precise  location  is  not  material, 
as  it  i-  now  known  that  native  copper,  in  such  condition  as  to  have  been  easily  work- 
able by  the  Indians,  occurs  throughout  the  whole  southern  Allegheny  region  from 
about  Anniston,  Alabama,  into  Virginia.  Notable  timls  of  native  copper  have  been 
maileon  the  upper  Tallapoosa,  in  Cleburne  county,  Alabama;  about  Ducktown,  in 
Polk  county,  Tennessee,  and  in  southwestern  Virginia,  one.  nugget  from  Virginia 
weighing  several  pounds.  From  the  appearance  of  ancient  soapstone  vessels  which 
have  been  found  in  the  same  region  there  is  even  a  possibility  that  the  Indians  had 
some  knowledge  of  smelting,  as  the  Spanish  explorers  surmised  (oral  information 
from  Mr  \V.  II.  Weed,  I'.  S.  Geological  Survey).  We  hear  again  of  this  "province" 
after  De  Soto  had  reached  the  Mississippi,  and  in  one  place  Garcilaso  seems  to 
confound  it  with  another  province  called  Quizqui  (Ranjel)  or  Quizquiz  (Elvas 
and  Biednia).  The  name  has  some  resemblance  to  the  Cherokee  word  tuiskwa, 
''bird." 

19)  I>e  Lex  a  AXii  Rooei.  |  p.  27 'l:  Jones,  in  his  lie  Soto's  March  through  Georgia, 
incorrectly  ascribes  certain  traces  of  ancient  mining  operation-  in  the  Cherokee 
country,  particularly  on  Valley  river  in  North  Carolina,  to  the  followers  of  I  >e  I. una, 
''who,  in  1560  .  .  .  came  with  301)  Spanish  soldiers  into  this  region,  and  spent 
the  summer  in  eager  and  laborious  search  for  gold."  Don  Tristan  de  Luna,  with 
fifteen  hundred  men,  landed  somewhere  about  Mobile  bay  in  1559  with  the  design  of 
establishing  a  permanent  Spanish  settlement  in  the  interior,  but  owing  to 
sioii  of  unfortunate   happenings  the  attempt  was  abandoned  the  next  year.      In  the 

course  of  his  wanderings  he  traversed  the  country  of  the  CI taw,  Chickasaw,  and 

Upper  Creeks,  as  is  shown  by  the  names  and  other  data  in  the  narrative,  but 
returned  without  entering  the  mountains  or  doing  any  digging  (see  Barcia,  Ensayo 
Cronologico,  pp.  32-41,  1723;  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  n,  pp.  257  259) . 

In  1569  the  Jesuit  Rogel — called  Father  John  Roger  by  shea— began  mission  work 
among  the  South  Carolina  tribes  inland  from  Santa  Elena  I  about  Port  Royal). 
The  mission,  which  at  first  promised  well,  was  abandoned  next  year,  owing  to  the 

unwillingness  of  the  Indians  to  give  up  their  old  habits  and  beliefs.  Shea,  in  Ins 
'•Catholic   Mission.-,"    supposes   that    these   Indians  were   probably  a   pari   of   the 


202  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


Cherokee,  but  a  study  of  the  Spanish  record  in  Barcia  (Ensayo,  pp.  138—14]  I  shows 
thai  Rogel  penetrated  only  a  short  distance  from  the  coast. 

(10)  Davies'  History  of  the  Carribby  Islands  (p.  29):  Tin-  fraudulent  char- 
acter of  this  work,  which  is  itself  an  altered  translation  of  a  fictitious  history  by 
Rochefort,  is  noted  by  Buckingham  Smith  (Letter  of  Hernando  de  Soto,  p.  36, 1854), 
Winsor  (Narrative  and  Critical  History,  n,  p.  289),  and  Field  (Indian  Bibliography, 
p.  95).  Says  Field:  "This  hook  is  an  example  of  tin-  most  unblushing  effrontery. 
The  jiseuilo  author  assumes  the  credit  of  the  performance,  with  hut  the  faintest 
allusion  to  its  previous  existence.  It  is  a  nearly  faithful  translation  of  Rochefort's 
'  Histoire  des  Antilles.'  There  is,  however,  a  gratifying  retribution  in  Davies'  treat- 
ment of  Rochefort,  for  the  work  of  the  latter  was  fictitious  in  every  part  which  was 
not  purloined  from  authors  whose  knowledge  furnished  him  with  all  in  his  treatise 
which  was  true." 

(11)  Ancient  Spamsit  Mixes  i  pp.  29,  31  I:  As  the  existence  of  the  precious  metals 
in  the  southern  Alleghenies  was  known  to  the  Spaniards  from  a  very  early  period,  it 
is  probable  that  more  thorough  exploration  of  that  region  will  bring  to  light  many 
evidences  of  their  mining  operations.  In  his  "Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians,'' 
Jones  describes  a  sort  of  subterranean  village  discovered  in  1834  on  Dukes  creek, 
White  county,  Georgia,  consisting  of  a  row  of  small  loir  cabins  extending  along  the 
creek,  hut  imbedded  several  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  upon  which  lame 
trees  were  growing,  the  inference  being  that  the  houses  had  been  thus  covered  by  suc- 
cessive freshets.  The  loss  had  been  notched  ami  shaped  apparently  with  sharp  metal- 
lic tools.  Shafts  have  been  discovered  on  Valley  river,  North  Carolina,  at  the  bottom 
of  one  of  which  was  found,  in  1854,  a  well-] ■reserved  windlass  of  hewn  oak  timbers, 
showing  traces  of  having  once  been  banded  with  iron.  Another  shaft,  passing  through 
hard  rock,  showed  the  marks  of  sharp  tools  used  in  the  boring.  The  casing  and 
other  timbers  were  still  sound  (Jones,  pp.  48,  49).  Similar  ancient  shafts  have  been 
found  in  other  places  in  upper  Georgia  and  western  Xorth  Carolina,  together  with 
some  remarkable  stone-built  fortifications  or  corrals,  notably  at  Fort  mountain,  in 
Murray  county,  Georgia,  and  on  Silver  creek,  a  few  miles  from  Rome,  Georgia. 

Very  recently  remains  of  an  early  white  settlement,  traditionally  ascribed  to  the 
Spaniards,  have  been  reported  from  Lincolnton,  North  Carolina,  on  the  edge  of  the 
ancient  country  of  the  Sara,  among  whom  the  Spaniards  built  a  fort  in  1566.  The 
works  include  a  dam  of  cut  stone,  a  series  of  low  pillars  of  cut  stone,  arranged  in 
squares  as  though  intended  for  foundations,  a  stone-walled  well,  a  quarry  from  which 
the  stone  had  been  procured,  a  fire  pit,  and  a  series  of  sinks,  extending  along  the 
stream,  in  which  were  found  remains  of  timbers  suggesting  the  subterranean  cabins 
on  Dukes  creek.  All  these  antedated  the  first  settlement  of  that  region,  about  the 
year  1750.  Ancient  mining  indications  are  also  reported  from  Kings  mountain, 
about  twenty  miles  distant  (Reinhardt  MS,  1900,  in  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology 
archives  I.  The  Spanish  miners  of  whom  Lederer  heard  in  1670  and  Moore  in  1690 
were  probably  at  work  in  this  neighborhood. 

(12)  Sir  William  Johnson  (p.  38):  This  great  soldier,  whose  history  is  so  insep- 
arably   incited  with  that  of  the  Six  Nations,  was  born  in  the  county  Meath,  Ireland, 

in  1715,  and  died  at  Johnstown,  New  York,  in  1774.  The  younger  son  of  an  Irish 
gentleman,  he  left  his  native  country  in  1738  in  consequence  of  a  disappointment  in 
love,  and  emigrated  to  America,  where  he  undertook  the  settlement  of  a  large  tract 
of  wild  land  belonging  to  his  uncle,  which  lay  along  the  south  side  of  the  Mohawk 
river  in  what  was  then  the  wilderness  of  New  York.  This  brought  him  into  close 
contact  with  the  Six  Nations,  particularly  the  Mohawks,  in  whom  he  became  SO  much 
interested  as  to  learn  their  language  and  in  some  degree  to  accommodate  himself  to 
their  customs,  sometimes  even  to  the  wearing  of  the  native  costume.  This  interest, 
together  with  his  natural  kindness  and  dignity,  completely  won  the  hearts  of  the  Six 


iioosey]  sik    WILLIAM    JOHNSON       CAPT.   JOHN    ST1    \i:i  203 

Nations,  over  whom  he  acquired  a  greater  influence  than  has  ever  been  exercised 
bj  an)  other  white  man  hefore  or  since.  He  was  formally  adopted  as  a  chief  by  the 
Mohawk  tribe.  In  17-1-1.  being  still  a  very  young  man,  he  "as  placed  in  i 
British  affairs  with  the  six  Nations,  and  iii  1755  was  regularly  commissioned  at 
then  own  urgent  request  as  superintendent  for  the  Six  Nations  and  their  dependent 
and  allied  tribes,  a  position  which  he  held  for  the  rest  of  his  life.     In  1748  he  was 

also  placed  ii mmand  of  the  New  York  colonial  forces,  and  two  years  later  was 

appointed  to  the  governor's  council.  \t  the  beginning  of  the  French  and  Indian  war 
he  was  commissioned  a  major-general.  He  defeated  Dieskau  at  the  battle  of  Lake 
George,  where  he  was  severely  wounded  earl)  in  the  art  ion.  bu(  refused  to  leave  the 
field.  For  this  service  he  received  the  thanks  of  Parliament,  a  grant  of  £5,000,  and 
a  baronetcy.  Healso  distinguished  himself  at  Ticonderoga  and  Fort  Niagara,  taking 
the  latter  after  routing  the  French  army  sent  to  its  relief.  At  the  head  of  his  [ndian 
and  colonial  forces  he  took  part  in  other  actions  and  expeditions,  and  was  present  at 
the  surrender  of  Montreal.  For  his  services  throughout  the  war  he  received  a  grant 
ot  100,000  acres  of  land  north  of  the  Mohawk  river,  lien'  he  built  "Johnson 
Hall."  which  still  stands,  near  the  \  illage  of  Johnstovi  n.  w  hich  was  laid  out  by  him 
with  stores,  church,  and  other  buildings,  at  his  own  expense.  \t  Johnson  Hall  he 
lived  in  the  style  of  an  old  country  baron,  dividing  his  attention  between  Indian 
affairs  ami  the  raising  of  blooded  stock,  and  dispensing  a  princely  hospitality  to  all 
comers.  His  influence  alone  prevented  the  six  Nations  joining  Pontiac's  great  con- 
federacy against  the  English.  In  1768  he  concluded  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix, 
which  fixed  the  Ohio  as  the  boundary  between  the  northern  colonic-  and  the  western 
tribes,  the  boundary  for  which  the  Indians  afterward  contended  against  the  Ameri- 
cans until  1795.  In  17:i!i  he  married  a  German  girl  of  the  Mohawk  valley,  who  died 
after  bearing  him  three  children.  Later  in  life  he  formed  a  connection  with  the 
sister  of  Brant,  the  Mohawk  chief.     He  died  from  over-exertion  at  an  Indian  council. 

His  son,  Sir  John  Johnson,  succ led  to  his  title  and  estates,  and  on  the  breaking  out 

of  the  Revolution  espoused  the  British  side,  drawing  with  him  the  Mohawks  and 
a  great  part  of  the  other  Six  Nations,  who  abandoned  their  homes  and  tied  with 
him  to  Canada  I  see  \Y.  L.  Stone.  Life  of  Sir  William  Johnson). 

(13)  Captain  John  Stc  u;t  (p. 44):  This  distinguished  officer  was itemporaneous 

with  Sir  William  Johnson,  and  sprang  from  the  same  adventurous  Keltic  stock 
which  has  furnished  so  many  men  conspicuous  in  our  early  Indian  history.  Born  in 
Scotland  about  the  year  I7nn.  he  came  to  America  in  1 7.'i."..  was  appointed  to  a 
subordinate  command  in  the  British  service,  and  soon  became  a  favorite  with  the 
Indians.  When  Fort  Loudon  was  taken  by  the  Cherokee  in  1760,  he  was  second  in 
command,  and  his  rescue  by  Ata-kullakulla  is  one  of  the  romantic  episodes  of  that 
period.  In  1763  he  was  appointed  superintendent  for  the  southern  tribes,  a  position 
which  he  continued  to  hold  until  his  death.  In  1768  he  negotiated  with  the  Chero- 
kee the  treaty  of  Hard  Labor  by  which  the  Kanawha  was  lixed  as  the  western 
boundary  of  Virginia,  Sir  William  Johnson  at  the  same  time  concluding  a  treaty  with 
the  northern  tribes  by  which  the  boundary  was  continued  northward  along  the  Ohio. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  he  organized  the  Cherokeeand  other  southern 
trilies,  with  the  white  loyalists, against  the  Americans,  and  was  largely  responsible 
I'orthe  Lndian  outrages  along  the  southern  border.     He  planned  a  general  invasion 

by  the  southern  trilies  along  the  whole  frontier,  in  i Deration  with  a  British  force 

to  be  landed  in  western  Florida,  while  a  British  licet  should  occupy  the  attention  of 
the  American-  on  the  coast  side  and  the  T<  iries  should  rise  in  the  interior.  I  In  the 
discovery  of  the  plot  and  the  subsequent  defeat  of  the  Cherokee  by  the  Americans. 
he  tied  to  Florida  and  soon  afterward  sailed  for   England,  where  he  die.  1  in   1770. 

(14)  Nancy  Ward  (p.  47):    A  noted  halfbreed  Cherokee  woman,  the  date  and 

place  of  whose  birth  and  death  are  alike  unknown.      It  is  said  that  her  father  was  a 


204  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  Teth.  axn.  19 

British  officer  named  Ward  and  her  mother  a  sister  of  Ata-kullakulla,  principal 
chief  of  the  Nation  at  the  time  of  the  first  Cherokee  war.  She  was  probably  related 
to  Brian  Ward,  an  oldtime  trader  among  the  Cherokee,  mentioned  elsewhere  in  con- 
nection with  the  battle  of  Tali'wa.  During  the  Revolutionary  period  she  resided  at 
Echota,  the  national  capital,  where  she  held  the  office  of  "Beloved  Woman,"  or 
"Pretty  Woman,"  by  virtue  of  which  she  was  entitled  to  speak  in  councils  and  to 
decide  the  fate  of  captives.  She  distinguished  herself  by  her  constant  friendship 
for  the  Americans,  always  using  her  best  effort  to  bring  about  peace  between  them 
and  her  own  people,  and  frequently  giving  timely  warning  of  projected  Indian  raids, 
notably  on  th :casion  of  the  great  invasion  of  the  Watauga  and  Holston  settle- 
ments in  177ti.  A  Mrs  Bean,  captured  during  this  incursion,  was  saved  by  her  inter- 
position after  having  been  condemned  to  death  and  already  bound  to  the  stake.  In 
1780,  on  occasion  of  another  Cherokee  outbreak,  she  assisted  a  number  of  traders  to 
escape,  and  the  next  year  was  sent  by  the  chiefs  to  make  peace  with  Sevier  and 
Campbell,  who  were  advancing  against  the  Cherokee  towns.  Campbell  speaks  of 
her  in  his  report  as  "the  famous  Indian  woman,  Nancy  Ward."  Although  peace 
was  not  then  granted,  her  relatives,  when  brought  in  later  with  other  prisoners, 
were  treated  with  the  consideration  due  in  return  for  her  good  offices.  She  is 
described  by  Robertson,  who  visited  her  about  this  time,  as  "queenly  and  com- 
manding" in  appearance  and  manner,  and  her  house  as  furnished  in  accordance  with 
her  liij;li  dignity.  When  among  the  Arkansas  Cherokee  in  1819,  Nuttall  was  told 
that  she  had  introduced  the  first  cows  into  the  Nation,  and  that  by  her  own  and  her 
children's  influence  the  condition  of  the  Cherokee  had  been  greatly  elevated.  He  was 
told  also  that  her  advice  and  counsel  bordered  on  supreme,  and  that  her  interference 
was  allowed  to  be  decisive  even  in  affairs  of  life  and  death.  Although  he  speaks 
in  the  present  tense,  it  is  hardly  probable  that  she  was  then  still  alive,  and  he  does 
not  claim  to  have  met  her.  Her  descendants  are  still  found  in  the  Nation.  See 
Haywood,  Natural  and  Aboriginal  Tennessee;  Ramsey,  Tennessee;  Nuttall,  Travels, 
p.  130,  1821;  Campbell  letter,  1781,  and  Springstone  deposition,  1781,  in  Virginia 
State  Papers  i,  pp.  435,  436,  447,  1875;  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography. 
(15)  General  James  Robertson  (p.  48):  This  distinguished  pioneer  and  founder 
of  Nashville  was  born  in  Brunswick  county.  Virginia,  in  1742,  and  died  at  the  ( jhick- 
asaw  agency  in  west  Tennessee  in  1814.  Like  most  of  the  men  prominent  in  the 
early  history  of  Tennessee,  he  was  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  His  father  having 
removed  about  1750  to  western  North  Carolina,  the  boy  grew  up  without  education, 
but  with  a  strong  love  for  adventure,  which  he  gratified  by  making  exploring  expe- 
ditions across  the  mountains.  After  his  marriage  his  wife  taught  him  to  read  ami 
write.  In  1771  he  led  a  colony  to  the  Watauga  river  and  established  the  settlement 
which  became  the  nucleus  of  the  future  state  of  Tennessee.  He  took  a  leading  part 
in  the  organization  of  the  Watauga  Association,  the  earliest  organized  government 
within  the  state,  and  afterward  served  in  Dunmore's  war,  taking  part  in  the  bloody 
battle  of  Point  Pleasant  in  1774.  He  participated  in  the  earlier  Revolutionary  cam- 
paigns against  the  Cherokee,  and  in  1777  was  appointed  agent  to  reside  at  their  cap- 
ital, Echota,  and  act  as  a  medium  in  their  correspondence  with  the  state  governments 
of  North  Carolina  (including  Tennessee)  and  Virginia.  In  this  capacity  he  gave 
timely  warning  of  a  contemplated  invasion  by  the  hostile  portion  of  the  tribe  early 
in  17711.  Si « >n  after  in  the  same  year  he  led  a  preliminary  exploration  from  Watauga 
to  the  Cumberland.  He  brought  out  a  larger  party  late  in  the  fall,  and  in  the  spring 
of  17sil  built  the  first  stockades  on  the  site  which  he  named  Nashborough,  now  Nash- 
ville. <  >nly  his  force  of  character  was  able  to  hold  the  infant  settlement  together  in 
the  lace  of  hardships  and  Indian  hostilities,  but  by  his  tact  and  firmness  he  was 
finally  able  to  make  peace  with  the  surrounding  tribes,  and  established  the  Cumber- 
land settlement  upon  a  secure  basis.  The  Spanish  government  at  one  time  unsuc- 
cessfully attempted  to  engage  him  in  a  plot  to  cut  off  the  western  territory  from  the 


mooney]  rutheeford's  route  205 

United  Stairs,  but  met  a  patriotic  refusal.  Having  beei mmissioned  a  brigadier- 
general  in  1790,  he  continued  to  organize  campaigns,  resist  invasions,  and  negotiate 
treaties  until  the  final  close  of  the  Indian  wars  in  Tennessee.  He  afterward  held  the 
appointment  of  Indian  commissioner  to  the  <  !hickasa\*  and  Choctaw.  See  Ramsey, 
Tennessee;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West;  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American 
Bii  igraphy. 

iliii  General  Griffith  Rutherford  (p.  48) :  Although  this  Revolutionary  offi- 
ce] commanded  the  greatest  expedition  ever  sent  against  the  Cherokee,  with  such 
distinguished  success  that  both  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee  have  named  counties 
in  his  honor,  little  appears  to  be  definitely  known  of  his  history.  He  was  born  in 
Ireland  about  1731,  and,  emigrating  to  America,  settled  near  Salisbury,  North  Caro- 
lina. On  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  and  Council  of  Safety.  In  June,  I77ti,  he  was  commissioned  a 
brigadier-general  in  the  American  army,  and  a  few  months  later  led  his  celebrated 
expedition  against  the  Cherokee,  as  elsewhere  narrated.  He  rendered  other  impor- 
tant sen  ice  in  the  Revolution,  in  one  battle  being  taken  prisoner  by  the  British  and 
held  by  them  nearly  a  year,  lie  afterward  served  in  the  state  senate  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and,  subsequently  removing  to  Tennessee,  was  for  some  time  a  member  of  its 
territorial  council.     He  died  in  Tennessee  about  1800. 

i  17'  Rutherford's  route  l  p.  49):  The  various  North  Carolina  detachments 
which  combined  to  form  Rutherford's  expedition  against  the  Cherokee  in  the 
autumn  of  1770  organized  at  different  points  about  the  upper  Catawba  and  probably 
concentrated  at  Davidson's  fort,  now  Old  tort,  in  McDowell  county.  Thence, 
advancing  westward  closely  upon  the  line  of  the  present  Southern  railroad  and  its 
Western  North  Carolina  branch,  the  army  crossed  the  Blue  ridge  over  the  Swanna- 
noa  gap  and  went  down  the  Swannanoa  to  its  junction  with  the  French  Broad, 
crossing  the  latter  at  the  Warrior  ford,  below  the  present  Asheville;  thence  up 
Hominy  creek  and  across  the  ridge  to  Pigeon  river,  crossing  it  a  fewmiles  below  the 
junction  of  the  Ea^t  and  West  forks;  thence  to  Richland  creek,  crossing  it  just  above 

the  present  Waynesville;  and  over  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  present  Hayw 1 

and  Jackson  counties  to  the  head  of  Scott's  creek;  thence  down  that  creek  by  "a 
blind  path  through  a  very  mountainous  bad  way,"  as  Moore's  old  narrative  has  it, 
to  its  junction  with  the  Tuckasegee  river  just  below  the  present  Webster:  thence, 
crossing  to  the  west  (south)  side  of  the  river,  the  troops  followed  a  main  trail  down 
the  stream  for  a  tew  miles  until  they  came  to  the  first  Cherokee  town,  Stekoa,  on 
the  site  of  the  farm  formerly  owned  by  Colonel  William  H.  Thomas,  just  above  tin' 
present  railroad  village  of  Whittier.  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.  After  destroying 
the  town  a  detachment  left  the  main  body  and  pursued  the  fugitives  northward  on 

tl ther  sideof  the  river  to  Oconaluftee  river  and  Soco  creek,  getting  back  afterward 

to  the  settlements  by  steering  an  easterly  course  across  the  mountains  to  Richland 
creek  (Moore  narrative).  The  main  army,  under  Rutherford,  crossed  the  dividing 
ridge  to  the  southward  of  Whittier  and  descended  Cowee  creek  to  the  waters  of  Little 
Tennessee,  in  the  present  Macon  county.  After  destroying  the  towns  in  this  vicinity 
tlie  army  ascended  Cartooyaja  creek,  west  from  the  present  Franklin,  ami  crossed  the 
Nantahala  mountains  at  Waya  gap — where  a  fight  took  place — to  Nantahala  river, 
probably  at  the  town  of  the  same  name,  about  the  present  Jarretts  station.  From 
here  the  march  was  west  across  the  mountain  into  the  present  Cherokee  county  and 
down  Valley  river  to  its  junction  with  the  Hiwassee,  at  the  present  Murphy. 
Authorities:  Moore  narrative  and  Wilson  letter  in  North  Carolina  University  Maga- 
zine, February,  1888;  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  p.  164;  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West, 
t,  pp.  300-302;  Royce,  Cherokee  map;  personal  information  from  Colonel  William 
H.  Thomas,  Major  James  Bryson,  whose  grandfather  was  with  Rutherford,  and 
Cherokee  informant.-. 

(18)   Colonel  William  Christian    (p.  50):   Colonel    William  Christian,  some- 


206  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ask.19 

Unit's  incorrectly  called  Christy,  was  born  in  Berkeley  county,  Virginia,  in  1732. 
Accustomed  to  frontier  warfare  almost  from  boyhood,  he  served  in  the  French  and 
Indian  war  with  the  rank  of  captain,  and  was  afterward  in  command  of  the  Ten- 
nessee and  North  Carolina  forces  which  participated  in  the  great  battle  of  Point 
Pleasant  in  1774,  although  he  himself  arrived  too  late  for  the  fight.  He  organized 
a  regiment  at  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  in  1776  led  an  expedition 
from  Virginia  against  the  Upper  Cherokee  and  compelled  them  to  sue  fur  peace. 
In  1782,  while  upon  an  expedition  against  the  Ohio  tribes,  he  was  captured  and 

burned  at  the  stake. 

(  19)  The  pBEAT  Indian  war  path  (  p.  50):  This  noted  Indian  thoroughfare  from 
Virginia  through  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  to  the  Creek  country  in  Alabama  and 
Georgia  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  early  narrative  of  that  section,  and  is  indi- 
cated on  the  maps  accompanying  Ramsey's  Annals  of  Tennessee  and  Royce's  Chero- 
kee Nation,  in  the  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology.  Royce's  map 
shows  it  in  more  correct  detail.  It  was  the  great  trading  and  war  path  between  the 
northern  and  southern  tribes,  and  along  the  same  path  Christian,  Sevier,  and  others 
of  the  old  Indian  fighters  led  their  men  to  the  destruction  of  the  towns  on  Little 
Tennessee,  Hiwassee,  and  southward. 

According  to  Ramsey  (p.  88),  one  branch  of  it  ran  nearly  on  the.  line  of  the 
later  Btage  road  from  Harpers  ferry  to  Knoxville,  passing  the  Big  lick  in  Bote- 
tourt county,  Virginia,  crossing  New  river  near  old  Fort  Chiswell  (which  stood  on 
the  south  bank  of  Reed  creek  of  New  river,  about  nine  miles  east  from  Wytheville, 
Virginia)  crossing  Holston  at  the  Seven-mile  ford,  thence  to  the  left  of  the  stage  road 
near  the  river  to  the  north  fork  of  Holston,  "crossing  as  at  present"  ;  thence  to  Big 
creek,  and,  crossing  the  Holston  at  Dodson'sford,  to  the  Grassy  springs  near  the  former 
residence  of  Micaiah  Lea;  thence  down  the  Nolichucky  to  Long  creek,  up  it  to  its 
head,  and  down  Dumplin  creek  nearly  to  its  mouth,  where  the  path  bent  to  the  left 
and  crossed  French  Broad  near  Buckinghams  island.  Here  a  branch  left  it  and  went 
up  the  West  fork  of  Little  Pigeon  and  across  the  mountains  to  the  Middle  towns  on 
Tuckasegee  and  the  upper  Little  Tennessee.  The  main  trail  continued  up  Boyd's 
creek  to  its  head,  and  down  Ellejoy  creek  to  Little  river,  crossing  near  Henry's  place; 
thence  by  the  present  Maryville  to  the  mouth  of  Tellico,  and,  passing  through  the 
Cherokee  towns  of  Tellico,  Echota,  and  Hiwassee,  down  the  Coosa,  connecting  with 
the  great  war  path  of  the  Creeks.  Near  the  Wolf  hills,  now  Abingdon,  Virginia, 
another  path  came  in  from  Kentucky,  passing  through  the  Cumberland  gap.  It  was 
along  this  latter  road  that  the  early  explorers  entered  Kentucky,  and  along  it  also 
the  Shawano  and  other  Ohio  tribes  often  penetrated  to  raid  upon  the  Holston  and 
New  river  settlements. 

On  Royce's  map  the  trail  is  indicated  from  Virginia  southward.  Starting  from 
the  junction  of  Moccasin  creek  with  the  North  fork  of  Holston,  just  above  the 
Tennessee  state  line,  it  crosses  the  latter  river  from  the  east  side  at  its  mouth  or 
junction  with  the  South  fork,  just  below  Kingsport  or  the  Long  island;  then  follows 
down  along  the  west  side  of  the  Holston,  crossing  Big  creek  at  its  mouth,  and  crossing 
to  the  south  (east)  side  of  Holston  at  Dodson's  creek;  thence  up  along  the  east  side  of 
Dodson's  creek  and  across  Big  Gap  creek,  following  it  for  a  short  distance  and  con- 
tinuing southwest,  just  touching  Nolichucky,  passing  up  the  west  side  of  Long  creek 
of  that  stream  and  down  the  same  side  of  Dumplin  creek,  and  crossing  French  Broad 
just  below  the  mouth  of  the  creek;  thence  up  along  the  west  side  of  Boyd's  creek  to 
its  head  and  down  the  west  side  of  Ellejoy  creek  to  and  across  Little  river;  thence 
through  the  present  Maryville  to  cross  Little  Tennessee  at  the  entrance  of  Tellico 
river,  where  old  Fort  Loudon  was  built;  thence  turning  up  along  the  south  side  of 
Little  Tennessee  river  to  Echota,  the  ancient  capital,  and  then  southwest  across 
Tellico  river  along  the  ridge  between  Chestua  and  Canasauga  creeks,  and  crossing 
the  latter  near  its  mouth  to  strike  Hiwassee  river  at  the  town  of  the  same  name; 


PEACE    TOWNS    AM)    TOWNS    OF    REFUGE  207 

thence  southwest,  crossing  Ocoee  river  near  its  month,  passing  south  of  Cleveland, 
through  the  present  Ooltewah  and  across  Chickamauga  creek  into  Georgia  and 
Alabama. 

According  to  Timberlake  Memoirs,  with  map,  1765),  the  trail  crossed  Little  Ten- 
nessee from  Echota,  northward,  in  two  places,  just  above  and  below  Four-mile 
creek,  the  first  camping  place  being  at  the  junction  of  Ellejoy  creek  and  Little  river, 
at  the  old  town  sin-.     It  crossed  Holston  « ithin  a  mile  of  Fort  Robinson. 

According  to  Hutchins  (Topographical  Descripti f  America,  p.  24,  1778),  tin- 
road  which  went  through  Cumberland  gap  was  the  one  taken  by  the  northern 
[ndians  in  their  incursions  into  the  "<  iuttawa"  country,  and  went  from  Sandusky, 
on  Lake  Erie,  by  a  direct  path  to  the  mouth  of  Scioto  (where  Portsmouth  now  is  i 
and  thence  across  Kentucky  to  the  gap. 

(20)  Peace  downs  ind  towns  oi  refcoe  (p.  51):  Towns  of  refuge  existed  among 
the  Cherokee,  the  Creeks,  and  probably  other  Italian  tribes,  as  well  as  among  the 
ancient  Hebrews,  the  institution  being  a  merciful  provision  for  softening  the  harsh- 
ness of  tin1  primitive  law,  which  required  a  life  lor  a  life.  We  learn  from  Deuteron- 
omy that  Moses  appointed  three  cities  on  tin- east  side  of  Jordan  "that  the  slayer 
miirlit  flee  thither  which  should  kill  his  neighbor  unaware- and  hated  him  not  in 
times  past,  and  that  fleeing  into  one  of  these  cities  he  might  live."     It  was  also 

ordained  that  as  more  territory  was  conquered  from  the  heathen  three  additional 
cities  should  be  thus  set  aside  as  havens  of  refuge  for  those  who  should  accidentally 
take  human  lite,  and  w  here  they  should  be  safe  until  the  matter  could  lie  adjusted. 
The  wilful  murderer,  however,  was  not  to  I  ,e  sheltered,  hut  delivered  up  to  punish- 
ment without  pity  (Dent,  tv,  41-4:;.  and  \i\,  1-11). 

Echota,  the  ancient  Cherokee  capital  near  the  mouth  of  Little  Tennessee,  was  the 
Cherokee  town  of  refuge,  commonly  designated  as  the  "white  town"  or  "peace 
town."  According  to  Adair,  the  Cherokee  in  his  time,  although  extremely  degen- 
erate in  other  things,  still  observed  the  law  so  strictly  in  this  regard  that  even  a 
wilful  murderer  who  might  succeed  in  making  his  escape  to  that  town  was  safe  so 
long  as  he  remained  there,  although,  unless  the  matter  was  compounded  in  the 
meantime,  the  friends  of  the  slain  person  would  seldom  allow  him  to  reach  home 
alive  after  leaving  it.  He  tells  how  a  trader  who  had  killed  an  Indian  to  protect  his 
own  property  took  refuge  in  Echota,  and  after  having  been  there  for  some  months 
prepared  to  return  to  his  trading  store,  which  was  hut  a  short  distance  away,  hut  was 
assured  by  the  chiefs  that  he  would  he  killed  if  he  ventured  outside  the  town.  He 
was  accordingly  obliged  to  stay  a  longer  time  until  the  tears  of  the  bereaved  relatives 
had  been  wiped  away  with  presents.  In  another  place  the  same  author  tells  how  a 
Cherokee,  having  killed  a  trader,  was  pursued  ami  attempted  to  take  refuge  in  the 
town,  hut  was  driven  off  into  the  river  as  soon  as  he  came  in  sight  by  the  inhabit- 
ants, who  feared  either  to  have   their  tow  n  polluted  by  the  shedding  of   blond  or  to 

provoke  the  English  bygivinghim  sanctuary  (Adair,  American  Indians,  p.  158,  1775). 
In  1768  ( fconostota,  speaking  on  behalf  of  the  Cherokee  delegates  who  had  come  to 

Johnson  Hall  to  make  peace  with  the  [roquois,  said:  "  We  come  from  Cbotte,  where  the 
wise  [white?]  house,  the  house  of   peace  IS  erei  I'd"   (treaty  record,   17hS,  New    York 

Colonial  Documents,  vm,  p.  42, 1  sr>7  ) .     In  I786the  friendly  Cherokee  made  "Chota" 

the  watchword  by  which  the  Americans  might  he  able  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
hostile  Creeks  (  Ramsey.  Tennessee,  p. 343).  From  conversati.m  with  old  ( 'herokeeit 
seems  probable  that  in  cases  where  no  satisfaction  was  made  by  the  relatives  of  the 
man-slayer  he  continued  to  reside  close  within  the  limits  of  the  town  until  the  next 
recurrence  of  the  annual  Green-corn  dance,  when  a  general  a esty  was  pro- 
claimed. 

Among  the  Creeks  the  ancient  town  of  Kusa  or  Coosa,  on  Coosa  river  in  Alabama, 
was  a  town  of  refuge.     In  Adair's  time,  although  then  almost  deserted  and  in  ruins,  it 

was  still  a  place  of  safety  for  one  who  had  taken  human  life  without  design.     Certain 


208  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ahn.19 

towns  were  also  known  as  peace  towns,  from  their  prominence  in  peace  ceremonials 
and  treaty  making.  Upon  this  Adair  says:  "In  almost  every  Indian  nation  there 
are  several  peaerithlr  twrns,  which  are  called  'old  beloved,  ancient,  holy,  or  white 
towns.1  They  seem  to  have  been  formerly  towns  of  refuge,  for  it  is  not  in  the 
memory  of  their  oldest  people  that  ever  human  blood  was  shed  in  them,  although 
they  often  force  persons  from  thence  and  put  them  to  death  elsewhere." — Adair, 
American  Indians,  159.  A  closely  parallel  institution  seems  to  have  existed  among 
the  Seneca.  "The  Seneca  nation,  ever  the  largest,  and  guarding  the  western  door 
of  the.' long  house,'  which  was  threatened  alike  from  the  north,  west,  and  smith, 
had  traditions  peculiarly  their  own,  besides  those  common  to  the  other  members  of 
the  confederacy.  The  stronghold  or  fort,  Gau-stra-yea,  on  the  mountain  ridge,  four 
miles  east  of  Lewiston,  had  a  peculiar  character  as  the  residence  of  a  virgin  queen 
known  as  the 'Peacemaker. '  When  the  Iroquois  confederacy  was  first  formed  the 
prime  factors  were  mutual  protection  and  domestic  peace,  and  this  fort  was  designed 
to  afford  comfort  and  relieve  the  distress  incident  to  war.  It  was  a  true  'city  of 
refuge,'  to  which  fugitives  from  battle,  whatever  their  nationality,  might  flee  for 
safety  and  find  generous  entertainment.  Curtains  of  deerskin  separated  pursuer  and 
pursued  while  they  were  being  lodged  and  fed.  At  parting,  the  curtains  were  with- 
drawn, and  the  hostile  parties,  having  shared  the  hospitality  of  the  queen,  could 
neither  renew  hostility  or  pursuit  without  the  queen's  consent.  According  to  tra- 
dition, no  virgin  had  for  many  generations  been  counted  worthy  to  fill  the  place  or 
possessed  the  genius  and  gifts  to  honor  the  position.  In  1878  the  Tonawanda  band 
proposed  to  revive  the  office  and  conferred  upon  Caroline  Parker  the  title." — Car- 
rington,  in  Six  Nations  of  New-  York,  Extra  Bulletin  Eleventh  Census,  p.  73,  1892. 

(21)  Scalping  by  whites  (p.  53) :  To  the  student,  aware  how  easily  the  civilized 
man  reverts  to  his  original  savagery  when  brought  in  close  contact  with  its  condi- 
tions, it  will  be  no  surprise  to  learn  that  every  barbarous  practice  of  Indian  warfare 
was  quickly  adopted  by  the  white  pioneer  and  soldier  and  frequently  legalized  and 
encouraged  by  local  authority.  Scalping,  while  the  most  common,  was  probably 
the  least  savage  and  cruel  of  them  all,  being  usually  performed  after  the  victim  was 
already  dead,  with  the  primary  purpose  of  securing  a  trophy  of  the  victory.  The 
tortures,  mutilations,  and  nameless  deviltries  inflicted  upon  Indians  by  their  white 
conquerors  in  the  early  days  could  hardly  be  paralleled  even  in  civilized  Europe, 
when  burning  at  the  stake  was  the  punishment  for  holding  original  opinions  and 
sawing  into  two  pieces  the  penalty  for  desertion.  Actual  torture  of  Indians  by  legal 
sanction  was  rare  within  the  English  colonies,  but  mutilation  was  common  ami 
scalping  was  the  rule  down  to  the  end  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  has  been  practiced 
more  or  less  in  almost  every  Indian  war  down  to  the  latest.  Captain  Church,  who 
commanded  in  King  Philip's  war  in  1676,  states  that  his  men  received  thirty  shil- 
lings a  head  for  every  Indian  killed  or  taken;  and  Philip's  head,  after  it  was  cut  off, 
"  went  at  the  same  price."  When  the  chief  was  killed  one  of  his  hands  was  cut  off 
and  given  to  his  Indian  slayer,  "to  show  to  such  gentlemen  as  would  bestow  gratui- 
ties upon  him,  and  accordingly  he  got  many  a  penny  by  it."  His  other  hand  was 
chopped  off  and  sent  to  Boston  for  exhibition,  his  head  was  sent  to  Plymouth  and 
exposed  upon  a  scaffold  there  for  twenty  years,  while  the  rest  of  his  body  was 
quartered  and  the  pieces  left  hanging  upon  four  trees.  Fifty  years  later  Massachu- 
setts offered  a  bounty  of  one  hundred  pounds  for  every  Indian  scalp,  and  scalp 
hunting  thus  became  a  regular  and  usually  a  profitable  business.  On  one  occasion  a 
certain  Lovewell,  having  recruited  a  company  of  forty  men  for  this  purpose,  dis- 
covered ten  Indians  lying  asleep  by  their  fire  and  killed  the  whole  party.  After 
scalping  them  they  stretched  the  scalps  upon  hoops  and  inarched  thus  into  Boston, 
where  the  scalps  were  paraded  and  the  bounty  of  one  thousand  pounds  paid  for 
them.  By  a  few  other  scalps  sold  from  time  to  time  at  the  regular  market  rate, 
Lovewell  was  gradually  acquiring  a  competency  when  in  May,  1725,  his  company 


mooney]  SCALPING LOWER    CHEEOKEE    REFUGEES  209 

i net  disaster,     lie-  discovered  and  vl >■  .t  a  solitary  hunter,  \\  ho  was  afterward  scalped 

by  tin-  chaplain   of  the    party,  bul    the    Indian  managed  to  kill  Lovewell    i»  i 

being  overpowered,  on  which  the  whites  withdrew,  but  were  pursued  i>\  the  tribes- 
men of  the  slain  hunter,   with  the  result  that  but  sixteen  of  them  got  homi 
ius  old  ballad  of  the  time  tells  how 

"Our  worthy  Captain  Lovewell  among  them  there  did  die. 
The)  killed  Lieutenant  Robbins  and  wounded  good  young  Frye, 
Who  was  our  English  chaplain;  he  many  Indians  slew, 
And  some  of  them  he  scalped  when  bullets  round  him  flew." 

When  the  mission  village  of  Xorridgewock  was  attacked  by  the  New  England  men 
about  the  same  time,  women  and  children  were  made  to  suffer  the  fate  of  the  war- 
riors. The  scholarly  missionary,  Rasles,  anther  .if  the  Abnaki  Dictionary,  was  shot 
down  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  where  he  was  afterward  found  with  his  body  riddled 
with  halls,  his  skull  crushed  and  scalped,  Ins  mouth  and  eyes  filled  with  earth,  his 
limlis  broken,  and  all  his  members  mutilated-  ami  this  by  white  men.  The  border 
men  .if  the  Revolutionary  period  ami  later  invariably  scalped  slain  Indian-  as  often 
as  opportunity  permitted,  and.  as  has  already  Keen  shown,  both  British  and  American 
officials  encouraged  the  practice  by  offers  of  bounties  ami  rewards,  even,  in  the  ease 
of  tin-  former,  when  the  seal] is  were  those  of  white  people.  <  >ur  difficulties  with  the 
Apache  date  from  a  treacherous  massacre  of  them  in  1836  by  a  party  of  American 
scalp  hunters  in  the  pay  of  the  governor  of  Sonora.  The  bounty  offered  was  one 
ounce  of  gold  per  scalp.  In  lsi>4  the  Colorado  militia  under  Colonel  Chivington 
attaeked  a  party  of  Cheyennes  camped  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States 
flag,  and  killed,  mutilated,  and  scalped  1 70  men,  women,  and  children,  bringing  the 
scalps  into  Denver,  when-  the)  were  paraded  in  a  public  hall.  One  Lieutenant 
Richmond  killed  and  scalped  three  women  and  live  children.  Scalps  were  taken  l,\ 
American  troops  in  the  Modoc  war  of  is":!,  and  there  is  now  living  in  the  Comanche 
tribe  a  woman  who  was  scalped,  though  not  mortally  wounded,  by  white  soldiers  in 
one  of  the  later  Indian  encounters  in  Texas.  Authorities:  Drake,  Indians  (for  New 
England  wars) ;  Roosevelt,  Virginia  State  Papers,  etc;  (Revolution,  etc. );  Bancroft, 
Pacific  States  (Apache);  Official  Report  on  the  Condition  of  the  Indian  Tribes, 
1867  (for Chivington  episode);  author's  personal  information. 

(22)  Lower  Cherokee  refugees  (p.55):  " In  every  hut  I  have  visited  I  find  the 
children  exceedingly  alarmed  at  the  sight  of  white  men,  and  here  [at  Willstown]  a 
little  hoy  of  eight  years  old  was  excessively  alarmed  and  could  not  he  kept  from 

Screaming  out  until  he  got  out  of  the  door,  and  then  he  ran  and  hid  himself;  lint  as 
soon  a-  I  ran  converse  with  them  and  they  are  informed  who  I  am  they  execute  any 
order  I  give  them  with  eagerness.  1  inquired  particularly  of  the  mothers  what  could 
be  the  reason  for  this.  They  said,  this  town  was  the  remains  of  several  towns  who 
[sic]  formerly  resided  on   Tuvalu  and    Keowee.  and  had  been  much  harassed  b)   the 

whites;  that  the  old  people  remembered  their  former  situation  and  suffering,  and  fre- 
quently spoke  of  them;  that  these  tales  wen-  listened  to  by  the  children,  and  made  an 
impression  which  showed  itself  in  the  manner  I  had  observed.  The  women  told 
me,  who  I  saw  gathering  nuts,  that  they  had  sensations  upon  my  coming  to  the 
camp,  in  the  highest  degree  alarming  to  them,  and  when  I  lit  from  my  horse,  took 
them  by  the  hand,  and  spoke  to  them,  they  at  first  could  not  reply,  although  one  of 

them    underst 1  and   spoke   English   very  well."  — Hawkins,   manuscript  journal, 

1796,  in  library  of  Georgia  Historical  Society. 
■  I':;!  General  Alexander  McGilljvray  (p.   "->< ;  > :  This  famous  (reek  chieftain, 

like  so  many  distinguished  men  of  the  southern  tribes,  was  of  mixed  hi 1.  being  the 

son  of  a  Scotch  trader.  Lachlan  McGillivray,  by  a  halfbreed  woman  of  influential 
family,  whose  father  was  a  French  officer  of  Fort  Toulouse.  The  future  chief  was 
horn  in  the  Creek   Nation  about  1740,  and  died  at   Pensacola,  Florida,  in  1793.      lie 

I'd    ETH— 111 14 


210  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ans.19 

was  educated  at  Charleston,  studying  Latin  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  branches,  and 
after  leaving  school  was  placed  by  his  father  witha  mercantile  firm  in  Savannah, 
lh-  remained  but  a  short  time,  when  he  returned  to  the  Creek  country,  where  he  soon 
began  to  attract  attention,  becoming  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Panton,  Forbes  &  Leslie, 
of  Pensacola,  which  had  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  Creek  trade.     He  succeeded  to 

tl hieftainship  on  the  death  of  his  mother,  who  came  of  ruling  stock,  but  refused 

to  accept  the  position  until  called  to  it  by  a  formal  council,  when  he  assumed  the  title 
of  emperor  of  the  Creek  Nation.  His  paternal  estates  having  been  confiscated  by 
Georgia  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  he  joined  the  British  side  with  all  his 
warriors,  and  continued  to  bea  leading  instigator  in  the  border  hostilities  until  1790, 
when  he  visited  New  York  with  a  large  retinue  and  made  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the 
United  States  on  In-half  of  his  people.  President  Washington's  instructions  to  the 
treaty  commissioners,  in  anticipation  of  this  visit,  state  that  he  was  said  to  possess 
great  abilities  and  an  unlimited  influence  over  the  Creeks  and  part  of  the  Cherokee, 
and  that  it  was  an  object  worthy  of  considerable  effort  to  attach  him  warmly  to  the 
United  States.  In  pursuance  of  this  policy  the  Creek  chiefs  were  entertained  by 
the  Tammany  society,  all  the  members  being  in  full  Indian  dress,  at  which  the  vis- 
itors wen-  much  delighted  and  responded  with  an  Indian  dance,  while  McGillivray 
was  induced  to  resign  Ins  commission  as  colonel  in  the  Spanish  service  for  a  commis- 
sion of  higher  grade  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  Soon  afterward,  on  account 
of  some  opposition,  excited  by  Bowles,  a  renegade  white  man,  he  absented   himself 

from  his  tribe  for  a  time,  but  wass i  recalled,  and  continued  to  rule  over  the  Nation 

until  his  death. 

Mc(  rillivray  appears  to  have  had  a  curious  mixture  of  Scotch  shrewdness,  French 
love  of  display,  and  Indian  secretiveness.  He  fixed  bis  residence  at  Little  Talassee, 
on  the  Coosa,  a  few  miles  above  the  present  Wetumpka,  Alabama,  where  he  lived  in 
a  handsome  house  with  extensive  quarters  for  his  negro  slaves,  so  that  his  place  had 
the  appearance  of  a  small  town.  He  entertained  with  magnificence  and  traveled 
always  in  state,  as  became  one  who  styled  himself  emperor.  Throughout  the  Indian 
wars  he  strove,  so  far  as  possible,  to  prevent  unnecessary  cruelties,  being  noted  for 
his  kindness  to  captives;  and  his  last  years  were  spent  in  an  effort  to  bring  teachers 
among  Ins  people.  On  the  other  hand,  he  conformed  much  to  the  Indian  customs; 
and  be  managed  his  negotiations  with  England,  Spain,  and  the  United  States  with 
such  adroitness  that  lie  was  able  to  play  off  one  against  the  other,  holding  commis- 
sions by  turn  in  the  service  of  all  three.  Woodward,  who  knew  of  him  by  later 
re]  hi  tat  ion,  asserts  positively  that  McGillivray' s  mother  was  of  pure  Indian  blood  and 
that  he  himself  was  without  education,  his  letters  having  been  written  for  him  by 
Leslie,  of  the  trading  firm  with  which  be  was  connected.  The  balance  of  testimony, 
however,  seems  to  leave  no  doubt  that  he  was  an  educated  as  well  as  an  able  man, 
whatever  may  have  been  his  origin.  Authorities:  Drake,  American  Indians;  docu- 
ments in  American  State  Papers,   Indian  Affairs,   i,   1832;  Pickett,  Alabama,  1896; 

Appleton'a  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography;  W Iward,  Reminiscences,  p.  59  et 

passim,  1859. 

(24)  Govebnob  John  Sevier  (p.  57):  This  noted  leader  and  statesman  in  the 
pioneer  history  of  Tennessee  was  horn  in  Rockingham  county,  Virginia,  in  1745,  and 
died  at  the  Creek  town  of  Tukabatchee.  in  Alabama,  in  1815.  His  father  was  a  French 
immigrant  of  good  birth  and  education,  the  original  name  of  the  family  being  Xavier. 
The  son  received  a  good  education,  and  being  naturally  remarkably  handsome  and 
of  polished  manner,  tine  courage,  and  generous  temperament,  soon  acquired  a  remark- 
able influence  over  the  rough  border  men  with  whom  his  lot  was  cast  and  among 
whom  he  was  afterward  affectionately  known  as  "Chucky  Jack."  To  the  Cherokee 
be  was  known  as  Tsan-usdi',  "Little  John."  After  some  service  against  the  Indians 
on  the  Virginia  frontier  be  removed  to  the  new  Watauga  settlement  in  Tennessee, 
in    1 77-,  and   at   once   became   prominently   identified   with   its  affairs.     He  took 


HOPEWELL-     OOL.    BENJ.   HAWKINS  211 

pari  in  Dunmore'a  war  in  1771  and,  afterward,  from  the  opening  of  the  Revolution 
in  1775  until  tin-  close  of  the  Indian  wars  in  Tennessee  a  period  extending  over 
nearly  twentj  years  was  the  acknowledged  leader  or  organizer  in  every  impor- 
tant Indian  campaign  along  the  Tennessee  border.     His  services  in  this  connection 

have  been  already  noted.     He  also  c manded  one  wing  of  the  American  forces 

al  the  battle  of  King's  mountain  in  1780,  and  in  17s:;  led  a  body  of  mountain  men  to 
the  assistance  of  the  patriots  under  Marion.  At  one  time  during  the  Revolution  a 
Tory  plot  to  assassinate  bim  was  revealed  by  the  wife  of  the  principal  conspirator. 
In  I77!i  he  had  been  commissioned  as  commander  of  the  militia  of  Washington 
county,  North  Carolina — the  nucleus  of  the  present  stair  of  Tennessee  -a  position 
whirl i  he  had  already  held  by  coi n  consent.  Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lution lie  Ih'IiI  for  a  short  time  the  office  of  governor  of  the  seceding  "state  of 
Franklin."  for  which  he  was  arrested  and  brought  to  trial  by  the  government  of 
North  Carolina,  but  made  his  escape,  when  the  matter  was  allowed  to  drop.  The 
question  of  jurisdiction  was  Snally  settled  in  1790,  when  North  Carolina  ceded  the 
disputed  territory  to  the  general  government.  Before  this  Sevier  had  been  commis- 
sioned as  brigadier-general.  When  Tennessee  was  admitted  as  a  stair  in  L796  he  was 
elected  its  first  (state)  governor,  serving  three  terms,  or  six  years.  In  1803  he  was 
again  reelected,  serving  three  more  terms.  In  lsi  l  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  \\  here 
he  served  two  terms  and  was  reelected  to  a  third,  but  died  before  he  could  take  his 
seat,  having  contracted  a  fever  while  on  duty  as  a  boundary  commissioner  among  the 
Creeks,  being  then  in  his  seventy-first  year.  Fur  more  than  forty  years  he  had  been 
continuously  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  no  man  of  his  state  was  ever  mure 
loved  and  respected.  In  the  prime  of  his  manhood  he  was  reputed  the  handsomest 
man  and  the  best  Indian  fighter  in  Tennessee. 

(25)  Hopewell,  Sen  tii  Carolina  (p.  61):  This  place,  designated  in  early  treaties 
and  also  in  Hawkins's  manuscript  journal  as  "Hopewell  on  the  Keowee, "  was  the 
plantation  seat  of  I  reneral  Andrew  Pickens,  who  resided  there  from  the  close  of  the 
Revolution  until  his  death  in  1S17.  It  was  situated  on  the  northern  edge  of  the 
present  Anderson  county,  on  the  east  side  of  Keowee  river,  opposite  and  a  short 
distance  helots  the  entrance  of  Little  river,  and  about  three  miles  from  the  present 
Pendleton.  In  sight  of  it,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Keowee,  was  the  old  Cherokee 
town  of  Seneca,  destroyed  liv  the  Americans  ill  1  77H.  Important  treaties  were  made 
here  with  the  Cherokee  in  17S5,  and  with  the  Chickasaw  in  1786. 

(26)  Colonel  Benjamin  Hawkins  (p. 61):  This  distinguished  soldier,  statesman, 
and  author,  was  horn  in  Warren  county.  North  Carolina,  in  1754,  and  died  al  llaw- 
kinsville,  Georgia,  in  1816.  His  father.  Colonel  Philemon  Hawkins,  organized  and 
commanded  a  regiment  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  was  a  member  of  the  conven- 
tion that  ratified  the  national  constitution.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  young 
Hawkins  was  a  student  at  Princeton,  hut  offered  his  services  to  the  American  cause, 
and  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of  French  and  other  modern  languages  was 
appointed  by  Washington  his  staff  interpreter  for  communicating  with  the  French 
officers  cooperating  with  the  American  army.  He  took  [part  in  several  engagements 
and  was  afterward  appointed  commissioner  for  procuring  war  supplies  abroad.    After 

the  close  of  the  war  he  was  elected   to  Congress,  and    in    1785  was   appointed  on    the 

commission  which  negotiated  at  Hopewell  the  first  federal  treaty  with  the  Cherokee. 
He  served  a  second  term  in  the  House  and  another  in  the  Senate,  and  in  1796  was 
appointed  superintendent  for  all  the  Indians  south  of  the  Ohio,  lie  thereupon 
removed  to  the  Creek  country  and  established  himself  in  the  wilderness  at  what  is 
now  Hawkinsville,  Georgia,  where  he  remained  in  the  continuance  of  his  office 
until  his  death.     As  Senator  he  signed  the  deed  by  which  North  Carolina  ceded 

Tennessee  to  the  United  States  in  17! HI,  aid  as  Indian  superintendent  helped  to  nego- 
tiate seven  different  treaties  with  the  southern  trihos.  lie  ha.  I  an  extensive  know  I 
edge  of  the  customs  and   language  of  the   Creeks,    and    his    "Sketch    of    the  Creek 


212  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Country,"  written  in  1799  and  published  by  the  Historical  Society  of  Georgia  in 
1848,  remains  a  standard.  His  journal  and  other  manuscripts  are  in  possession  of 
the  same  society,  while  a  manuscript  Cherokee  vocabulary  is  in  possession  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  in  Philadelphia.  Authorities:  Hawkins's  manuscripts, 
with  Georgia  Historical  Society;  Indian  Treaties,  1837;  American  State  Papers: 
Indian  Affairs,  i,  1832;  n,  1884;  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend;  Appleton,  Cyclo- 
paedia of  American  Biography. 

(27)  Governor  William  Blount  (p.  68):  William  Blount,  territorial  governor  of 
Tennessee,  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1744  and  died  at  Knoxville,  Tennessee, 
in  1800.  He  held  several  important  offices  in  his  native  state,  including  two  terms  in 
the  assembly  and  two  others  as  delegate  to  the  old  congress,  in  which  latter  capacity 
he  was  .me  of  the  signers  of  the  Federal  constitution  in  1787.  On  the  organization 
of  a  territorial  government  for  Tennessee  in  1790,  he  was  appointed  territorial 
governor  and  also  superintendent  for  the  southern  tribes,  fixing  his  headquarters 
at  Knoxville.  In  1791  he  negotiated  an  important  treaty  with  the  Cherokee,  and 
had  much  to  do  with  directing  the  operations  against  the  Indians  until  the  close 
of  the  Indian  war.  He  was  president  of  the  convention  which  organized  the  state  of 
Tennessee  in  1796,  and  was  elected  to  the  national  senate,  but  was  expelled  on  the 
charge  of  having  entered  into  a  treasonable  conspiracy  to  assist  the  British  in  con- 
quering Louisiana  from  Spain.  A  United  States  officer  was  sent  to  arrest  him,  but 
returned  without  executing  his  mission  on  being  warned  by  Blount's  friends  that 
they  would  not  allow  him  to  be  taken  from  the  state.  The  impeachment  proceedings 
against  him  were  afterward  dismissed  on  technical  grounds.  In  the  meantime  the 
people  of  his  own  state  had  shown  their  confidence  in  him  by  electing  him  to  the 
state  senate,  of  which  he  was  chosen  president.  He  died  at  the  early  age  of  fifty- 
three,  the  most  popular  man  in  the  state  next  to  Sevier.  His  younger  brother, 
Willie  Blount,  who  had  been  his  secretary,  was  afterward  governor  of  Tennessee, 
1809-1815. 

(28)  St  Clair's  defeat,  1791  (p.  72):  Early  in  1791  Major-General  Arthur  St 
Clair,  a  veteran  officer  in  two  wars  and  governor  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  was 
appointed  to  the  chief  command  of  the  army  operating  against  the  Ohio  tribes.  On 
November  4  of  that  year,  while  advancing  upon  the  Miami  villages  with  an  army  of 
1,400  men,  he  was  surprised  by  an  Indian  force  of  about  the  same  number  under 
Little-turtle,  the  Miami  chief,  in  what  is  now  southwestern  Mercer  county,  Ohio, 
adjoining  the  Indiana  line.  Because  of  the  cowardly  conduct  of  the  militia  he  was 
totally  defeated,  with  the  loss  of  632  officers  and  men  killed  and  missing,  and  263 
wounded,  many  of  whom  afterward  died.  The  artillery  was  abandoned,  not  a  horse 
being  left  alive  to  draw  it  off,  and  so  great  was  the  panic  that  the  men  threw  away 
their  arms  and  fled  for  miles,  even  after  the  pursuit  had  ceased.  It  was  afterward 
learned  that  the  Indians  lost  150  killed,  besides  many  wounded.  Two  years  later 
General  Wayne  built  Fort  Recovery  upon  the  same  spot.  The  detachment  sent  to 
do  the  work  found  within  a  space  of  350  yards  500  skulls,  while  for  several  miles 
along  the  line  of  pursuit  the  woods  were  strewn  with  skeletons  and  muskets.  The 
two  cannon  lost  were  found  in  the  adjacent  stream.  Authorities:  St  Clair's  report 
and  related  documents,  1791;  American  State  I'apers,  Indian  Affairs,  i,  1832;  Drake, 
Indians  570,  571,  1880;  Appleton' s  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography. 

(29)  Cherokee  clans,  (p.  74):  The  Cherokee  have  seven  clans,  viz:  Ani'-Wa''ya, 
Wolf;  Ani'-Kawf,  Deer;  Ani'-Tsi'skwa,  Bird;  Ani'-Wa'dl,  Paint;  Ani'-Saha'ni; 
Ani'-Ga'tage'wl;  Ani'-Gila'hI.  The  names  of  the  last  three  can  not  be  translated 
with  certainty.  The  Wolf  clan  is  the  largest  and  most  important  in  the  tribe.  It 
is  probable  that,  in  accordance  with  the  general  system  in  other  tribes,  each  clan 
had  formerly  certain  hereditary  duties  and  privileges,  but  no  trace  of  these  now 
remains.  Children  belong  to  the  clan  of  the  mother,  and  the  law  forbidding  mar- 
riage between  persons  of  the  same  clan  is  still  enforced  among  the  conservative 


koon]  i  w  dyne's  victory  2  1  3 

full-bloods.  The  "seven  clans"  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  sacred  formulas, 
and  even  in  some  of  the  tribal  laws  promulgated  with  in  the  century  There  is  evi- 
dence that  originally  there  were  fourteen,  which  by  extinction  or  absorption  have 
been  reduced  to  seven;  thus,  the  ancient  Turtle-dove  and  Raven  clans  now  constitute 
a  single  Bird  clan.  The  subject  will  be  discussed  more  fully  in  a  future  Cherokee 
paper. 

30  Wayne's  victory,  L 794  (p.  78):  Aiter  tbe  successive  failures  of  Harmar  and 
si  Clair  in  their  efforts  against  the  Ohio  tribes  the  chief  command  was  assigned,  in 
1793,  t"  Major-General  Anthony  Wayne,  who  had  already  distinguished  himself  by 
his  fighting  qualities  during  the  Revolution.  Having  built  Fort  Recovery  on  the 
site  "i  >t  Clair's  defeat,  he  made  that  post  his  headquarters  through  the  winter 
of  1793-94.  In  the  summer  of  1794  he  advanced  down  the  Maumee  with  an  army 
of  3,000  men,  two-thirds  of  whom  were  regulars,  tin  August  I'd  he  encountered  the 
confederated  Indian  forces  near  the  head  of  the  Maumee  rapids  at  a  point  know  n  as 
the  Fallen  Timbers  and  defeated  them  with  great  slaughter,  tbe  pursuit  being  fol- 
lowed up  by  the  cavalry  until  the  Indians  took  refuge  under  the  guns  of  the 
British  garrison  at  Fort  Miami,  just  below  the  rapids.  His  own  toss  was  only  33 
killed  and  100  wounded,  of  w  hom  1 1  afterward  died  of  their  wound-.  The  loss  ofthe 
Indians  and  their  white  auxiliaries  was  believed  to  be  more  than  double  this.  The 
Indian  force  was  supposed  to  nn ii dier  2,000,  while,  on  account  of  the  impetuosity  oi 
Urn  ne'-  charge,  the  number  of  his  troops  actually  engaged  did  not  exceed  900.  On 
account  of  this  defeat  and  the  subsequent  devastation  of  their  towns  and  fields  by 
the  victorious  army  the  Indian-  were  compelled  to  sue  tor  peace,  which  was  granted 
by  the  treaty  eon. -hided  at  Greenville,  Ohio,  August  :!.  1795,  by  which  the  trihis 
represented  ceded  awaj  nearly  their  whole  territory  in  Ohio.  Authorities.  Wayne's 
report  and  related  documents,  1794,  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i,  1832; 
Drake.  Indians,  571-577,  1880;  Greenville  treaty,  in  Indian  Treaties,  1837;  Appleton's 
Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography. 

(31)  First  things  of  civilization  (p.  83):  We  usually  find  that  the  first  things 
adopted  by  the  Indian  from  his  white  neighbor  are  improved  weapons  and  cutting 
tools,  with  trinkets  and  articles  of  personal  adornment.  Altera  regular  trade  has 
been  established  certain  traders  marry  Indian  wives,  and,  taking  up  their  permanent 
residence  in  the  Indian  country,  engage  in  farming  and  stock  raising  according  to 
civilized  methods,  thus,  even  without  intention,  constituting  themselves  industrial 
teachers  for  the  tribe. 

From  data  furnished  by  Haywood,  guns  appear  to  have  been  first  introduced 
among  the  ( Iherokee  a  hoi  it  the  year  1700  or  1710,  although  he  himself  puts  the  date 
much  earlier.  Horses  were  probably  not  owned  in  any  great  number  before  the 
marking  out  of  the  horse-path  for  trader-  from  Augusta  about  1740.  The  Cherokee, 
however,  took  kindly  to  the  animal,  and  before  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  1760 
had  a  "prodigious  number."  In  spite  of  their  great  losses  at  that  time  they  had  so 
far  recovered  in  1775  that  almost  every  man  then  had  from  two  to  a  dozen  I  Adair, 
p.  231  I.  In  the  border  war-  following  the  Revolution  companies  of  hundred-  of 
mounted  Cherokee  and  ('reeks  sometimes  invaded  the  settlements  The  cow  i- 
called  wa'ka  by  the  Cherokee  and  maga  by  the  ('reek.-,  indicating  thai  their  first 
knowledge  of  it  came  through  the  Spaniards.  Xnttall  states  that  ii  was  first  intro- 
duce  long  the  Cherokee  by  the  celebrated  Nancy  Ward  i  Travels,  p.  130).     It  was 

not  ill  such  favor  as  the  horse.  hoiiiL'  valuable  chiefly  for  food,  of  which  at  that  time 
there  was  an  abundant  supply  from  the  wild  game.  \  potent  reason  for  iis  avoid- 
ance was  the  Indian  belief  thai  the  eating  of  the  flesh  oi  a  slow  \  ing  animal  brei  ds 

onding  sluggishness  in  the  eater.     The  same  argument  applied  even  more 
strongly  to  the  hog,  and  to  this  day  a  few  of  the  old  conservatives  among 
Cherokee  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  beef,  pork,  milk,  or  butter.     Nevei 
Bartram  tells  of  a  trader  in  the  Cherokee  countrj  a-  earb  a-  1775  who  had  a  stock 


214  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

of  cattle,  and  whose  Indian  wife  had  learned  to  make  butter  and  cheese  (Travels,  p. 
347).     In  L796  Hawkins  mentions  meeting  two  Cherokee  women  driving  ten  very 

fat  cattle  to  market  in  the  white  settlements  (manuscript  journal,  1796).  Bees,  if 
not  native,  as  the  Indians  claim,  were  introduced  at  so  early  a  period  that  the 
Indians  have  forgotten  their  foreign  origin.  The  De  Soto  narrative  mentions  the 
finding  of  a  pot  of  honey  in  an  Indian  village  in  Georgia  in  1540.  The  peach  was 
cultivated  in  orchards  a  century  before  the  Revolution,  and  one  variety,  known  as 
early  as  I7i«i  as  the  Indian  peach,  the  Indians  claimed  as  their  own.  asserting  that 
they  had  had  it  before  the  whites  came  to  America  (  Lawson,  Carolina,  p.  182,  ed.  1860). 
Potatoes  were  introduced  early  and  were  so  much  esteemed  that,  according  to  one 
old  informant,  the  Indians  in  ( leorgia,  before  the  Removal,  "lived  on  them."  Coffee 
came  later,  and  the  same  informant  remembered  when  the  full-bloods  still  consid- 
ered it  poison,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  chief,  Charles  Hicks,  to  introduce  it 
among  them. 

Spinning  wheels  and  looms  were  introduced  shortly  before  the  Revolution. 
According  to  the  Wahnenauhi  manuscript  the  first  among  the  Cherokee  were  brought 
over  from  England  by  an  Englishman  named  Edward  Graves,  who  taught  his 
Cherokee  wife  to  spin  and  weave.  The  anonymous  writer  may  have  confounded 
this  early  civilizer  with  a  young  Englishman  who  was  employed  by  Agent  Hawkins 
in  I  si )  1  to  makewheels  and  looms  for  the  ( 'reeks  i  Hawkins.  1801,  in  American  State 

Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i.  p.  647).     Waff  ord,  in  his  boyh 1,  say  about  1815,  knewan 

old  man  named  Tsi'nawi  on  Young-cane  creek  of  Nottely  river,  in  upper  Georgia, 
who  was  known  as  a  wheelwright  and  was  reputed  to  have  made  the  first  spinning 
w  heel  and  loom  ever  made  among  the  mountain  Cherokee,  or  perhaps  in  the  Nation, 
long  before  Watford's  time,  or  "about  the  time  the  Cherokee  began  to  drop  their 
silver  ornaments  and  go  to  work."  In  1785  the  commissioners  for  the  Hopewell 
treaty  reported  that  some  of  the  Cherokee  women  had  lately  learned  to  spin,  and  many 
were  very  desirous  of  instruction  in  the  raising,  spinning,  and  weaving  of  flax,  cotton, 
and  wool  (Hopewell  Commissioners'  Report,  1785,  American  State  Papers:  Indian 
\  Efa  i  is.  i .  p.  39) .  In  accordance  with  their  recommendation  the  next  treaty  made  with 
the  tribe,  in  1791,  contained  a  provision  for  supplying  the  Cherokee  with  farming 
tools  (Holston  treaty,  1791,  Indian  Treaties,  p.  36,  1837),  and  this  civilizing  policy 
was  continued  and  broadened  until,  in  1801,  their  agent  reported  that  at  the  <  !hero- 
kee  agency  the  wheel,  the  loom,  and  the  plow  were  in  pretty  general  use,  and  fann- 
ing, manufacturing,  and  stock  raising  were  the  principal  topics  of  conversation  among 
men  and  women  (  Hawkins  manuscripts,  Treaty  Commission  of  1801 ). 

(32)  Colonel  Return  .1.  Meigs  (  p.  84):  Return  Jonathan  Meigs  was  born  in  Mid- 
dletown,  Connecticut,  December  17,  1734,  and  died  at  the  Cherokee  agency  in  Ten- 
nessee, January  28,  1823.  He  was  the  first-born  son  of  his  parents,  who  gave  him 
the  somewhat  peculiar  name  of  Return  Jonathan  to  commemorate  a  romantic 
incident  in  their  own  courtship,  when  his  mother,  a  young  Quakeress,  called  back 
her  lover  as  he  was  mounting  his  horse  to  leave  the  house  forever  after  what  he 
had  supposed  was  a  final  refusal.  The  name  has  been  handed  down  through  five 
generations,  every  one  of  which  has  produced  some  man  distinguished  in  the  pub- 
lic service.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  volunteered  immediately  after  the  open- 
ing engagement  of  the  Revolution  at  Lexington,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  under 
Arnold,  with  rank  of  major.  He  accompanied  Arnold  in  the  disastrous  march 
through  the  wilderness  against  Quebec,  and  was  captured  in  the  assault  upon  the 
citadel  and  held  until  exchanged  the  next  year.  In  1777  he  raised  a  regiment  and 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  colonel.  For  a  gallant  and  successful  attack  upon  the 
enemy  at  Sag  harbor,  Long  island,  he  received  a  sword  and  a  vote  of  thanks  from 
I  longress,  and  by  his  conduct  at  the  head  of  hisregimentatStony  point  won  the  favor- 
able notice  of  Washington.  After  the  close  of  the  Revolution  he  removed  to  Ohio, 
where,  as  a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature,  he  drew  up  the  earliest  code  of  regula- 


moosey]  TECUM  111  \  2  1  5 

tions  tor  the  pioneer  settlers.     In  1801  he  was  appointed  agent  for  the  Cherokee  and 

took  up  his  resident-eat  the  agency  al  Tellico  blockhouse,  opposite  the  month  ofTellico 

river,  in  Tennessee,  continuing  to  serve  in  that  capacity  until   his  death.     He  was 

!  as  agent  by  Governoi  VIcMinn,  ol  Ti  nnessee.     In  the  course  of  twenty  two 

years  he  negotiated  several  treaties  with  the  Cherokee  and  did  eh  to  further  the 

work  of  civilization  among  them  and  to  defend  them  against  unjust  aggression.  He 
also  wrote  a  journal  of  the  expedition  to  Quebec.  His  grandson  of  the  same  name 
was  special  agent  for  the  Cherokee  and  Creeks  in  L834,  afterward  achieving  a  repu 
tation  in  the  legal  profession  both  in  Tennesssee  and  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Authorities:  Appleton,  Cyclopsedia  of  American  Biography,  1894;  Royce,  Cherokee 
Nation,  in  Fifth  Annual  Report  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1888;  documents  in  American 
stale  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  i  and  ii. 

(33)  Tecumtha  (p.  87):  This  great  chief  of  the  Shawano  and  commander  of  the 
allied  northern  tribes  in  the  British  service  was  born  near  the  present  Chillicothe,  in 
western  Ohio,  about  1770,  and  fell  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  in  Ontario,  October 
.  i  -  :  His  name  signifies  a  " flying  panther"  -i.  e.,  a  meteor.  He  came  of  fight- 
ing -i.  n'k  g I  even  in  a  tribe  distinguished  for  its  warlike  qualities,  his  father  ami 

elder  brother  having  been  killed  in  battle  with  the  whites.  His  mother  is  said  to  have 
died  among  the  Cherokee.  Tecumtha  is  firsl  heard  of  as  taking  part  in  an  engagement 
with  the  Kentuckians  when  about  twenty  \  ears  old,  and  in  a  few  years  he  had  secured 
recognition  as  the  ablest  leader  among  the  allied  tribes.  It  is  sai<l  that  he  took  part 
in  every  important  engagement  with  the  Americans  from  the  time  of  Harmar's  defeat 
in  1790  until  the  battle  in  which  he  lost  his  life.     When  about  thirty  years  of  age  he 

iceived  the  idea  .if  uniting  the  tribes  northwest  of  the  ( >lii> >.  as  Pontiac  had  united 

them  before,  in  a  great  confederacy  to  resist  the  further  advance  of  the  Americans, 
taking  the  stand  that  the  whole  territory  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi 
belonged  to  all  these  tribes  in  common  and  that  no  one  tribe  had  tin-  right  to  sell 
any  portion  of  it  without  the  consent  of  the  others.  The  refusal  of  the  government 
jo  admit  this  principle  led  him  to  take  active  steps  to  unite  the  tribes  upon  that 
basis,  in  which  he  was  seconded  by  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  who  supplemented 
Tecumtha's  eloquence  with  his  own  claims  to  supernatural  revelation.  In  the 
summer  of  1810  Tecumtha  held  a  conference  with  Governor  Harrison  at  Vineennes 
to  protest  against  a  recent  treaty  cession,  and  finding  after  exhausting  his  arguments 
that  the  effort  was  fruitless,  he  closed  the  debate  with  the  words:  "The  President  is 
far  off  and  may  sit  in  his  town  and  drink  his  wine,  but  you  and  I  will  have  to  light 
it  out."  Both  sides  at  once  prepared  for  war,  Teeumtlia  going  south  to  enlist  the 
aid  of  the  (reek.  Choctaw,  and  other  southern  tribes,  while  Harrison  took  advan- 
tage of  hi-  ah-eii  re  to  (one  the  i  —  ue  by  marching  against  the  Prophet's  town  on  the 
Tippecanoe  river,  where  the  hostile  warriors  from  a  dozen  trihe-  had  gathered.  A 
battle  fought  before  daybreak  of  November  6,  1811,  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the 
Indian-  and  the  scattering  of  their  forces.  Tecumtha  returned  to  find  bis  plans 
brought  to  naught  for  the  time,  but  the  opening  of  the  war  between  the  United 
states  and  England  a  few  months  later  enabled  him  to  rally  the  confederated  tribes 
once  more  to  the  support  of  the  British  against  the  Americans.  As  a  commissioned 
brigadier-general  in  the  British  service  he  commanded  2,000  warriors  in  the  war  of 
1812,  distinguishing  himself  no  less  by  his  bravery  than  by  his  humanity  in  pre- 
venting outrages  and  protecting  prisoners  from  massacre,  at  one  time  saving  the 
lives  ol  four  hundred  American  prisoners  who  had  been  taken  in  ambush  near  Fort 
Meigs  and  were  unable  to  make  longer  resistance,     lb- was  wounded  at  Maguagua, 

where  nearly  four  hundred  were  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides,  lie  covered 
the  British  retreat  after  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  and,  refusing  to  retreat    farther, 

compelled  the  British  General  Proctoi  to  make  a  stand  at  the  Thames  river.    Al st 

the  whole  force  of  the  American  attack   fell  on  Tecumtha's  division.      Early  in  the 


21  <>  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [ETH.Aira.19 

engagement  he  was  shot  through  the  arm,  but  continued  to  fight  desperately  until 
he  received  a  bullet  in  the  head  and  fell  dead,  surrounded  by  the  bodies  of  120  of 
his  slain  warriors.  The  services  of  Tecumtha  and  his  Indians  to  the  British  cause 
have  been  recognized  by  an  English  historian,  who  says,  "but  for  them  it  is  proba- 
ble  we  should  not  now  have  a  Canada."  Authorities:  Drake,  Indians,  ed.  1880; 
Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography,  1N94;  Eggleston,  Tecumseh  and  the 
Shaw  nee  Prophet. 

(34)  Fort  Minis  Massacre,  1813  (p.  89):  Fort  Minis,  so  called  from  an  old  Indian 
trader  on  whose  lands  it  was  built,  was  a  stockade  fort  erected  in  the  summer  of  1813 
for  the  protection  of  the  settlers  in  what  was  known  as  the  Tensaw  district,  and  was 
situated  on  Tensaw  lake.  Alabama,  one  mile  east  of  Alabama  river  and  about  forty 
miles  above  Mobile.  It  was  garrisoned  by  about  200  volunteer  troops  under  Major 
Daniel  Beaslev,  with  refugees  from  the  neighboring  settlement,  making  a  total  at 
the  time  of  its  destruction  of  553  men.  women,  and  children.  Being  carelessly 
guarded,  it  was  surprised  on  the  morning  of  August  30  by  about  1,000  Creek  war- 
riors led  by  the  mixed-blood  chief,  William  Weatherford,  who  rushed  in  at  the 
open  gate,  and,  after  a  stout  but  hopeless  resistance  by  the  garrison,  massacred  all 
within,  with  the  exception  of  the  few  nygroes  and  halfbreeds,  whom  they  spared, 
ami  about  a  dozen  whites  who  made  their  escape.  The  Indian  loss  is  unknow  n.  hut 
was  very  heavy,  as  the  fight  continued  at  close  quarters  until  the  buildings  were 
fired  over  the  heads  of  the  defenders.     The  unfortunate  tragedy  was  due  entirely  to 

tl arelessness  of  the  commanding  officer,  who  had  been  repeatedly  warned  that 

the  Indians  were  about,  and  at  the  very  moment  of  the  attack  a  negro  was  tied  up 
waiting  to  be  flogged  for  reporting  that  he  had  the  day  before  seen  a  number  of 
painted  warriors  lurking  a  short  distance  outside  the  stockade.  Authorities:  Pickett, 
Alabama,  ed.  189G;  Hamilton  and  Owen,  note,  p.  170.  in  Transactions  Alabama  His- 
torical Society,  n,  1898;  Agent  Hawkins's  report,  1813,  American  State  Papers:  Indian 
Affairs,  i,  p.  853;  Drake,  Indians,  ed.  1880.  The  figures  given  are  those  of  Pickett, 
which  in  this  instance  seem  most  correct,  while  Drake's  are  evidently  exaggerated. 

(35)  General  William  McIntosh  (p.  98):  This  noted  halfbreed  chief  of  the 
Lower  Creeks  was  the  son  of  a  Scotch  officer  in  the  British  army  by  an  Indian 
mother,  ami  was  born  at  the  Creek  town  of  Coweta  in  Alabama,  on  the  lower  Chat- 
tahoochee, nearly  opposite  the  present  city  of  Columbus,  Georgia,  and  killed  at 
the  same  place  by  order  of  the  Creek  national  council  on  April  30,  1825.  Having 
sufficient  education  to  keep  up  an  official  correspondence,  he  brought  himself  to 
public  notice  and  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  principal  chief  of  the  Lower  Creeks. 
In  the  Creek  war  of  1813-14  he  led  his  warriors  to  the  support  of  the  Americans 
against  his  brethren  of  the  Upper  towns,  and  acted  a  leading  part  in  the  terrible 
slaughters  at  Autossee  and  the  Horseshoe  bend.  In  1817  he  again  headed  his  war- 
riors on  the  government  side  against  the  Seminole  :\nt\  was  commissioned  as  major. 
His  common  title  of  general  belonged  to  him  only  by  courtesy.  In  bSL'l  he  was  the 
principal  supporter  of  the  treaty  of  Indian  springs,  by  which  a  large  tract  between 
the  Flint  and  Chattahoochee  rivers  was  ceded.  The  treaty  was  repudiated  by  the 
Creek  Nation  as  being  the  act  of  a  small  faction.  Two  other  attempts  were  made  to 
carry  through  the  treaty,  in  which  the  interested  motives  of  Mcintosh  became  so 
apparent  that  he  was  branded  as  a  traitor  to  his  Nation  and  condemned  to  deat", 
together  with  his  principal  underlings,  in  accordance  with  a  Creek  law  making 
death  the  penalty  for  undertaking  to  sell  lands  without  tin-  consent  of  the  national 
council.  About  the  same  time  he  was  publicly  exposed  and  denounced  in  the 
( 'herokee  council  for  an  attempt  to  bribe  John  Koss  and  other  chiefs  of  the  Cherokee 
in  the  same  fashion.  At  daylight  of  April  30,  1825,  a  hundred  or  more  warriors 
sen!  by  the  Creek  national  council  surrounded  his  house  and,  after  allowing  the 
women  and  children  to  come  out,  set  tire  to  it  and  shot  Mcintosh  and  another  chief 


mooneyJ  WILLIAM    WEATHERFORD —  MISSIONARIES  217 

us  thej  tried  to  escape.    I  [e  left  three  wives,  one  of  wl i  was  a  t  Iherokee.      1  uthori- 

ties:  Drake,    [ndians,  ed.  L880;  Letters  from   Mcintosh's  son  and   widows,  1825,  in 
American  State  Papers:  [ndian  Affairs,  n,  pp.  764  and  768. 

(36  \Vuii\m  Weatherford  p.89):  This  leader  of  the  hostiles  in  the  Creek 
war  was  the  son  of  a  white  father  and  a  halfbreed  woman  of  Tuskegee  town  whose 
father  had  been  a  Scotchman.  VVeatherford  was  born  in  the  Creek  Nation  about 
L780and  died  on  Little  river,  in  Monroe  county,  Alabama,  in  1826.  He  caine  first 
into  prominence  by  leading  the  attack  upon  Fort  Minis,  August  30,  1813,  which 
resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  fori  and  the  massacre  of  over  five  hundred  inmates. 
It  is  maintained,  with  apparent  truth,  that  he  <li'l  his  best  to  prevent  the  excesses 
which  followed  tin-  victory,  and  left  the  scene  rather  than  witness  the  atrocities 
when  he  found  that  he  could  not  restrain  his  followers.  The  fact  that  Jackson 
allowed  him  to  go  home  unmolested  after  the  final  surrender  is  evidence  that  he 
believed  Weatherford  guiltless.  At  the  battle  of  the  Holy  Ground,  in  the  following 
December,  he  was  defeated  and  narrow  l\  escaped  capture  by  the  troops  under  i  ten- 
eral  Claiborne.  When  the  last  hope  of  the  Creeks  had  been  destroyed  and  their 
power  of  resistance  broken  by  the  bloody  battle  of  the  Horseshoe  bend,  March  27, 
1814,  Weatherford  voluntarily  walked  into  General  Jackson's  headquarters  and  sur- 
rendered, creating  such  an  impression  by  his  straightforward  and  fearless  manner 
that  the  general,  after  a  friendly  interview .  allowed  him  to  go  back  alone  to  gather 
up  his  people  preliminary  to  arranging  terms  of  peace.  Alter  the  treaty  he  retired 
to  a  i 'latitat  ion  in  Monroe  county,  where  he  lived  in  comfort  ami  was  greatly  respected 
by  his  white  neighbors  until  hisdeath.  As  an  illustration  of  his  courage  it  istold  how 
he  once,  single-handed,  arrested  two  murderers  immediately  after  the  crime,  when  the 
local  justice  and  a  large  crowd  of  bystanders  were  afraid  to  approach  them.  Jackson 
declared  him  to  be  as  high  tone.]  and  tearless  as  any  man  lie  had  ever  met.  In  person 
he  was  tall,  straight,  and  well  proportioned,  with  features  indicating  intelligence, 
bravery,  and  enterprise.  Authorities:  Pickett,  Alabama,  ed.  1896;  Drake.  Indians, 
ed.  1880;  Woodward,  Reminiscences,  1859. 

(37)  Reverend  David  Brainerd  (p.  104):  The  pioneer  American  missionary 
from  whom  the  noted  Cherokee  mission  took  its  name  was  born  at  Haddam,  Con- 
necticut, April  20,  1718,  and  died  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts.  October  9,  17)7. 
He  entered  Yale  college  in  1739,  but  was  expelled  on  account  of  his  religious  opinions. 
In  1741'  he  was  licensed  as  a  preacher  and  the  next  year  began  work  as  missionary  to 
the  Mahican  Indians  of  the  village  of  Kaunameek,  twenty  miles  from  Stockbridge, 
Massachusetts,  lie  persuaded  them  to  remove  to  Stockbridge,  where  he  put  them 
in  chargeof  a  resident  minister,  after  which  he  took  up  work  with  good  result  among 
the  Delaware  and  other  tribes  on  the  Delaware  and  Susquehanna  rivers.  In  1717 
his  health  failed  and  he  was  forced  to  retire  to  Northampton,  where  he  died  a 
few  months  later.  He  wrote  a  journal  and  an  account  of  his  missionary  labors  at 
Kaunameek.  His  later  mission  work  was  taken  up  and  continued  by  his  brother. 
Authority:     Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography,  1894. 

38  Reverend  Samuel  Austin  Worcester  (p.  105):  This  noted  missionary  and 
philologist,  the  son  of  a  Congregational  minister  who  was  also  a  printer,  was 
born  at  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  January  19,  1798,  and  died  at  Dark  Hill,  in  the 
Cherokee  Vat  ion  west.  April  2D.  1859.  Having  removed  to  Vermont  with  his  father 
while  still  a  child,  he  graduated  with  the  honors  of  his  class  at  the  state  university 
at  Burlington  in  1819,  and  after  finishing  a  course  at  the  theological  seminari  at 
Andover  was  ordained  to  the  ministrj  in  1825.  A  week  later,  withhisnewh  wedded 
bride,  he  left  Boston  to  begin  mission  work  among  the  Cherokee,  and  arrived  in 
October  at  the  mission  of  the  American  hoard,  at  Brainerd,  Tennessee,  where  he 
remained  until  the  end  of  1827.  He  then,  with  his  wife,  removed  to  Sew  Echota,in 
i  leorgia,  the  capital  of  the  <  Iherokee  Nation,  w  here  he  was  the  principal  worket 
establishment  of  tl  Ph(enix,  the  first  newspaper  printed  in  the  Chei 


218  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.anx.19 

language  and  alphabet.  Iii  this  labor  his  inherited  printer's  instinct  came  into  play, 
for  he  himself  supervised  the  casting  of  the  new  types  and  the  systematic  arrangement 
of  them  in  the  case.  In  March,  1831,  he  was  arrested  by  the  <  leorgia  authorities  for 
refusing  to  take  a  special  oath  of  allegiance t<  i  the  state.  1  [e  was  released,  but  was  rear- 
rested soon  afterward,  confined  in  the  state  penitentiary,  and  forced  to  wear  prison 
garb,  until  January,  1833,  notwithstanding  a  decision  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  nearly  a  year  before,  that  his  imprisonment  was  a  violation  of  the  law 
of  tin.'  land.  The  Cherokee  Phcenix  having  been  suspended  and  the  Cherokee  Nation 
brought  into  disorder  by  the  extension  over  it  of  the  state  laws,  lie  then  returned  to 
Brainerd,  which  was  beyond  the  limits  of  Georgia.  In  1835  he  removed  to  the  Indian 
Territory,  whither  the  Arkansas  ( Jherokee  had  already  gone,  and  after  short  sojourns 
at  Dwight  and  Union  missions  took  up  his  final  residence  at  Park  Hill  in  December, 
1S30.  He  had  already  set  up  his  mission  press  at  Union,  printing  both  in  the  (  Siero- 
kee  and  the  Creek  languages,  and  on  establishing  himself  at  Park  Hill  lie  began  a 
regular  series  of  publications  in  the  Cherokee  language.  In  1843  he  states  that  "at 
Park  Hill,  besides  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  a  leading  object  of  attention  is  the  p rep- 
aration and  publication  of  books  in  the  Cherokee  language"  (Letter  in  Report  of 
Indian  ( lommissioner,  p.  356,  1843  i.  The  list  of  his  Cherokee  publications  Hirst  edi- 
tions) under  his  own  name  in  Pilling' s  Bibliography  comprises  about  twenty  titles, 

including  the  Bible,  hymn  1 ks,  tracts,  and  almanacs  in  addition  to  the  Phasnix 

and  large  number  of  anonymous  works.  Says  Pilling:  "It  is  very  probable  that  he 
was  the  translator  of  a  number  of  books  for  which  he  is  not  given  credit  here,  espe- 
cially those  portions  of  the  Scripture  which  are  herein  not  assigned  to  any  name. 
Indeed  it  is  safe  to  say  that  during  the  thirty-four  years  of  his  connection  with  the 
Cherokee  but  little  was  done  in  the  way  of  translating  in  which  he  had  not  a  share." 
He  also  began  a  ( Iherokee  geography  and  had  both  a  grammar  and  a  dictionary  of 
the  language  under  way  when  his  work  was  interrupted  by  his  arrest.  The  manu- 
scripts, with  all  his  personal  effects,  afterward  went  down  with  a  sinking  steamer  on 
the  Arkansas.  His  daughter,  Mrs  A.  E.  W.  Robertson,  became  a  missionary  among 
the  Creeks  and  has  published  a  number  of  works  in  their  language.  Authorities: 
Pilling,  bibliography  of  the  Iroquoian  languages  (articles  Worcester,  Cherokee 
Phienix,  etc.  i,  1SSS;  Drake,  Indians,  ed.  1880:  Report  of  Indian  Commissioner,  1843 
(  Worcester  letter). 

i  Mil)  Death  penalty  for  selling  lands  (p.  107):  In  1820  the  Cherokee  Nation 
enacted  a  law  making  it  treason  punishable  with  death  to  enter  into  any  negotiation 
for  the  sale  of  tribal  lands  without  the  consent  of  the  national  council.  A  similar 
law  was  enacted  by  the  (  reeks  at  about  the  same  time.  It  was  for  violating  these  laws 
that  Mcintosh  and  Ridge  suffered  death  in  their  respective  tribes.  The  principal 
parts  of  the  Cherokee  law,  as  reenacted  by  the  united  Nation  in  the  West  in  1s4l'. 
appear  as  follows  in  the  compilation  authorized  in  1800: 

"An  act  against  sale  of  land,  etc.:  Whereas,  The  peace  and  prosperity  of 
Indian  nations  are  frequently  sacrificed  or  placed  in  jeopardy  by  the  unrestrained 
cupidity  of  their  own  individual  citizens;  and  whereas,  we  ourselves  are  liable  to  suffer 
from  the  same  cause,  and  be  subjected  to  future  removal  and  disturbances:  There- 
fore, .  .  . 

"Be  it  further  rnitrt.nl,  That  any  person  or  persons  who  shall,  contrary  to  the  will 
and  consent  of  the  legislative  council  of  this  nation,  in  general  council  convened, 
enter  into  a  treaty  with  any  commissioner  or  commissioners  of  the  United  States,  or 
any  officer  or  officers  instructed  for  the  purpose,  and  agree  to  fi^\t\  exchange,  or  dis- 
pose in  any  way  any  part  or  portion  of  the  lands  belonging  to  or  claimed  by  the 
Cherokees,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  he  or  they  so  offending,  upon  conviction  before 
any  judge  of  the  circuit  or  supreme  courts,  shall  suffer  death,  and  any  of  the  afore- 
said judges  are  authorized  to  call  a  court  for  the  trial  of  any  person  or  persons 
So  transgressing. 


mooney]  THE    CHEROKEE    SYLLABARY  219 

■•  /;.  Itfurlhei  enacted,   rhat  am  person  or  persons  who  shall  violate  the  pj 
of  the  second  section  of  this  act,  and  shall  resist  or  refuse  to  appear  at   the  place 

designated  for  trial,  or  ahsi 1,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  outlaws;  ami  any  person 

or  persons,  citizens  of  this  nation,  may  kill  him  or  them  so  offending  at  am  time 
and  in  any  manner  most  convenient,  within  the  limits  of  this  nation,  and  shall  not 

be  held  aci itable  to  the  laws  for  the  same. 

i  nacted,  That  no  treaty  shall  be  binding  upon  this  nation  which  shall 
not  be  ratified  by  the  general  council,  and  approved  by  the  principal  chief  of  the 
nation.     December2,  1842."   -Laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  1868. 

i11  I'n r  I  in  i;nk t  i  syllabari  (p.  110):  lii  the  various  schemes  of  symbolic 
thought  representation,  from  the  simple  pictograph  of  the  primitive  man  to  the  fin- 
ished alphabet  of  the  civilized  nations,  our  own  system,  although  not  yet  perfect, 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  list,  the  result  of  three  thousand  years  of  development  by 
Egyptian,  Phoenician,  and  Greek.  Sequoya's  syllabary,  the  unaided  work  of  an 
uneducated  Indian  reared  amid  semisavage  surroundings,  stands  second. 

Twelve  years  of  his  life  are  said  to  have  been  given  to  his  great  work.  Being  entirely 
without  instruction  and  ha\  ing  no  knowledge  of  the  philosophy  of  language,  being  not 
evi  ii  acquainted  with  English,  his  first  attempts  were  naturally  enough  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  crude  Indian  pictograph.  He  set  out  to  devise  a  symbol  for  each  word  of 
the  language,  and  after  several  years  oi  experiment,  finding  this  an  utterly  hopeless 
task,  he  threw  aside  the  thousands  of  characters  which  he  hail  carved  or  scratched 

uiion  pieces  of  bark,  and  started  in  anew  to  study  the  constructii f  the  language 

it-elf.  By  attentive  observation  for  another  long  period  lie  finally  discovered  that 
the  sounds  in  the  words  used  by  the  ( Iherokee  in  their  daily  conversation  and  their 
public  speeches  could  be  analyzed  and  elassitied,  and  that    the  thousands  of   possible 

Is  were  all  formed  fr varying  combinations  of  hardly  more  than  a  hundred 

distinct  syllables;  Having  thoroughly  tested  his  discovery  until  satisfied  of  its  cor- 
rectness, he  next  proceeded  to  formulate  a  symbol  for  each  syllable.  For  this  purpose 
he  made  use  of  a  number  of  characters  which  he  found  in  an  old  English  spelling 
book,  picking  out  capitals,  lower-case,  italics,  and  figures,  and  placing  them  right  side 
up  or  upside  down,  without  any  idea  of  their  sound  or  significance  as  used  in  English 
(see plate  v).  Having  thus  utilized  some  thirty-live  ready-made  characters,  to  which 
must  be  added  a  dozen  or  more  produced  by  modification  of  the  same  originals,  he 

•  1 1 •> i o l  from  his  own  imagination  as  many  more  as  were  necessary  to  his  purpose, 

making  eighty-five  in  all.  The  complete  syllabary,  as  first  elaborated,  would  have 
required  someone  hundred  and  fifteen  characters,  but  after  much  hard  study  over 
the  hissing  sound  in  its  various  combinations,  be  hit  upon  the  expedient  of  repre- 
senting the  sound  by  means  of  a  distinct  character  the  exact  equivalent  of  our  letter 
.v — whenever  it  formed  the  initial  of  a  syllable.  Says  Gallatin,  "  It  wanted  bin  one 
step  more,  and  to  have  also  given  a  distinct  character  to  each  consonant,  to  reduce 
the  whole  number  to  sixteen,  and  to  have  had  an  alphabet  similar  to  ours.  In  prac- 
tice, however,  and  as  applied  to  his  own  language,  the  superiority  of  (  riie-s's  alphabet 

is  manifest,  and  has  been  fully  proved  by  experience.  Yon  must  indeed  learn  and 
remember  eighty-five  characters  instead  of  twenty-five  [sic].  But  this  once  accom- 
plished, the  education  of  the  pupil  is  completed;   be  can  read  and  he  i>  perfect  in  his 

orthography  without  making  it  the  subject  ofadistinct  study.     The  boy  learns  in  a 

few  weeks  that  which  occupies  two  years  of  the  time  of  ours."  Says  Phillips:  "  In 
my  own  observation  Indian  children  will  take  .me  or  two.  at  time-  several,  j  ears  to 
master  the  English  printed  and  written  language,  but  in  a  few  days  can  read  and 
write  in  Cherokee.      They  do  the  latter,  in  fact,  as  soon  as  thos  learn  to  shape  letters. 

\-  soon  as  they  master  the  alphabet  they  have  got  rid  of  all  the  perplexing  questions 
in  orthography  that  puzzle  the  brains  of  our  children.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say- 
that  a  child  will  learn  in  a  month,  by  the  same  effort,  as  thoroughly  in  the  language 


220  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [kth.axn.19 

of  Sequoyah,  that  which  in  ours  consumes  the  time  of  our  children  for  at  least  two 
years." 

Although  in  theory  the  written  Cherokee  word  has  one  letter  for  each  syllable,  the 
rule  does  not  always  hold  good  in  practice,  owing  to  the  frequent  elision  of  vowel 
sounds.  Thus  the  word  for  "soul"  is  written  with  four  letters  as  arda-ntifi-ta,,  but 
pronounced  in  three  syllables,  mlnnta.  In  the  same  way  tui'i-li'in-i-yurtti  ("like 
tobacco,"  the  cardinal  flower)  is  pronounced  tsdliyusCl.  There  are  also,  as  in  other 
languages,  a  number  of  minutesound  variations  not  indicated  in  the  written  word, 
so  that  it  is  necessary  to  have  heard  the  language  spoken  in  order  to  read  with  cor- 
rect pronunciation.  The  old  Upper  dialect  is  the  standard  to  which  the  alphabet 
has  been  adapted.  There  is  no  provision  for  the  r  of  the  Lower  or  the  sh  of  the 
Middle  dialect,  each  speaker  usually  making  his  own  dialectic  change  in  the  reading. 
The  letters  of  a  word  are  not  connected,  and  there  is  no  difference  between  the  written 
and  the  printed  character.  Authoritirx:  Gallatin,  Synopsis  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  in 
Trans.  Am.  Antiq.  Soc,  n,  1836;  Phillips,  Sequoyah,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  Septem- 
ber, 1870;  Filling,  Bibliography  of  Iroquoian  Languages  i  article  on  Guess  and  plate 
of  syllabary),  1888;  author's  personal  information. 

1]  Southern  gold  fields  (p.  116):  Almost  every  valuable  mineral  and  crystal 
known  to  the  manufacturer  or  the  lapidary  is  found  in  the  southern  Alleghenies, 
although,  so  far  as  present  knowledge  goes,  but  few  of  these  occur  in  paying  quanti- 
ties. It  is  probable,  however,  that  this  estimate  may  change  with  improved  methods 
and  enlarged  railroad  facilities.  Leaving  out  of  account  the  earlier  operations  by  the 
Spanish,  French,  and  English  adventurers,  of  which  mention  has  already  been  made, 
the  first  authentic  account  of  gold  finding  in  any  of  the  states  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  within  what  may  lie  called  the  American  period  appears  to  be  that 
given  by  Jefferson,  writing  in  1781,  of  a  lump  of  ore  found  in  Virginia,  which  yielded 
seventeen  penny  weights  of  gold.  This  was  probably  not  the  earliest,  however,  as 
we  find  doubtful  references  to  gold  discoveries  in  both  Carolinas  before  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  first  mint  returns  of  gold  were  made  from  North  Carolina  in  17'.':;.  ami 
from  South  Carolina  in  1829,  although  gold  is  certainly  known  to  have  been  found  in 
tin-  latter  state  some  years  earlier.  The  earliest  gold  records  for  the  other  southern 
states  are.  approximately,  Georgia  (near  Dahlonega).  IkI.VIsl'O;  Alabama,  1830; 
Tennessee  ildco  creek.  Monroe  county),  1831;  Maryland  (Montgomery  county), 
1849.  Systematic  tracingof  gold  belts  southward  from  North  Carolina  began  in  1829, 
anil  speedily  resulted  in  the  forcible  eviction  of  the  Cherokee  from  the  gold-bearing 
region.  Most  of  the  precious  metal  was  procured  from  placers  or  alluvial  deposits 
by  a  simple  process  of  digging  and  washing.  Very  little  quartz  mining  has  yet  been 
attempted,  and  that  usually  by  the  crudest  methods.  In  fact,  for  a  long  period  gold 
working  was  followed  as  a  sort  of  side  issue  to  farming  between  crop  seasons.  In 
North  Carolina  prospectors  obtained  permission  from  the  owners  of  the  land  to  wash 
or  dig  on  shares,  varying  from  one-fourth  to  one-half,  and  the  proprietor  was  accus- 
tomed to  put  his  slaves  to  work  in  the  same  way  along  the  creek  bottoms  after  the 
crops  had  been  safely  gathered.  "The  dust  became  a  considerable  medium  of  circu- 
lation, and  miners  were  accustomed  to  carry  about  with  them  quills  tilled  with  gold, 
and  a  pair  of  small  hand  scales,  on  which  they  weighed  out  gold  at  regular  rates;  for 
instance,  Si  grains  of  gold  was  the  customary  equivalent  of  a  pint  of  whisky."  For 
a  number  of  years,  about  1830  ami  later,  a  man  named  Bechtler  coined  gold  on  his 
own  account  in  North  Carolina,  and  these  coins,  with  Mexican  silver,  are  said  to  have 
constituted  the  chief  currency  over  a  large  region.  A  regular  mint  was  established 
at  Dahlonegain  1838  and  maintained  for  some  years.  From  1804  to  1827  all  the  gold 
produced  in  the  United  States  came  from  North  <  'arolina.  although  the  total  amounted 
to  hut  SH0,000.  The  discovery  of  the  rich  deposits  in  California  checked  mining 
operations  in  the  south,  and  the  civil  war  brought  about  an  almost  complete  suspen- 


EXTENSION    OF    GEORGIA    LAWS  221 

siim,  from  which  then'  is  hardly  yet  a  revival.  According  to  the  best  official  esti- 
mates the  gold  production  of  the  southern  Allegheny  region  for  the  century'from  I7;t9 
to  1898,  inclusive,  has  been  s ething  over  $46,000,000,  distributed  as  follows: 

North  Carolina $21,926,376 

( ;.•. >rgia 16,  658,  630 

South  Carolina 3,961,863 

Virginia,  slightly  in  excess  of 3,216,343 

Alabama,  slightly  in  excess  of 437,927 

Tennessee,  slightly  in  excess  of 167,405 

Maryland 17,068 

Total,  slightly  in  excess  of 46,  415,612 

Autiiorities:  Becker,  Gold  Fields  of  the  Southern  Appalachians,  in  the  Sixteenth 
Annual  Report  United  States  Geological  Survey.  1895;  Day,  Mineral  Resources  of 
the  United  States,  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
part  ■"..  1896;  Nitze,  Gold  Mining  and  Metallurgy  in  the  Southern  States,  in  North 
Carolina  Geological  Survey  Report,  republished  in  Mineral  Resources  of  the  t  nited 
states,  Twentieth  Annual  Report  United  states  Geological  Survey,  part  6,  1899; 
Lanman,  Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  1849. 

(42)  Extension  of  Georgia  laws,  L830(p.ll7):  "It  is  hereby  ordained  that  all 
the  laws  of  Georgia  are  extended  over  the  Cherokee  cQuntry;  that  after  the  first  day  of 
June,  1830,  all  Indians  then  and  at  that  time  residing  in  said  territory,  shall  be  liable 
and  subject  to  such  laws  and  regulations  as  the  legislature  may  hereafter  prescribe; 
that  all  laws,  usages,  and  customs  made  and  established  and  enforced  in  the  sai'l  terri- 
tory, by  the  saiil  Cherokee  Indians,  lie,  ami  the  same  are  hereby,  on  ami  after  the 
1st  day  of  .lime.  1830, declared  null  ami  void;  ami  no  Indian,  or  descendant  of  an 
Indian,  residing  within  the  ( 'reek  or  Cherokee  nations  of  Indians,  shall  he  deemed 
a  competent  witness  or  party  to  any  suit  in  any  court  where  a  white  man  is  a  defend- 
ant."—  Extract  from  the  act  passed  by  the  Georgia  legislature  on  December  20,  1828, 
"to  add  the  territory  within  this  state  and  occupied  by  the  Cherokee  Indians  to 

the  counties  of  DeKalb  et  al.;  and  to  extend  the  laws  of  this  state  over  the  s ," 

Authorities:  Drake.  Indians,  p.  439,  ed.  1880;  Royce,  Cherokee  Nation  of  Indians,  in 
Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  260,  1888. 

13  Removal  ports,  1838  (p.130):  For  collecting  the  Cherokee  preparatory  to 
the  Removal,  the  follow  ing  stockade  forts  were  built:  In  North  Carolina.  Fort  Lind- 
say, on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee  river  at  the  junction  of  Nantahala.  in  Swain 
county:  Fort  Scott. at  Aquone,  farther  up  Nantahala  river,  in  Macon  county;  Fort 
Montgomery,  at  Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county;  Fort  Hembrie,  at  Hayesville,  in 
Clay  county:  Fort  Delaney,  at  Yalleytown,  in  Cherokee  county;  Fort  Butler,  at 
Murphy,  in  tin- same  county.  In  Georgia,  Fort  Scudder,  on  Frogtown  creek,  north 
of  Dahlonega,  in  Lumpkin  county;  Fort  Gilmer,  near  Ellijay,  in  Gilmer  county; 
Fort  Coosawatee,  in  Murray  county;  Fort  Talking-rock,  near  Jasper,  in  Pickens 
county;  Fort  Buffington,  near  Canton,  in  Cherokee  county.  In  Tennessee,  Fort 
( lass,  a!  ( 'alhoun.  on  Hiwassee  river,  in  McMinn  county.  In  Alabama,  Fort  Turkey- 
town,  on  Coosa  river,  at  Center,  in  Cherokee  county.  Authority:  Author's  personal 
information. 

I  44  Mi  Nair's  GRAVE,  (p.  132):  Just  inside  the  Tennessee  line,  where  the  Cona- 
sauga  river  bends  again  into  Georgia,  is  a  stone-walled  grave,  with  a  slab,  on  which 
is  an  epitaph  which  tells  its  own  story  of  the  Removal  heartbreak.  McNair  was  a 
white  man,  prominent  in  the  Cherokee  Nation,  whose  wife  was  a  daughter  of  the 
chief,  Vann,  who  welcomed  the   Moravian  missionaries  and  gave  his  own    house  for 

their  use.    The  date  shows  that  she  died  while  tin-  Removal  was  in  progress,  possibly 


222  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  leth.ann.19 

while  waiting  in  the  stockade  camp.     The  inscription,  with  details,  is  given  from 

information  kindly  furnished  by  Mr  D.  K.  Dunn  of  Conasauga,  Tennessee,  in  a 
letter  dated  August  16, 1890: 

"Sacred  to  the  memory  of  David  and  DelilahA.  McNair,  who  departed  this  life,  the 
former  on  tlir  15th  of  August,  L836,  and  the  latter  on  the  30th  of  November,  L838. 
Their  children,  being  members  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  and  having  to  go  with  their 

j ico] ili'  to  the  West,  do  leave  this  i lument,  not  only  to  show  their  regard  for  their 

parents,  but  to  guard  their  sacred  ashes  against  the  unhallowed  intrusion  of  the  white 
man." 

(45)  President  Samuel  Houston,  (p.  145) :  This  remarkable  man  was  horn  in  Rock- 
bridge  county,  Virginia,  March  2,  1793,  and  died  at  Huntsville,  Texas,  July  25,  1863. 
( if  strangely  versatile,  but  forceful,  character,  he  occupies  a  unique  position  in  Ameri- 
can history,  combining  in  a  wonderful  degree  the  rough  manhood  of  the  pioneer, 
the  eccentric  vanity  of  the  Indian,  the  stern  dignity  of  the  soldier,  the  genius  of  the 
statesman,  and  withal  the  high  chivalry  of  a  knight  of  the  olden  time.  His  erratic 
career  has  been  the  subject  of  much  cheap  romancing,  hut  the  simple  facts  are  of 
sufficient  interest  in  themselves  without  the  aid  of  fictitious  embellishment.  To  the 
Cherokee,  whom  he  loved  so  well,  lie  was  known  as  Ka'lanu,  "The  Raven,"  an  old 
war  title  in  the  tribe. 

His  father  having  died  when  the  boy  was  nine  years  old.  his  widowed  mother  re- 
moved with  him  to  Tennessee,  opposite  the  territory  of  the  Cherokee,  whose  boundary 
was  then  the  Tennessee  river.  Here  he  worked  on  the  farm,  attending  school  at 
intervals;  lint,  being  of  adventurous  disposition,'  he  left  home  when  sixteen  years  old, 
and,  crossing  over  the  river,  joined  the  Cherokee,  among  whom  he  soon  became  a 
great  favorite,  being  adopted  into  the  family  of  Chief  Jolly,  from  whom  the  island  at 
the  mouth  of  Hiwassee  takes  its  name.  After  three  years  of  this  life,  during  which 
time  he  wore  the  Indian  dress  and  learned  the  Indian  language,  he  returned  to  civili- 
zation and  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  under  Jackson  in  the  Creek  war.     He  s i 

attracted  favorable  notice  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  ensign.  By  striking 
bravery  at  the  bloody  battle  of  Horseshoe  bend,  where  he  scaled  the  breastworks  with 
an  arrow  in  bis  thigh  and  led  his  men  into  the  thick  of  the  enemy,  he  won  the  last- 
ing friendship  of  Jackson,  who  made  him  a  lieutenant,  although  he  was  then  barely 
twenty-one.  He  continued  in  the  army  after  the  war,  serving  for  a  time  as  subagent 
for  the  Cherokee  at  Jackson's  request,  until  the  summer  of  1818,  when  he  resigned 
on  account  of  some  criticism  by  Calhoun,  then  Secretary  of  War.  An  official  investi- 
gation, held  at  his  demand,  resulted  in  his  exoneration. 

Removing  to  Nashville,  he  began  the  study  of  law,  and,  being  shortly  afterward 
admitted  to  the  liar,  set  up  in  practice  at  Lebanon.  Within  five  years  he  was  succes- 
sively district  attorney  and  adjutant-general  and  major-general  of  state  troops.  In 
1823  he  was  elected  to  ( '.ingress,  serving  two  terms,  at  the  end  of  which,  in  1827,  he 
was  elected  governor  of  Tennessee  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  being  then  thirty- 
four  years  of  age.  Shortly  before  this  time  he  had  fought  and  wounded  General  White 
in  a  duel.  In  January,  L829,  he  married  a  young  lady  residing  near  Nashville,  but 
two  months  later,  without  a  word  of  explanation  to  any  outsider,  he  left  her,  resigned 
his  governorship  ami  other  official  dignities,  and  left  the  state  forever,  to  rejoin  his 
old  friends,  tin- Cherokee,  in  the  West.  For  years  the  reason  for  this  strange  conduct 
was  a  secret,  and  Houston  himself  always  refused  to  talk  of  it,  but  it  is  now  under- 
stood to  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that  his  wife  admitted  to  him  that  she  loved 
another  and  had  only  been  induced  to  marry  him  by  the  over-persuasions  of  her 
parents. 

From  Tennessee  he  went  to  Indian  Territory,  whither  a  large  part  of  the  Cher- 
okee had  already  removed,  and  once  more  took  up  his  residence  near  Chief  Jolly, 
who  was  now  the  principal  chief  of  the  western  Cherokee.  The  great  disap- 
pointment which  seemed  to  have  blighted  his  life  at  its  brightest  was  heavy  at  his 


SAMUEL    BOUSTOM  'J'-'-'? 

heart,  and  he  sought  forgetfulness  in  drink  to  such  an  extent  that  for  a  time  his 

manl I  seemed  to  have  departed,  notwithstanding  which,  such  was  his  force  of 

character  and  his  past  reputation,  he  retained  his  hold  upon  the  affections  of  the 
Cherokee  and  his  standing  with  the  officers  and  their  families  at  the  neighboring  posts 
of  Fort  Smith,  F"rt  i  iibson,  and  Fort  ( loffee.    In  the  meantime  his  former  w  ife  in  Den 

nessee  had  obtained  a  divorce,  and  Houston  being  thus  frei e  more  soon  after 

married  Talihina,  the  youngest  daughter  of  a   prominent  mixed-bl I  Cherokee 

named  Rogers,  who  resided  near  Fort  Gibson.  She  was  the  niece  of  Houston's 
adopted  father,  Chief  Jolly,  and  he  had  known  her  when  a  boy  in  the  old  Nation. 
Being^a  beautiful  girl,  and  educated  above  her  surroundings,  she  became  a  welcome 
guest  w  herever  her  husband  was  received.  He  started  a  trading  store  near  Webbers 
Falls,  but  continued  in  his  dissipated  habits  until  recalled  to  his  senses  by  the  out- 
come of  a  drunken  affray  in  which  he  assaulted  his  adopted  father,  the  old  chief, 
and  was  himself  felled  to  the  ground  unconscious.  Upon  recover}  from  his  injuries 
he  made  a  public  apology  for  his  < luct  and  thenceforward  led  asoberlife. 

In  1832  he  visited  Washington  in  the  interest  >it'  the  western  Cherokee,  calling  in 
Indian  costume  upon  President  Jackson,  who  received  him  with  old-time  friendship. 
Being  accused  while  there  of  connection  with  a  fraudulent  Indian  contract,  he 
administered  a  severe  beating  to  his  accuser,  a  member  of  Congress.  For  this  he 
»;i-  lined  $500  and  reprimanded  by  the  bar  of  the  House,  but  Jackson  remitted  the 
fine.  Soon  after  his  return  to  the  West  he  removed  to  Texas  to  take  part  in  the 
agitation  just  started  against  Mexican  rule.  He  was  a  member  oi  the  convention 
w  hich  adopted  a  separate  constitution  for  Texas  in  1833,  and  two  years  later  aided  in 
forming  a  provisional  government,  and  was  elected  commander-in-chief  to  organize 
the  new  militia.  In  1836  he  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which  declared  the 
independence  of  Texas.  At  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  in  April  of  that  year  hedefeated 
with  7.">n  men  Santa  Ana's  army  of  1,800,  inflicting  upon  the  Mexicans  the  terrible 
loss  oi  630  killed  and  730  prisoners,  among  whom  was  Santa  Ana  himself.  Houston 
received  a  severe  wound  in  the  engagement.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  he 
was  elected  first  president  of  the  republic  of  Texas,  receiving  more  than  four-fifths 
of  the  Vote-  cast.  He  served  two  years  and  retired  at  the  end  of  his  term,  leaving 
the  country  on  good  terms  with  both  Mexico  and  the  Indian  tribes,  and  with  its 
note-  at  par.  He  was  immediately  elected  to  the  Texas  congress  and  served  in  that 
capacity  until  1841,  when  he  was  reelected  president.  It  was  during  these  years  that 
he  made  his  steadfast  fight  in  behalf  of  the  Texas  <  Iherokee,  as  is  narrated  elsew  here, 
supporting  their  cause  without  wavering,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  popularity  and  posi- 
tion.    He  frequently  declared  that  no  treaty  made  and  carried  out  in  t: 1  faith  had 

ever  I. ecu  violated  by  Indians.  His  Cherokee  w  ife  having  died  some  time  1. el  ore.  he 
was  again  married  in  ls4o.  this  time  to  a  lady  from  Alabama,  who  exercised  over 
him  a  restraining  and  ennobling  influence  through  the  stormy  vicissitudes  of  his 
eventful  life.  In  June,  1842,  he  vetoed  a  hill  making  him  dictator  for  the  purpose  of 
resisting  a  threatened  invasion  from  Mexico. 

(>n  December  29,  1845,  Texas  was  admitted  to  the  Union,  and  in  the  following 
March  Houston  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  where  he  served  continuously  until  1859, 
when  he  resigned  to  take  his  -eat  as  governor,  to  which  position  he  had  just  been 
elected.  From  1852  to  1860  bis  name  was  three  times  presented  before  national 
presidential  nominating  conventions,  the  last  time  receiving  57  votes.  He  had  taken 
issue  with  the  Democratic  majority  throughout  his  term  in  the  Senate,  and  when 
Texas  passed  the  secession  ordinance  in  February,  1861,  being  an  uncompromising 
Union  man,  he  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Confederacy  and  was 
accordingly  deposed  from  the  office  of  governor,  declining  the  proffered  aid  of  federal 
troops  to  keep  him  in  his  seat.     Unwilling  either  to  fight  against  the  Union  orto 

take  -ides  against  his  friends,  he  held  aloof  from  the  great  Struggle,  and  remained  m 
silent  retirement  until  his  death,  two  years  later.     No  other  man  in  American  history 


224  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.1W 

has  left  such  a  record  of  continuoua  election  to  high  office  while  steadily  holding  to 
hisown  convictions  in  the  faceof  strong  popular  opposition.  Antlmntii-s:  Appleton's 
Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography,  1894;  Bonnell,  Texas,  1840;  Thrall,  Texas,  L876; 
I.ossing.  Field  Book  of  the  War  of  1812,  1869;  author's  personal  information;  various 
periodical  and  newspaper  articles. 

(46)  Chief  John  Ross  (p.  151):  This  great  chief  of  the  Cherokee,  whose  name  is 
inseparable  from  their  history,  was  himself  but  one-eighth  of  Indian  blood  and  showed 
little  of  the  Indian  features,  his  father,  Daniel  Ross,  having  emigrated  from  Scotland 
before  the  Revolution  and  married  a  quarter-blood*  Iherokee  woman  whose  fat  her,  John 
McDonald,  was  also  from  Scotland.  He  was  horn  at  or  near  the  family  residence  at 
Rossville,  Georgia  just  across  the  line  from  Chattanooga,  Tennessee.  As  ahoy,  he 
was  known  among  the  Cherokee  as  Tsan-usdi',  "  Little  John,"  but  after  arriving  at 
manhood  was  called  Guwi'sguwi',  the  name  of  a  ran-  migratory  bird,  of  large  size 
and  white  or  grayish  plumage,  said  to  have  appealed  formerly  at  long  intervals  in 
the  old  Cherokee  country.  It  may  have  been  the  egret  or  the  swan.  He  was 
educated  at  Kingston,  Tennessee,  and  began  his  public  career  when  barely  nineteen 
years  of  age.  Ilis  first  wife,  a  full-blood  Cherokee  woman,  died  in  consequence  of 
the  hardships  of  the  Removal  while  on  the  western  march  and  was  buried  at  Little 
Rock,  Arkansas.  Some  years  later  he  married  again,  this  time  to  a  Miss  Stapler  of 
Wilmington,  Delaware,  the  marriage  taking  place  in  Philadelphia  (author's  per- 
sonal information  from  Mr  Allen  Ross,  son  of  John  Ross;  see  also  Meredith, 
"The  Cherokees,"  in  the  Five  Civilized  Tribes,  Extra  Bulletin  Eleventh  Census, 
1S94. )  Cooweescoowee  district  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  west  has  been  named  in  his 
honor.  The  following  biographic  facts  are  taken  from  the  panegyric  in  his  honor, 
passed  by  the  national  council  of  the  Cherokee,  on  hearing  of  his  death,  "as  feebly 
expressive  of  the  loss  they  have  sustained." 

John  Ross  was  born  October  .'!,  1790,  and  died  in  the  city  of  Washington,  August 
1,  1866,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age.  His  official  career  began  in  1809,  when 
he  was  intrusted  by  Agent  Return  Meigs  with  an  important  mission  to  the  Arkansas 
Cherokee.  From  that  time  until  the  close  of  his  life,  with  the  exception  of  two  or 
three  years  in  the  earlier  part,  he  was  in  the  constant  service  of  his  people,  "furnish- 
ing an  instance  of  confidence  on  their  part  and  fidelity  on  his  which  has  never  been 
surpassed  in  the  annals  of  history."  In  the  war  of  1813-14  against  the  Creeks  he 
was  adjutant  of  the  Cherokee  regiment  which  cooperated  with  General  Jackson,  and 
was  present  at  the  battle  of  the  Horseshoe,  where  the  Cherokee,  under  Colonel 
Morgan,  of  Tennessee,  rendered  distinguished  service.  In  1817  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  national  committee  of  the  Cherokee  council.  The  first  duty  assigned 
him  was  to  prepare  a  reply  to  the  United  States  commissioners  who  were  present 
for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  with  the  Chen  ikee  for  their  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
in  firm  resistance  to  which  he  was  destined,  a  few  years  later,  to  test  the  power  of 
truth  and  to  attain  a  reputation  of  no  ordinary  character.  In  1819,  October  26,  his 
name  first  appeals  on  the  statute  book  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  as  president  of  the 
national  committee,  and  is  attached  to  an  ordinance  which  looked  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Cherokee  people,  providing  for  the  introduction  into  the  Nation  of  school- 
masters, blacksmiths,  mechanics,  and  others.  He  continued  to  occupy  that  position 
till  1826.  In  1827  he  was  associate  chief  with  William  Hicks,  and  president  of  the  con- 
vention which  adopted  the  constitution  of  that  year.  That  constitution,  it  is  believed, 
is  the  first  effort  at  a  regular  government,  with  distinct  branches  and  powers  defined, 
ever  madeand  carried  intoeffect  by  any  of  the  Indians  of  North  America.  From  1828 
until  the  removal  west,  he  was  principal  chief  of  the  eastern  Cherokee,  and  from 
1839  to  the  time  of  his  death,  principal  chief  of  the  united  Cherokee  Nation. 

In  regard  to  the  long  contest  which  culminated  in  the  Removal,  the  resolutions 
declare  that  "The  Cherokees,  with  John  Ross  at  their  head,  alone  with  their 
treaties,  achieved  a  recognition  of  their  rights,  but  they  were  powerless  to  enforce 


booney]  JOHN    ROSS — THE    KETOOWAH    SOCIETV  225 

them.  They  were  compelled  to  yield,  but  not  until  the  struggle  had  developed  the 
highest  qualities  of  patience,  fortitude,  and  tenacity  of  right  and  purpose  on  their 
part,  as  well  as  that  of  their  chief.  The  same  may  be  said  of  their  course  after  their 
removal  to  this  country,  and  Which  resulted  in  the  reunion  of  the  eastern  and  west- 
em  I  Iherokees  as  one  i pie  and  in  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution." 

Concerning  the  events  of  the  civil  war  and  the  official  attempt  to  depose  Ross  from 

his  authority,  they  state  that  thes 'currences,  with  many  others  in  their  trying 

historj  as  a  people,  are  confidently  committed  to  the  future  page  of  the  historian. 
••It  is  enough  to  know  that  the  treaty  negotiated  at  Washington  in  1866  hore  the 
full  and  just  recognition  of  John  Hoss'  name  as  principal  chief  of  the  Cherokee 
nation." 

The  summing  up  of  the  [panegyric  is  a  splendid  tribute  to  a  splendid  maul I: 

"  Blessed  with  a  line  constitution  and  a  vigorous  niind,  John  Koss  had  the  physi- 
cal ability  to  follow  the  path  of  duty  wherever  it  led.  No  danger  appalled  him. 
He  never  faltered  in  Supporting  what  he  believed  to  he  right,  hut  clung  to  it  with  a 
steadiness  of  purpose  which  alone  could  have  sprung  from  the  clearest  convictions 
of  rectitude.  He  never  sacrificed  the-  interests  of  his  nation  to  expediency,  lie 
never  lost  sight  of  the  welfare  of  the  people.  For  them  he  labored  daily  for  a  long 
life,  and  upon  them  he  bestowed  his  last  expressed  thoughts.  A  friend  of  law,  he 
obeyed  it:  a  friend  of  education,  he  faithfully  encouraged  schools  throughout  the 
country,  and  spent  liberally  his  means  in  conferring  it  upon  others.  Given  to  hos- 
pitality, none  ever  hungered  around  his  door.  A  professor  of  the  Christian  religion, 
he  practiced  its  precepts.  His  works  are  inseparable  from  the  history  of  the  Cher- 
okee people  for  nearly  half  a  century,  while  his  example  in  the  daily  walks  of  life 
will  linger  in  the  future  and  whisper  words  of  hope,  temperance,  and  charity  in  the 
years  i  if  posterity." 

Resolutions  were  also  passed  for  bringing  his  body  from  Washington  at  the  expense 
of  the  Cherokee  Nation  and  providing  for  suitable  obsequies,  in  order  "that  his 
remains  should  rest  among  those  he  so  long  served"  (Resolutions  in  honor  of  John 
Ross,  in  Laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  1869). 

(47)  The  Ketoowah  Society  (p.  l.MS):  This  Cherokee  secret  society,  which  has 
recently  achieved  some  newspaper  prominence  by  its  championship  of  Cherokee 
autonomy,  derives  its  name — properly  Kitu'hwa,  hut  commonly  spelled  Ketoowah 
in  English  print — from  the  ancient  town  in  the  old  Nation  which  formed  the  nucleus  of 
the  most  conservative  element  of  the  tribe  and  sometimes  gave  a  name  to  the  Nation 
itself  i  see  KUu'hwatfl,  under  Tribal  Synonyms).  A  strong  band  of  comradeship,  if 
not  a  regular  society  organization,  appears  to  have  existed  among  the  warriors  and 
leading  men  of  the  various  settlements  of  the  Kituhwa  district  from  a  remote  period, 
so  that  the  name  is  even  now  used  in  councils  as  indicative  of  genuine  Cherokee 
feelingjn  its  highest  patriotic  form.  When,  some  years  ago,  delegates  from  the 
western  Nation  visited  the  East  Cherokee  to  invite  them  to  join  their  more  pros- 
perous brethren  beyond  the  Mississippi,  the  speaker  for  the  delegates  expressed 
their  fraternal  feeling  for  their  separated  kin-men  by  saying  in  his  opening  speech, 
"We  are  all  Kituhwa  people"  (Ani'-KItu'hwagl).  The  Ketoowah  society  in  the 
(  In  rokee  Nation  west  was  organized  shortly  before  the  civil  war  by  John  I'..  Jones, 
son  of  the  missionary,  Evan  Jones,  and  an  adopted  citizen  of  the  Nation,  as  a  secret 
society  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  cultivating  a  national  feeling  among  the  full- 

bl Is.  in  opposition  to  the  innovating  tendencies  of  the  mixed-bl 1  element.     The 

real  purpose  was  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  "Blue  Lodge"  and  other  secret 
secessionist  organizations  among  the  wealthier  slave-holding  classes,  made  up  chiefly 

of  mixed-bl Is  and  whites.      It  extended  to  the  Creeks,  and  its  members  ill  both 

tribes   rendered  g 1  service  to  the  Union  cause  throughout  the  war.     The)  were 

frequently  known  as  "Pin  Indians,"  for  a  reason  explained  below.  Since  the  close 
of  the  great  struggle  tin-  society  has  distinguished  itself  by  its  determined  opposition 

I'd    KTH— 01 15 


22*1  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

to  every  scheme  looking  i"  the  curtailment  or  destruction  of  <  Sherokee  national  self- 
government. 

The  6  illowing  account  of  the  society  was  written  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  civil 

war: 

"Those  ( Sherokees  who  were  loyal  to  the  Union  combined  in  a  secret  organization 
for  self-protection,  assuming  the  designation  of  the  Ketoowha  society,  which  name 

was  s i  merged  in  that  of  "Pins."     The  Pins  were  so  styled  because  of  a  peculiar 

manner  they  adopted  of  wearing  a  pin.  The  symbol  was  discovered  by  their  ene- 
mies, w  ho  applied  the  term  in  derision;  but  it  was  accepted  by  this  loyal  league,  and 
has  almost  superseded  the  designation  which  its  members  first  assumed.  The  Pin 
organization  originated  among  the  members  of  the  Baptist  congregation  at  Peavine, 
Going-snake  district,  in  the  Cherokee  nation.  In  a  short  time  the  society  counted 
nearly  three  thousand  members,  and  had  commenced  proselytizing  the  Creeks, 
when  the  rebellion,  against  which  it  was  arming,  preventing  its  further  extension, 
the  | mi n-  ('reeks  having  been  driven  into  Kansas  by  the  rebels  of  the  Golden  Circle. 
Dining  the  war  the  Pins  rendered  services  hi  the  Union  cause  in  many  bloody 
encounters,  as  has  been  acknowledged  by  our  generals.  It  was  distinctly  an  anti- 
slavery  organization.  The  slave-holding  Cherokees,  who  constituted  the  wealthy 
and  more  intelligent  class,  naturally  allied  themselves  with  the  South,  while  loyal 
Cherokees  became  more  and  more  opposed  to  slavery.  .This  was  shown  very  clearly 
when  the  loyalists  lirst  met  in  convention,  in  February,  1863.  They  not  only  abol- 
ished slavery  unconditionally  and  forever,  before  any  slave  state  made  a  movement 
toward  emancipation,  but  made  any  attempts  at  enslaving  a  grave  misdemeanor. 

The  scent  signs  of  the  Pins  were  a  peculiar  way  of  touching  the  hat  as  a  salutation, 
particularly  when  they  were  too  far  apart  for  recognition  in  other  ways.  They  had 
a  peculiar  mode  of  taking  hold  of  the  lapel  of  the  coat,  first  drawing  it  away  from 
the  body,  and  then  giving  it  a  motion  as  though  wrapping  it  around  the  heart. 
During  the  war  a  portion  of  them  were  forced  into  the  rebellion,  but  quickly  rebelled 
against  General  Cooper,  who  was  placed  over  them,  and  when  they  fought  against 
that  general,  at  Bird  Creek,  they  wore  a  bit  of  corn-husk,  split  into  strips,  tied  in 
their  hair.  In  the  night  when  two  Pins  met,  and  one  asked  the  other,  'Who  are 
you?'  the  reply  or  pass  was,  'Tahlequah — who  are  you'.''  The  response  was,  'I 
am  Kctoowha's  son.'" — Dr  D.  J.  MacGowan,  Indian  Secret  Societies,  in  Historical 
Magazine,  x,  1866. 

(4s  i  Farewell  address  of  Lloyd  Welch  (p.  175):  In  the  sad  and  eventful  history 
of  the  Cherokee  their  gifted  leaders,  frequently  of  white  ancestry,  have  oftentimes 
spoken  tii  the  world  with  eloquent  words  of  appeal,  of  protest,  or  of  acknowledgment, 
but  never  more  eloquently  than  in  the  last  farewell  of  Chief  Lloyd  Welch  to  the 
eastern  band,  as  he  felt  the  end  draw  near  I  leaflet,  MacGowan,  Chattanooga  [n.d., 
L880]  i: 

"To  the  Chairman  and  Council  of  tlu  Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees: 

"  My  Brothers:  It  becomes  my  imperative  duty  to  bid  you  an  affectionate  fan-well, 
and  resign  into  your  hands  the  trust  you  so  generously  confided  to  my  keeping,  prin- 
cipal chief  of  the  Eastern  Land.  It  is  with  great  solicitude  and  anxiety  for  your 
welfare  that  I  am  constrained  to  take  this  course.  But  the  inexorable  laws  of 
nature,  and  the  rapid  decline  of  my  health,  admonish  me  that  soon,  very  soon,  I 
will  have  passed  from  earth,  my  body  consigned  to  the  tomb,  ni\  spirit  to  God  who 
gave  it,  in  that  happy  home  in  the  beyond,  where  there  is  no  sickness,  no  sorrow, 
no  pain,  no  death,  but  one  eternal  joy  and  happiness  forever  more. 

"The  oid\   regret   that  I  feel  for  thus  being  so  soon  called  from  among  you,  at  the 

meridian  of  manh 1,  when  hope  is  sweet,  is  the  great  anxiety  1  have  to  serve  and 

benefit  my  race.  For  this  I  have  studied  and  labored  for  the  past  ten  years  of  my 
life,  to  secure  to  my  brothers  equal  justice  from  their  brothers  of  the  west  and  the 
United   States,    and   that   you  would   no   longer  be   hewers  of   w 1  and   drawers  of 


FAREWELL    ADDRESS    OF    LLOYD    WELCH  227 

water,  but  assume  thai  proud  position  among  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth 
intended  by  the  Creator  that  we'should  occupy,  and  which  in  the  near  future  you 
w  ill  take  or  I"-  exterminated.  When  you  become  educated,  as  a  natural  consequence 
you  will  become  more  intelligent,  sober,  industrious,  and  prosperous 

■■  1 1  ha-  been  the  aim  of  ii iv  lit".-.  1 1 ir  chief  object,  to  serve  my  race  faithfully,  hon- 
estly, ami  to  tin-  best  of  my  ability.  II""  well  1  have  succeeded  I  will  leave  i"  his- 
tory and  your  magnanimity  to  decide,  trusting  an  all-wise  ami  just  God  to  guide  and 
protect  you  in  the  future,  as  lie  will  do  all  things  well.  We  may  fail  w  hen  mi  earth 
to  see  the  goodness  ami  wisdom  of  God  in  removing  from  us  our  best  ami  mosl  use- 
ful men,  but  when  we  have  crossed  over  i  ill  the  i  it  her  shore  to  Our  happy  ami  eternal 

Inline  in  the  far  beyond  then  our  eyes  will  be  opened  and  we  will  he  enabled  to  see 
ami  realize  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God  in  thus  afflicting  us  while  here  mi  earth, 
ami  will  he  enabled  inure  fully  to  praise  <  rod,  from  whom  all  blessings  come. 

"I  hope  that  when  you  come  to  select  one  from  among  you  to  take  the  responsible 
position  of  principal  chief  of  your  ha  ml  you  will  lay  aside  all  persi  ma  I  considerations 
and  seleet  one  in  every  respect  competent,  without  stain  on  his  fair  fame,  a  pure, 
mil ile,  honest,  man — one  who  loves  God  ami  all  that  is  pure — with  intellect  sufficient 
to  know  your  rights,  independence  ami  nerve  to  defend  them.  Should  you  he  thus 
fortunate  in  making  your  choice, all  will  he  well.  It  has  been  truthfully  said  that 
'when  the  righteous  rule  the  people  rejoice,  but  when  the  wicked  rule  the  people 
mourn.' 

■1  am  satisfied  that  you  have  among  you  many  who  are  fully  competent  of  tin- 
task.  If  I  was  satisfied  it  was  your  wish  ami  for  the  good  of  my  brothers  I  might 
mention  some  of  them,  hut  think  it  best  to  leave  you  in  the  hands  of  an  all-wise  God, 
who  does  all  things  right,  to  guide  ami  direct  you  aright. 

"Ami  now.  my  brothers,  in  taking  perhaps  my  last  farewell  on  earth  I  do  pray 
God  that  you  may  so  conduct  yourselves  while  here  on  earth  that  when  the  last  sail 
rite  i-  performed  by  loved  friends  we  may  compose  one  unbroken  family  above  in 
that  celestial  city  from  whose  bourne  no  traveler  has  ever  returned  to  describe  the 
beauty,  grandeur,  and  happiness  of  the  heaven  prepared  for  the  faithful  by  God  him- 
self beyond  the  sky.  And  again,  my  brothers,  permit  me  to  bid  you  a  fond,  hut 
perhaps  a  last,  farewell  on  earth,  until  we  meet  again  where  parting  is  never  known 
and  friends  meet  to  part  no  more  forever. 

"L.  R.  "Welch, 
"Principal  Chief  Eastern  Band  Cherokei  Indians. 

"  Witness: 

"Samuel  W.  Davidson. 
"B.  E.  Mkrony." 

(49)  Status  of  eastern  BAND  i]>.  180):  For  some  reason  all  authorities  who  have 
hitherto  discussed  the  status  of  the  eastern  band  of  Cherokee  seem  to  have  been 
entirely  unaware  of  the  enactment  of  the  supplementary  articles  to  the  treaty  of  New 
Echota,  by  which  all  preemption  and  reservation  rights  granted  under  the  twelfth 
article  were  canceled.  Thus,  in  the  Cherokee  case  of  "The  United  States  etal  against 
D.  T.  Boyd  it  nl,"  we  And  the  United  States  circuit  judge  quoting  the  twelfth  article 
in  its  original  form  as  a  basis  for  argument,  while  his  associate  judge  says:  "Their 
forefathers  availed  themselves  of  a  provision  in  the  treaty  of  New  Echota  and 
remained  in  the  state  of  North  Carolina."  etc.  (Report  of  Indian  Commissionei  lor 
1895,  pp.  633-635,  1896).  The  truth  is  that  the  treaty  as  ratified  with  its  supplemen- 
tary articles  canceled  the  residence  right  of  every  Cherokee  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  it  was  not  until  thirty  years  afterwards  that  North  ( 'arolina  finally  gave  assurance 
that  the  eastern  band  would  he  permitted   to  remain  within  her  borders. 

The  twelfth  article  ..f  the  new  Echota  treaty  of  December  29,  1835,  provides  for  a 
pro  rata  apportionment  to  such  Cherokee  as  desire  to  remain  in  the  East,  and  con- 


228  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eih.ann.19 

tinues:  "Such  heads  of  Cherokee  families  as  are  desirous  to  reside  within  the  states 
of  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Alabama,  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  same,  and 
who  are  qualified  or  calculated  to  become  useful  citizens,  shall  be  entitled,  on  the 
certificate  of  the  commissioners,  to  a  preemption  right  to  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  or  one  quarter  section,  at  the  minimum  Congress  price,  so  as  to  include 
the  present  buildings  or  improvements  of  those  who  now  reside  there;  and  such  as 
do  not  live  there  at  present  shall  be  permitted  to  locate  within  two  years  any  lands 
not  already  occupied  by  person's  entitled  to  preemption  privilege  under  this  treaty," 
etc.  Article  13  defines  terms  with  reference  to  individual  reservatii  ins  granted  under 
former  treaties.  The  preamble  to  the  supplementary  articles  agreed  upon  on  March 
1,  1836,  recites  that,  "Whereas  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  expressed  his 
determination  not  to  allow  any  preemptions  or  reservations,  his  desire  being  that  the 
whole  Cherokee  people  should  remove  together  and  establish  themselves  in  the 
country  provided  for  them  west  of  the  Mississippi  river  (article  1) :  It  is  therefore 
agreed  that  all  preemption  rights  and  reservations  provided  for  in  articles  12  and  13 
shall  be,  and  are  hereby,  relinquished  and  declared  void."  The  treaty,  in  this  shape, 
was  ratified  on  May  23,  1836  (see  Indian  Treaties,  pp.  633-648,  1837). 


BUREAU   OF  AMERICAN   ETHNOLOGY 


NINETEENTH    ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.    XI 


SWIMMER     'A'YUN'INii 


Hi— STORIES  AND  STORY  TELLERS 

Cherokee  myths  may  be  roughly  classified  as  sacred  myths,  animal 
stories,  local  legends,  and  historical  traditions.  To  the  first  class 
belong  the  genesis  stories,  dealing  with  the  creation  of  the  world,  the 
nature  of  the  heavenly  bodies  and  elemental  forces,  the  origin  of  life 
and  death,  the  spirit  world  and  the  invisible  beings,  the  ancient  mon- 
sters, and  the  hero-gods.  It  is  almost  certain  that  most  of  the  myths 
of  this  class  are  but  disjointed  fragments  of  an  original  complete  gen- 
esis and  migration  legend,  which  is  now  lost.  With  nearly  every  tribe 
that  has  been  studied  we  find  such  a  sacred  legend,  preserved  by  the 
priests  of  the  tradition,  who  alone  are  privileged  to  recite  and  explain 
it.  and  dealing  with  the  origin  and  wanderings  of  the  people  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world  to  the  final  settlement  of  the  tribe  in  its  home 
territory.  Among  the  best  examples  of  such  genesis  traditions  are 
those  recorded  in  the  Walam  Olum  of  the  Delawares  and  Matthews' 
Navaho  Origin  Legend.  Others  may  be  found  in  Cusick's  History 
of  the  Six  Nations,  Gatschet's  Creek  Migration  Legend,  and  the 
author's  Jicarilla Genesis.1  The  Cheyenne,  Arapaho,  and  other  plains 
tribes  are  known  to  have  similar  genesis  myths. 

The  former  existence  of  such  a  national  legend  among  the  Cherokee 
is  confirmed  by  Haywood,  writing  in  1823,  who  states  on  information 
obtained  from  a  principal  man  in  the  tribe  that  they  had  once  a  long 
oration,  then  nearly  forgotten,  which  recounted  the  history  of  their 
wanderings  from  the  time  when  they  had  been  first  placed  upon  the 
earth  by  some  superior  power  from  above.  Up  to  about  the  middle 
of  the  la-t  century  this  tradition  was  still  recited  at  the  annual  Green- 
corn  dance.2  Unlike  mosl  Indians  the  Cherokee  are  not  conservative, 
and  even  before  the  Revolution  had  so  far  lost  their  primitive  customs 
from  contact  with  the  whites  that  Adair,  in  1775.  calls  them  a  nesl  of 
apostate  hornets  who  for  more  than  thirty  years  had  been  fast  degen- 
erating.3 Whatever  it  may  have  been,  their  national  legend  is  now  lost 
forever.  The  secret  organizations  that  must  have  existed  formerly 
among  the  priesthood  have  also  disappeared,  and  each  man  now  works 
independently  according  to  his  individual  gifts  and  knowledge. 

The  sacred  myths  were  not  for  every  one,  but  only  those  might  hear 
who  observed  the  proper  form  and  ceremony.      When  John  Ax  and 

■American  Anthropologist,  vol.  xi.  July.  1898.  3 Adair,  American  Indians,  p. 81,  ITT"'. 

2  See  page  20. 


230  MYTHS    OK    THE    CHEROKEE 


other  old  men  were  boys,  now  some  eighty  years  ago.  the  myth-keepers 

and  priests  were  accustomed  to  meet  toe-ether  at  night  in  the  asl. 
or  low-built  log  .sleeping  house,  to  recite  the  traditions  and  discuss 
their  secret  knowledge.  At  times  those  who  desired  instruction  from 
an  adept  in  the  sacred  lore  of  the  tribe  met  him  by  appointment  in  the 
as?,  where  they  sat  up  all  night  talking,  with  only  the  light  of  a  small 
tire  burning  in  the  middle  of  the  floor.  At  daybreak  the  whole  party 
went  down  to  the  running  stream,  where  the  pupils  or  hearers  of  the 
myths  stripped  themselves,  and  were  scratched  upon  their  naked  skin 
with  a  bone-tooth  comb  in  the  hands  of  the  priest,  after  which  they 
waded  out,  facing  the  rising  sun,  and  dipped  seven  times  under  the 
water,  while  the  priest  recited  prayers  upon  the  bank.  This  purifica- 
tory rite,  observed  more  than  a  century  ago  by  Adair,  is  also  a  part  of 
the  ceremonial  of  the  ballplay,  the  Green-corn  dance,  and,  in  fact, 
every  important  ritual  performance.  Before  beginning  one  of  the 
stories  of  the  sacred  class  the  informant  would  sometimes  suggest 
jokingly  that  the  author  first  submit  to  being  scratched  and  "go  to 
water." 

As  a  special  privilege  a  boy  was  sometimes  admitted  to  the  asl  on 
such  occasions,  to  tend  the  fire,  and  thus  had  the  opportunity  to 
listen  to  the  stories  and  learn  something  of  the  secret  rites.  In  this  way 
John  Ax  gained  much  of  his  knowledge,  although  he  does  not  claim 
to  be  an  adept.  As  he  describes  it,  the  tire  intended  to  heat  the  room — 
for  the  nights  are  cold  in  the  Cherokee  mountains — was  built  upon  the 
ground  in  the  center  of  the  small  house,  which  was  not  high  enough 
to  permit  a  standing  position,  while  the  occupants  sat  in  a  circle  around 
it.  In  front  of  the  tire  was  placed  a  large  flat  rock,  and  near  it  a  pile 
of  pine  knots  or  splints.  When  the  tire  had  burned  down  to  a  bed  of 
coals,  the  boy  lighted  one  or  two  of  the  pine  knots  and  laid  them  upon 
the  rock,  where  they  blazed  with  a  bright  light  until  nearly  consumed, 
when  others  were  laid  upon  them,  and  so  on  until  daybreak. 

Sometimes  the  pine  splints  were  set  up  crosswise,  thus,  >0<XX,  in  a 
circle  around  the  fire,  with  a  break  at  the  eastern  side.  They  were 
then  lighted  from  one  end  and  burned  gradually  around  the  circle, 
fresh  splints  being  set  up  behind  as  those  in  front  were  consumed. 
Lawson  describes  this  identical  custom  as  witnessed  at  a  dance  among 
the  Waxhaw,  on  Catawba  river,  in  1701: 

Now,  to  return  to  our  state  house,  whither  we  were  invited  by  the  grandees.  As 
seen  as  we  came  into  it,  they  placed  our  Englishmen  near  the  king,  it  being  my  for- 
tune to  sit  next  him,  having  his  great  general  or  war  captain  on  my  other  hand. 
The  house  is  as  dark  as  a  dungeon,  and  as  hot  as  one  of  the  Dutch  stoves  in  Holland. 
They  had  made  a  circular  Are  of  split  canes  in  the  middle  of  the  house,  it  was  one 
man's  employment  to  add  more  split  reeds  to  the  one  end  as  it  consumed  at  the 
other,  there  Vicing  a  small  vacancy  left  to  supply  it  with  fuel.1 

i  Lawson,  Carolina,  67-68,  reprint  1860. 


THE    MYTHIC    ANIMALS  231 

belong  tlic  shorter  animal  myths,  which  have 


lost  whatever  sacred  character  they  may  once  have  had,  and  are  told 

now  merely  as  hu rous  explanations  of  certain  animal  peculiarities. 

While  the  >acred  myths  have  a  constant  bearing  upon  Eormulistic 
prayers  and  observances,  it  is  only  in  cure  instances  thai  any  rite  or 
custom  is  based  upon  an  animal  myth.  Moreover,  the  sacred  myths 
are  know  n  as  a  rule  only  to  the  professional  priests  or  conjurers,  while 
the  shorter  animal  stories  are  more  or  less  familiar  to  nearly  every- 
one and  are  found  in  almost  identical  form  among  Cherokee,  Creeks, 
and  other  southern  tribes. 

The  animals  of  the  Cherokee  myths,  like  the  traditional  hero-gods, 
were  larger  and  of  more  perfect  type  than  their  present  representa- 
tives. They  had  chiefs,  councils,  and  townhouses,  mingled  with 
human  kind  upon  terms  of  perfect  equality  and  spoke  the  same 
language.  In  some  unexplained  manner  they  finally  lefi  this  lower 
world  and  ascended  to  Galun'lati,  the  world  above,  where  they  still 
exist.  The  removal  was  not  simultaneous,  hut  each  animal  chose  his 
own  time.  The  animals  that  we  know,  small  in  size  and  poor  in  intel- 
lect, came  upon  the  earth  later,  and  are  not  the  descendants  of  the 
mythic  animals,  hut  only  weak  imitations.  In  one  or  two  special  eases. 
however,  the  present  creature  is  the  descendant  of  a  former  monster. 
Tree-  and  plants  also  were  alive  and  could  talk  in  the  old  days,  and 
had  their  place  in  council,  but  do  not  figure  prominently  in  the  myths. 

Each  animal  had  his  appointed  station  and  duty.  Thus,  the  Wala'si 
frog  was  the  marshal  and  leader  in  the  council,  while  the  Rabbit  was 
the  messenger  to  carry  all  public  announcements,  and  usually  led  the 
dance  besides.  He  was  also  the  great  trickster  and  mischief  maker,  a 
character  which  he  bears  in  eastern  and  southern  Indian  myth  gener- 
ally, as  well  as  in  the  southern  negro  stories.  The  bear  figures  as 
having  been  originally  a  man,  with  human  form  and  nature. 

As  with  other  tribes  and  countries,  almost  every  prominent  rock  and 
mountain,  every  dec])  bend  in  the  river,  in  the  old  Cherokee  country 
has  its  accompanying  legend.  It  may  be  a  little  story  that  can  he 
told  in  a  paragraph,  to  account  for  some  natural  feature,  or  it  may  be 
one  chapter  of  a  myth  that  has  its  sequel  in  a  mountain  a  hundred 
mile-  away.  As  is  usual  when  a  people  has  lived  for  a  long  time  in 
the  same  country,  nearly  every  important  myth  is  localized,  thus 
assuming  more  definite  character. 

There  is  the  usual  number  of  anecdotes  and  stories  of  personal 
adventure,  some  of  them  irredeemably  vulgar,  but  historical  traditions 
are  strangely  wanting.  The  authentic  records  of  unlettered  peoples 
are  short  at  best,  seldom  going  back  much  farther  than  the  memories 
of  their  oldest  men;  and  although  the  Cherokee  have  been  the  most 
important  of  the  southern  tribes,  making  wars  and  treaties  for  three 
centuries  with   Spanish.   English,  French,  and  Americans.   Iroquois, 


232  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. ANN.  19 

Shawano,  Catawba,  and  Creeks,  there  is  little  evidence  of  the  fact  in 
their  traditions.  This  condition  may  be  due  in  part  to  the  temper  of 
the  Cherokee  mind,  which,  as  has  been  already  stated,  is  accustomed 
to  look  forward  to  new  things  rather  than  to  dwell  upon  the  past. 
The  lirst  Cherokee  war,  with  its  stories  of  Agansta'ta  and  Ata-gul'kalii', 
is  absolutely  forgotten.  Of  the  long  Revolutionary  struggle  they 
have  hardly  a  recollection,  although  they  were  constantly  fighting 
throughout  the  whole  period  and  for  several  years  after,  and  at  one 
time  were  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin  by  four  concerted  expeditious, 
which  ravaged  their  country  simultaneously  from  different  directions 
and  destroyed  almost  every  one  of  their  towns.  Even  the  Creek  war, 
in  which  many  of  their  warriors  took  a  prominent  part,  was  already 
nearly  forgotten  some  years  ago.  Beyond  a  few  stories  of  encounters 
with  the  Shawano  and  Iroquois  there  is  hardly  anything  that  can  be 
called  history  until  well  within  the  present  century. 

With  some  tribes  the  winter  season  and  the  night  are  the  time  for 
telling  stories,  but  to  the  Cherokee  all  times  are  alike.  As  our  grand- 
mothers begin,  "'Once  upon  a  time,"  so  the  Cherokee  story-teller 
introduces  Ins  narrative  by  saying:  "This  is  what  the  old  men  told 
me  when  I  was  a  boy." 

Not  all  tell  the  same  stories,  for  in  tribal  lore,  as  in  all  other  sorts 
of  knowledge,  we  find  specialists.  Some  common  minds  take  note 
only  of  common  things  —  little  stories  of  the  rabbit,  the  terrapin,  and 
the  others,  told  to  point  a  joke  or  amuse  a  child.  Others  dwell  upon 
the  wonderful  and  supernatural  —  Tsul'kalu',  Tsuwe'nahi,  and  the 
Thunderers  —  and  those  sacred  things  to  be  told  only  with  prayer 
and  purification.  Then,  again,  there  are  still  a  few  old  warriors  who 
live  in  the  memory  of  heroic  days  when  there  were  wars  with  the 
Seneca  and  the  Shawano,  and  these  men  are  the  historians  of  the 
tribe  and  the  conservators  of  its  antiquities. 

The  question  of  the  origin  of  myths  is  one  which  affords  abundant 
opportunity  for  ingenious  theories  in  the  absence  of  any  possibility 
of  proof.  Those  of  the  Cherokee  are  too  far  broken  down  ever  to  be 
woven  together  again  into  any  long-connected  origin  legend,  such  as 
we  tind  with  some  tribes,  although  a  few  still  exhibit  a  certain  sequence 
wrhich  indicates  that  they  once  formed  component  parts  of  a  cycle. 
From  the  prominence  of  the  rabbit  in  the  animal  stories,  as  well  as  in 
those  found  among  the  southern  negroes,  an  effort  has  been  made  to 
establish  for  them  a  negro  origin,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  the  rab- 
bit— the  Great  White  Rabbit — is  the  hero-god,  trickster,  and  wonder- 
worker of  all  the  tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi  from  Hudson  bay  to 
the  Gulf.  In  European  folklore  also  the  rabbit  is  regarded  as  some- 
thing uncanny  and  half-supernatural,  and  even  in  far-off  Korea  he  is 
the  central  figure  in  the  animal  myths.  Just  why  this  should  be  so 
is  a  question  that  inay  be  left  to  the  theorist  to  decide.     Among  the 


mooney]  CONTACT    WITH    NEGROES  233 

Algonquian  tribes  the  name,  wabos,  seems  to  have  been  confounded 
with  that  of  the  dawn,  waban,  so  that  the  Great  White  Rabbit  is 
really  the  incarnation  of  the  eastern  dawn  that  brings  light  and  life  and 
driven  away  the  dark  shadows  which  have  held  the  world  in  chains. 
The  animal  itself  seems  to  he  regarded  by  the  Indians  as  the  fitting 
type  of  defenseless  weakness  protected  and  made  safe  by  constantly 
alert  vigilance,  and  with  a  disposition,  moreover,  for  turning  up  at 
unexpected  moments.  The  same  characteristics  would  appeal  as 
strongly  to  the  primitive  mind  of  the  negro.  The  very  expression 
which  Harris  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Uncle  Remus,  '"In  dem  days 
Brer  Rabbit  en  his  fambly  wuz  at  the  head  er  de  gang  w'en  enny 
racket  wus  en  hand,"1  was  paraphrased  in  the  Cherokee  language  by 
Suyeta  in  introducing  his  first  rabbit  story:  "  Tsi'stu  wuliga 'ndtHtUn' 
ii,,,',iuts,itiY  tj, x.'i—  the  Rabbit  was  the  leader  of  them  all  in  mischief." 
The  expression  struck  the  author  so  forcibly  that  the  words  wire 
recorded  as  spoken. 

In  regard  to  the  contact  between  the  two  races,  by  which  such  stories 
could  be  borrowed  from  one  by  the  other,  it  is  not  commonly  known 
that  in  all  the  southern  colonies  Indian  slaves  were  bought  and  sold  and 
kept  in  servitude  and  worked  in  the  fields  side  by  side  with  negroes  up 
to  the  time  of  the  Revolution.  Not  to  go  back  to  the  Spanish  period. 
when  such  things  were  the  order  of  the  day,  we  find  the  Cherokee  as 
early  as  Kin:]  complaining  that  their  people  were  being  kidnaped  by 
slave  hunters.  Hundreds  of  captured  Tuscarora  and  nearly  the  whole 
tribe  of  the  Appalachee  were  distributed  as  slaves  among  the  Carolina 
colonists  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  while  the  Natchez 
and  others  shared  a  similar  fate  in  Louisiana,  and  as  late  at  least  as 
1776  Cherokee  prisoners  of  war  were  still  sold  to  the  highest  bidder 
for  the  same  purpose.  Atone  time  it  was  charged  against  the  gov- 
ernor of  South  Carolina  that  he  was  provoking  a  general  Indian  war 
by  his  encouragement  of  slave  hunts.  Furthermore,  as  the  coast  tribes 
dwindled  they  were  compelled  to  associate  and  intermarry  with  the 
negroes  until  they  finally  lost  their  identity  ami  were  classed  with 
that  race,  so  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  blood  of  the  south- 
ern negroes  is  unquestionably  Indian. 

The  negro,  with  his  genius  for  imitation  and  his  love  for  stories. 
especially  of  the  comic  variety,  must  undoubtedly  have  absorbed  much 
from  tlie  Indian  in  this  way.  while  on  the  other  hand  the  Indian,  with 
his  pride  of  conservatism  and  his  contempt  for  a  subject  race,  would 
have  taken  but  little  from  the  negro,  and  that  little  could  not  easily 
have  found  its  way  back  to  the  free  tribes.  Some  of  these  animal 
stories  are  common  to  widely  separated  tribes  among  whom  there 
can  be  no  suspicion  of  negro  influences.  Thus  the  famous  "tar  baby" 
story  has   variants,    not   only   among  the   Cherokee,  but  also   in    New 

1  Harris,  J.  C,  Uncle  Rei  .  p.  29;  New  Y<>rk,  1886. 


234  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.axn.19 

Mexico.  Washington,  and  southern  Alaska  —  wherever,  in  fact,  the 
pifion  or  the  pine  supplies  enough  gum  to  be  molded  into  a  ball  for 
Indian  uses  —  while  the  incident  of  the  Rabbit  dining'  the  Bear  is  found 
with  nearly  every  tribe  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Pacific.  The  idea  that 
such  stories  are  necessarily  of  negro  origin  is  due  largely  to  the  com- 
mon but  mistaken  notion  that  the  Indian  has  no  sense  of  humor. 

In  many  cases  it  is  not  necessary  to  assume  borrowing  from  either 
side,  the  myths  being  such  as  would  naturally  spring  up  in  any  part  of 
the  world  among  primitive  people  accustomed  to  observe  the  charac- 
teristics of  animals,  which  their  religious  system  regarded  as  differing 
in  no  essential  from  human  kind,  save  only  in  outward  form.  Thus 
in  Europe  and  America  the  terrapin  has  been  accepted  as  the  type  of 
plodding  slowness,  while  the  rabbit,  with  his  sudden  dash,  or  the  deer 
with  his  bounding  stride,  is  the  type  of  speed.  What  more  natural 
than  that  the  story-teller  should  set  one  to  race  against  the  other,  with 
the  victory  in  favor  of  the  patient  striver  against  the  self-confident 
boaster?  The  idea  of  a  hungry  wolf  or  other  beast  of  prey  luring 
his  victims  by  the  promise  of  a  new  song  or  dance,  during  which  they 
must  close  their  eyes,  is  also  one  that  would  easily  occur  among  any 
primitive  people  whose  chief  pastime  is  dancing.1 

On  the  other  hand,  such  a  conception  as  that  of  Flint  and  the  Rabbit 
could  only  be  the  outgrowth  of  a  special  cosmogonic  theology,  though 
now  indeed  broken  and  degraded,  and  it  is  probable  that  many  myths 
told  now  only  for  amusement  are  really  worn  down  fragments  of 
ancient  sacred  traditions.  Thus  the  story  just  noted  appears  in  a  dif- 
ferent dress  among  the  Iroquois  as  a  part  of  their  great  creation  myth. 
The  Cherokee  being  a  detached  tribe  of  the  Iroquois,  we  may  expect  to 
find  among  the  latter,  if  it  he  not  already  too  late,  the  explanation  and 
more  perfect  statement  of  some  things  which  are  obscure  in  the  Cher- 
okee myths.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  the  Indian,  like 
other  men,  does  some  things  for  simple  amusement,  and  it  is  useless 
to  look  for  occult  meanings  where  none  exist. 

Except  as  to  the  local  traditions  and  a  few  others  which  are  obviously 
the  direct  outgrowth  of  Cherokee  conditions,  it  is  impossible  to  fix  a 
definite  starting  point  for  the  myths.  It  would  be  unwise  to  assert 
that  even  the  majority  of  them  originated  within  the  tribe.  The 
Cherokee  have  strains  of  Creek,  Catawba,  Uchee,  Natchez,  Iroquois, 
Osage,  and  Shawano  blood,  and  such  admixture  implies  contact  more 
or  less  intimate  and  continued.     Indians  are  great  wanderers,  and  a 


1  Fur  ;i  presentation  -if  the  African  and  European  argument  see  Harris,  Nights  with  Uncle  Remus. 
introduction,  1883;  and  Uncle  Remus.  His  Songs  and  His  Sayings,  introduction,  1886;  Gerber, 
Uncle  Remus  Traced  to  the  Old  World,  in  Journal  of  American  Folklore,  vi,  p.  23,  October,  1893.  In 
regard  to  tribal  dissemination  of  myths  see  Boas,  Dissemination  of  Tales  among  the  Natives  of  North 
America,  in  Journal  of  American  Folklore,  IV,  p.  12,  January,  1891;  TheGrowthof  Indian  Mythologies, 
in  the  same  journal,  IX,  p.  32,  January  ls>.ni;  Northern  Elements  in  the  Mythology  of  the  Navaho,  in 
American  Anthropologist,  x.  p.  11.  November,  ls'JT;  introduction  to  Teit's  Traditions  of  the  Thompson 
River  Indians.  1898.  IT  Boas  has  probably  devoted  more  study  to  the  subject  than  any  other  anthro- 
pologist, and  his  personal  observations  include  tribes  from  the  Arctic  regions  to  the  Columbia. 


hooney]  OBIGIH    OF    THE    MYTHS  235 

myth  can  travel  as  far  as  a  redstone  pipe  or  a  string  of  wampum.  It 
was  customary,  as  it  still  is  i<>  a  limited  extent  in  the  West,  for  large 
parties,  sometimes  even  a  whole  band  or  village,  to  make  lime-  visits 
to  other  tribes,  dancing,  feasting,  trading,  and  exchanging  stories  w  itli 
their  friends  for  weeks  or  months  at  a  time,  with  the  expectation  that 
their  hosts  would  return  the  visit  within  the  next  summer.  Regular 
trade  routes  crossed  the  continent  from  east  to  west  and  from  north  to 
south,  and  when  the  subject  has  been  fully  investigated  it  will  lie  found 
that  this  intertribal  commerce  was  as  constant  and  well  recognized  a 
part  of  Indian  life  as  is  our  own  railroad  traffic  today.  The  very 
existence  of  a  trade  jargon  or  a  sign  language  is  proof  of  intertribal 
relations  over  wide  areas.  Their  political  alliances  also  were  often 
far-reaching,  for  Pontiac  welded  into  a  warlike  confederacy  all  the 
trilies  from  the  Atlantic  border  to  the  head  of  the  Mississippi,  while 
the  emissaries  of  the  Shawano  prophet  carried  the  story  of  his  rev- 
elations throughout  the  whole  region  from  the  Florida  coast  to  the 
Saskatchewan. 

In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  as  useless  to  attempt  to  trace  the  origin 
of  every  myth  as  to  claim  a  Cherokee  authorship  for  them  all.  From 
\\  hat  we  know  of  the  character  of  the  Shawano,  their  tendency  toward 
the  ceremonial  and  the  mystic,  and  their  close  relations  with  the 
Cherokee,  it  may  he  inferred  that  some  of  the  myths  originated  with 
that  tribe.  We  should  naturally  expect  also  to  find  close  correspond- 
ence with  the  myths  of  the  Creeks  and  other  southern  tribes  within 
the  former  area  of  the  Mobilian  trade  language.  The  localization  at 
home  of  all  the  more  important  myths  indicates  a  long  residence  in 
the  country.  As  the  majority  of  those  here  given  belong  to  the  half 
dozen  counties  still  familiar  to  the  East  Cherokee,  we  may  guess  how 
many  attached  to  the  afieient  territory  of  the  tribe  arc  now  irrecov- 
erably lost. 

Contact  with  the  white  race  seems  to  have  produced  very  little 
impression  on  the  tribal  mythology,  and  not  more  than  three  or  four 
stories  current  among  the  Cherokee  can  he  assigned  to  a  Caucasian 
source.  These  have  not  been  reproduced  here,  for  the  reason  that 
they  are  plainly  European,  and  the  author  has  chosen  not  to  follow  the 
example  of  some  collectors  who  have  assumed  that  every  tale  told  in  an 
Indina  language  is  necessarily  an  Indian  story.  Scores  recorded  in  col- 
lections from  the  North  and  West  are  nothing  more  than  variants  from 
the  celebrated  Hausmarchen,  as  told  by  French  trappers  and  voyageurs 
to  their  Indian  campmates  and  halfbreed  children.  It  might  perhaps 
be  thought  that  missionary  influence  would  be  evident  in  the  genesis 
tradition,  but  such  is  not  the  case.  The  Bible  story  kills  the  Indian 
tradition,  and  there  is  no  amalgamation.  It  is  hardly  necessary  tosay 
that  stories  of  a  great  fish  which  swallows  a  man  and  of  a  great  Hood 


236  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

which  destroys  a  people  are  found  the  world  over.  The  supposed 
Cherokee  hero-god,  Wiisi,  described  by  one  writer  as  so  remarkably 
resembling  the  great  Hebrew  lawgiver  is  in  fact  that  great  teacher 
himself,  Wasi  being  the  Cherokee  approximate  for  Moses,  and  the 
good  missionary  who  first  recorded  the  story  was  simply  listening  to 
a  chapter  taken  by  his  convert  from  the  Cherokee  testament.  The 
whole  primitive  pantheon  of  the  Cherokee  is  still  preserved  in  their 
sacred  formulas. 

As  compared  with  those  from  some  other  tribes  the  Cherokee  myths 
are  clean.  For  picturesque  imagination  and  wealth  of  detail  they 
rank  high,  and  some  of  the  wonder  Stories  may  challenge  those  of 
Europe  and  India.  The  numerous  parallels  furnished  will  serve  to 
indicate  their  relation  to  the  general  Indian  system.  Unless  otherwise 
noted,  every  myth  here  given  has  been  obtained  directly  from  the 
Indians,  and  in  nearly  every  case  has  been  verified  from  several 
sources. 

"I  know  not  how  the  truth  may  be, 
I  tell  the  tale  as  'twas  told  to  me." 

First  and  chief  in  the  list  of  story  tellers  comes  A'yun'ini,  "Swim- 
mer," from  whom  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  whole  number  were 
originally  obtained,  together  with  nearly  as  large  a  proportion  of  the 
whole  body  of  Cherokee  material  now  in  possession  of  the  author. 
The  collection  could  not  have  been  made  without  his  help,  and  now 
that  he  is  gone  it  can  never  be  duplicated.  Born  about  1835,  shortly 
before  the  Removal,  he  grew  up  under  the  instruction  of  masters  to  be 
a  priest,  doctor,  and  keeper  of  tradition,  so  that  he  was  recognized  as 
an  authority  throughout  the  band  and  by  such  a  competent  outside 
judge  as  Colonel  Thomas.  He  served  through  the  war  as  second 
sergeant  of  the  Cherokee  Company  A,  Sixty-ninth  North  Carolina 
Confederate  Infantry.  Thomas  Legion.  He  was  prominent  in  the 
local  affairs  of  the  band,  and  no  Green-corn  dance,  ballplay,  or  other 
tribal  function  was  ever  considered  complete  without  his  presence  and 
active  assistance.  A  genuine  aboriginal  antiquarian  and  patriot, 
proud  of  his  people  and  their  ancient  system,  he  took  delight  in 
recording  in  his  native  alphabet  the  songs  and  sacred  formulas  of 
priests  and  dancers  and  the  names  of  medicinal  plants  and  the  pre- 
scriptions with  which  they  were  compounded,  while  his  mind  was  a 
storehouse  of  Indian  tradition.  To  a  happy  descriptive  style  he  added 
a  musical  voice  for  the  songs  and  a  peculiar  faculty  for  imitating 
the  characteristic  cry  of  bird  or  beast,  so  that  to  listen  to  one  of  his 
recitals  was  often  a  pleasure  in  itself,  even  to  one  who  understood  not  a 
word  of  the  language.  He  spoke  no  English,  and  to  the  day  of  his  death 
clung  to  the  moccasin  and  turban,  together  with  the  rattle,  his  badge 
of  authority.     He  died  in  March,  1S99,  aged  about  sixty-five,  and  was 


moomvj  STORY-TELLERS  237 

buried  like  a  true  Cherokee  on  the  slope  of  a  forest-clad  mountain. 
Peace  to  his  ashes  and  sorrow  for  his  going,  for  with  him  perished  half 
the  tradition  of  a  people. 

Next  in  order  comes  the  name  <>f  Itagu'nahi.  better  known  a^  John 
A\.  born  about  L800  and  now  consequently  just  touching  the  centurj 
mark,  being  the  oldest  man  of  the  band.  He  has  a  distinct  recollec- 
tion of  tin'  Creek  war,  at  which  time  he  was  about  twelve  years  of  age, 
and  was  already  married  and  a  father  when  the  lands  east  of  Xantahala 
were  sold  by  the  treaty  of  L819.  Although  not  a  professional  priest 
or  doctor,  he  was  recognized,  before  age  had  dulled  his  faculties,  as 
an  authority  upon  all  relating  to  tribal  custom,  and  was  an  expert  in 
the  making  of  rattles,  wands,  and  other  ceremonial  paraphernalia.  ( >f 
a  poetic  and  imaginative  temperament,  he  cared  most  for  the  wonder 
stories,  of  the  giant  Tsul'kalu',  of  the  great  Uktena  or  of  the  invisible 
spirit  people,  but  he  had  also  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  humorous 
animal  stories.  He  speaks  no  English,  and  with  his  erect  spare  figure 
and  piercing  eye  is  a  tine  specimen  of  the  old-time  Indian.  Notwith- 
standing his  great  age  he  walked  without  other  assistance  than  his 
stick  to  the  last  ball  game,  where  he  watched  every  run  with  the  closest 
interest,  and  would  have  attended  the  dance  the  night  before  but  for 
the  interposition  of  friends. 

Suyeta,  "The  Chosen  One,"  who  preaches  regularly  as  a  Baptist 
minister  to  an  Indian  congregation,  does  not  deal  much  with  the  Indian 
supernatural,  perhaps  through  deference  to  his  clerical  obligations. 
but  has  a  good  memory  and  liking  for  rabbit  stories  and  others  of  the 
same  class.  He  served  in  the  Confederate  army  during  the  war  as 
fourth  sergeant  in  Company  A,  of  the  Sixty-ninth  North  Carolina. 
and  is  now  a  well-preserved  man  of  about  sixty-two.  He  speaks  no 
English,  but  by  an  ingenious  system  of  his  own  has  learned  to  use  a 
concordance  for  verifying  references  in  his  Cherokee  bible.  He  is 
also  a  first-class  carpenter  and  mason. 

Another  principal  informant  was  Ta'gwadihf,  "Catawba-killer,"  of 
Cheowa,  who  died  a  few  years  ago,  aged  about  seventy.  He  was  a 
doctor  and  made  no  claim  to  special  knowledge  of  myths  or  ceremonials. 
but  was  aide  to  furnish  several  valuable  stories,  besides  confirmatorj 
evidence  for  a  large  number  obtained  from  other  sources. 

Besides  these  may  be  named,  among  the  East  Cherokee,  the  late 
Chief  N.  J.  Smith;  Sal&'ll, mentioned  elsewhere,  who  died  about  L895; 
Tsesa'ni  or  Jessan,  who  also  served  in  the  war:  Aya'sta.  one  of  the 
principal  conservatives  among  the  women;  and  James  and  David 
Blythe,  younger  men  of  mixed  blood,  with  an  English  education,  but 
inheritors  of  a  large  share  of  Indian  lore  from  their  father,  who  was 
a  recognized  leader  of  ceremony. 

Among  informants  in  the  western  Cherokee  Nation  the  principal  was 
James   D.  Watford,   known  to  the    Indians   a-   Tsuskwanun'nawa'ta, 


238  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

"Worn-out-blanket,"  a  mixed-blood  speaking-  and  writing  both  lan- 
guages, born  in  the  old  Cherokee  Nation  near  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent Clarkesville,  Georgia,  in  1806.  and  dying-  when  about  ninety 
years  of  age  at  his  home  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Cherokee  Nation, 
adjoining  the  Seneca  reservation.  The  name  figures  prominently  in 
the  early  history  of  North  Carolina  and  Georgia.  His  grandfather, 
Colonel  Wafford,  was  an  officer  in  the  American  Revolutionary  army, 
and  shortly  after  the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  in  17S5,  established  a  colony 
known  as  "  Watford's  settlement,"  in  npper  Georgia,  on  territory  which 
was  afterward  found  to  be  within  the  Indian  boundary  and  was  acquired 
by  special  treaty  purchase  in  1801.  His  name  is  appended,  as  witness 
for  the  state  of  Georgia,  to  the  treaty  of  Holston,  in  1794. '  On  his 
mother's  side  Mr  Wafford  was  of  mixed  Cherokee,  Natchez,  and  white 
blood,  she  being  a  cousin  of  Sequoya.  He  was  also  remotely  con- 
nected with  Cornelius  Dougherty,  the  first  trader  established  among 
the  Cherokee.  In  the  course  of  his  long  life  he  tilled  many  positions 
of  trust  and  honor  among  his  people.  In  his  youth  he  attended 
the  mission  school  at  Valleytown  under  Reverend  Evan  Jones,  and 
just  before  the  adoption  of  the  Cherokee  alphabet  he  finished  the 
translation  into  phonetic  Cherokee  spelling  of  a  Sunday  school  speller 
noted  in  Pilling' s  Iroquoin  Bibliography.  In  1821  he  was  the  census 
enumerator  for  that  district  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  embracing  upper 
Hiwassee  river,  in  North  Carolina,  with  Nottely  and  Toccoa  in  the 
adjoining  portion  of  Georgia.  His  fund  of  Cherokee  geographic 
information  thus  acquired  was  found  to  be  invaluable.  He  was  one  of 
the  two  commanders  of  the  largest  detachment  of  emigrants  at  the 
time  of  the  removal,  and  his  name  appears  as  a  councilor  for  the  western 
Nation  in  the  Cherokee  Almanac  for  1846.  When  employed  by  the 
author  at  Tahlequah  in  1891  his  mind  was  still  clear  and  his  memory 
keen.  Being  of  practical  bent,  he  was  concerned  chiefly  with  tribal 
history,  geography,  linguistics,  and  every-day  life  and  custom,  on  all 
of  which  subjects  his  knowledge  was  exact  and  detailed,  but  there  were 
few  myths  for  which  he  was  not  able  to  furnish  confirmatory  testi- 
mony. Despite  his  education  he  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  Niinne'hi, 
and  several  of  the  best  legends  connected  with  them  were  obtained 
from  him.  His  death  takes  from  the  Cherokee  one  of  the  last  connect- 
ing links  between  the  present  and  the  past. 

1See  contemporary  notice  in  the  Historical  Sketch. 


BUREAU   OF  AMERICAN   ETHNOLOG 


NINETEENTH   ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.    XII 


JOHN     AX     ilTAGU'NUHh 


IV— THE  MYTHS 
(  Josmogonic  Myths 

i.   HOW   THE   WORLD   WAS   MADE 

The  earth  is  a  great  island  floating  in  a  sea  of  water,  and  suspended 
at  each  of  the  four  cardinal  points  by  a  cord  hanging  down  from 
the  sky  vault,  which  is  of  solid  rock.  When  the  world  grows  old  and 
worn  out.  the  people  will  die  and  the  cords  will  break  and  let  the  earth 
sink  down  into  the  ocean,  and  all  will  he  water  again.  The  Indians 
are  afraid  of  this. 

When  all  was  water,  the  animals  were  above  in  Galun'latI,  beyond 
the  arch;  but  it  was  very  much  crowded,  and  they  were  wanting  more 
room.  They  wondered  what  was  below  the  water,  and  at  last  Dayu- 
ni'si,  "Beaver's  Grandchild,"  the  little  Water-beetle,  offered  to  go  and 
see  if  it  could  learn.  It  darted  in  every  direction  over  the  surface  of 
the  water,  hut  could  find  no  firm  place  to  rest.  Then  it  dived  to  the 
bottom  and  came  up  with  some  soft  mud.  which  began  to  grow  and 
spread  on  every  side  until  it  became  the  island  which  we  call  the 
earth.  It  was  afterward  fastened  to  the  sky  with  four  cords,  but  no 
one  remembers  who  did  this. 

At  first  the  earth  was  Hat  and  very  soft  and  wet.  The  animals  were 
anxious  to  get  down,  and  sent  out  different  birds  to  see  if  it  was  yet 
dry,  but  they  found  no  place  to  alight  and  came  back  again  to  Galun'- 
lati. At  last  it  seemed  to  be  time,  and  they  sent  out  the  Buzzard  and 
told  him  to  go  and  make  ready  for  them.  This  was  the  Great  Buz- 
zard, the  father  of  all  the  buzzards  we  see  now.  He  flew  all  over  the 
earth,  low  down  near  the  ground,  and  it  was  still  soft.  When  he 
reached  the  Cherokee  country,  he  was  very  tired,  and  his  wings  began 
to  flap  and  strike  the  ground,  and  wherever  they  struck  the  earth 
there  was  a  valley,  and  where  they  turned  up  again  then'  was  a 
mountain.  When  the  animals  above  saw  this,  they  were  afraid  that 
the  whole  world  would  he  mountains,  so  they  called  him  back,  bul  I  lie 
Cherokee  country  remains  full  of  mountains  to  this  day. 

When  the  earth  was  dry  and  the  animals  came  down,  it  was  still 
dark,  so  they  got  the  sun  and  set  it  in  a  track  to  go  every  day  across 
the  island  from  east  to  west,  just  overhead.  It  was  too  hot  this  way, 
and  T.siska'gili'.  the  Red  Crawfish,  had  his  shell  scorched  a  bright  red, 
so  that  his  meat  was  spoiled;  ami  the  Cherokee  do  not  eat  it.     The 


240  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


conjurers  put  the  sun  another  hand-breadth  higher  in  the  air,  but  it  was 
still  too  hot.  They  raised  it  another  time,  and  another,  until  it  was 
seven  handbreadths  high  and  just  under  the  sky  arch.  Then  it  was 
right,  and  they  left  it  so.  This  is  why  the  conjurers  call  the  highest 
place  (julkwa'gine  Di'galuiYlatiyiifi',  "the  seventh  height,"  because  it  is 
seven  hand-breadths  above  the  earth.  Every  day  the  sun  goes  along 
under  this  arch,  and  returns  at  night  on  the  upper  side  to  the  starting 
place. 

There  is  another  world  under  this,  and  it  is  like  ours  in  every- 
thing— animals,  plants,  and  people — save  that  the  seasons  are  different. 
The  streams  that  come  down  from  the  mountains  are  the  trails  by 
which  we  reach  this  underworld,  and  the  springs  at  their  heads  are 
the  doorways  by  which  we  enter  it,  but  to  do  this  one  must  fast  and 
go  to  water  and  have  one  of  the  underground  people  for  a  guide.  We 
know  that  the  seasons  in  the  underworld  are  different  from  ours, 
because  the  water  in  the  springs  is  always  warmer  in  winter  and 
cooler  in  summer  than  the  outer  air. 

When  the  animals  and  plants  were  first  made — we  do  not  know  by 
whom — they  were  told  to  watch  and  keep  awake  for  seven  nights, 
just  as  young  men  now  fast  and  keep  awake  when  they  pray  to  their 
medicine.  They  tried  to  do  this,  and  nearly  all  were  awake  through 
the  first  night,  but  the  next  night  several  dropped  off  to  sleep,  and  the 
third  night  others  were  asleep,  and  then  others,  until,  on  the  seventh 
night,  of  all  the  animals  only  the  owl,  the  panther,  and  one  or  two 
more  were  still  awake.  To  these  were  given  the  power  to  see  and  to 
go  about  in  the  dark,  and  to  make  prey  of  the  birds  and  animals  which 
must  sleep  at  night.  Of  the  trees  only  the  cedar,  the  pine,  the  spruce, 
the  holly,  and  the  laurel  were  awake  to  the  end,  and  to  them  it  was 
given  to  be  always  green  and  to  be  greatest  for  medicine,  but  to  the 
others  it  was  said:  "Because  you  have  not  endured  to  the  end  you 
shall  lose  your  hair  every  winter.1' 

Men  came  after  the  animals  and  plants.     At  first  there  were  only  a  \ 
brother  and  sister  until  he  struck  her  with  a  fish  and  told  her  to  mul-     \ 
tiply,  and  so  it  was.     In  seven   days  a  child  was  born  to   her,  and 
thereafter  every  seven  days  another,  and  they  increased  very  fast  until     J 
there  was  danger  that  the  world  could  not  keep  them.     Then  it  was 
made  that  a  woman  should  have  only  one  child  in  a  year,  and  it  has 
been  so  ever  since. 

2.   THE   FIRST  FIRE 

In  the  beginning  there  was  no  fire,  and  the  world  was  cold,  until  the 
Thunders  (Ani'-Hyun'tikwala'ski),  who  lived  up  in  Galun'lati.  sent  their 
lightning  and  put  fire  into  the  bottom  of  a  hollow  sycamore  tree  which 
grew  on  an  island.  The  animals  knew  it  was  there,  because  they  could 
see  the  smoke  coming  out  at  the  top,  but  they  could  not  get  to  it  on 


i my;  THE    FIRST    BTRE  241 

account  of  the  water,  so  they  held  a  council  to  decide  what  to  do.  This 
was  a  long  time  ago. 

Every  animal  thai  could  fly  or  swim  was  anxious  to  go  after  the  tiiv. 
The  Raven  offered,  and  because  he  was  so  large  and  strong  they  thought 
he  could  surely  do  the  work,  so  he  was  sent  first.  He  flew  high  and 
Ear  across  the  water  and  alighted  on  the  sycamore  tree,  but  while  he 
was  wondering  what  to  do  next,  the  heat  had  scorched  all  his  feathers 
black,  and  he  was  frightened  and  came  back  without  the  fire.  Tin' 
little  Screech-owl  (  Wa'huhu')  volunteered  to  go,  and  reached  the  place 
safely,  lint  while  he  was  looking  down  into  the  hollow  tree  a  blast  of 
hot  air  came  up  and  Dearly  burned  out  his  eyes.  He  managed  to  fly 
home  as  best  he  could,  but  it  was  a  long  time  before  he  could  see  well, 
and  his  eyes  are  red  to  this  day.  Then  the  HootingOwl  (  WgvJcu')  and 
the  Horned  Owl  (TskiW)  went,  but  by  the  time  they  got  to  the  hollow 
tree  the  tire  was  burning  so  fiercely  that  the  smoke  nearly  blinded 
them,  and  the  ashes  carried  up  by  the  wind  made  white  rings  about 
their  eyes.  They  had  to  come  home  again  without  the  fire,  but  with 
all  their  rubbing  they  were  never  able  to  get  rid  of  the  white  rings. 

Now  no  more  of  the  birds  would  venture,  and  so  the  little  Uksu'hi 
snake,  the  black  racer,  said  he  would  go  through  the  water  and  bring 
back  some  tire.  He  swam  across  to  the  island  and  crawled  through 
the  grass  to  the  tree,  and  went  in  by  a  small  hole  at  the  bottom.  The 
heat  and  smoke  were  too  much  for  him,  too,  and  after  dodging  about 
blindly  over  the  hot  ashes  until  hi'  was  almost  on  tire  himself  he  man- 
aged by  good  luck  to  get  out  again  at  the  same  hole,  but  his  body  had 
been  scorched  black,  and  he  has  ever  since  had  the  habit  of  darting 
and  doubling  on  his  track  as  if  trying  to  escape  from  close  quarters. 
He  came  back,  and  the  great  blacksnake,  Gule'gi,  "The  Climber." 
offered  to  go  for  tire.  He  swam  over  to  the  island  and  climbed  up  the 
tree  on  the  outside,  as  the  blacksnake  always  does,  but  when  he  put 
his  head  down  into  the  hole  the  smoke  choked  him  so  that  he  fell  into 
the  burning  stump,  and  before  he  could  climb  out  again  he  was  as 
black  as  the  Uksu'hi. 

Now  they  held  another  council,  for  still  there  was  no  tire,  and  the 
world  was  cold,  but  birds,  snakes,  and  four-footed  animals,  all  had 
some  excuse  for  not  going,  because  they  were  all  afraid  to  venture 
near  the  burning  sycamore,  until  at  last  Kanane'skI  Amai'vehi  (the 
Water  Spider)  said  she  would  go.  This  is  not  the  water  spider  that 
looks  like  a  mosquito,  but  the  other  one.  with  black  downy  hair  and 
red  stripes  on  her  body.  She  can  run  on  top  of  the  water  or  dive  to 
the  bottom,  so  there  would  be  no  trouble  to  get  over  to  the  island,  but 
the  question  was.  How  could  she  bring  back  the  tire;  "•I'll  manage 
that," said  the  Water  Spider;  so  she  spun  a  thread  from  her  bodj  and 
wove  it  into  a  tusti  bowl,  which  she  fastened  on  her  back.  Then  she 
crossed  over  to  the  island  and  through  the  grass  to  where  the  tire  was 

19  eth— 01 1C 


242  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

still  burning.  She  put  one  little  coal  of  fire  into  her  bowl,  and  came 
back  with  it,  and  ever  since  we  have  had  fire,  and  the  Water  Spider  still 
keeps  her  tusti  bowl. 

3.   KANA'TI  AND   SELU:   THE   ORIGIN   OF   GAME  AND   CORN 

When  I  was  a  boy  this  is  what  the  old  men  told  me  they  had  heard 
when  they  were  boys. 

Long  years  ago,  soon  after  the  world  was  made,  a  hunter  and  his 
wife  lived  at  Pilot  knob  with  their  only  child,  a  little  boy.  The 
father's  name  was  Kana'ti  (The  Lucky  Hunter),  and  his  wife  was 
called  Selu  (Corn).  No  matter  when  Kana'ti  went  into  the  wood,  he 
never  failed  to  bring  back  a  load  of  game,  which  his  wife  would  cut 
up  and  prepare,  washing  off  the  blood  from  the  meat  in  the  river  near 
the  house.  The  little  boy  used  to  play  down  by  the  river  every  day. 
and  one  morning  the  old  people  thought  the}7  heard  laughing  and  talk- 
ing in  the  bushes  as  though  there  were  two  children  there.  When  the 
boy  came  home  at  night  his  parents  asked  him  who  had  been  playing 
with  him  all  day.  "He  comes  out  of  the  water,"  said  the  boy.  "and 
be  calls  himself  my  elder  brother.  He  says  his  mother  was  cruel  to 
him  and  threw  him  into  the  river."  Then  the}7  knew  that  the  strange 
boy  had  sprung  from  the  blood  of  the  game  which  Selu  had  washed 
off  at  the  river's  edge. 

Every  day  when  the  little  boy  went  out  to  play  the  other  would  join 
him.  but  as  he  always  went  back  again  into  the  water  the  old  people 
never  had  a  chance  to  see  him.  At  last  one  evening  Kana'ti  said  to  his 
son,  "Tomorrow,  when  the  other  boy  comes  to  play,  get  him  to  wrestle 
with  you,  and  when  you  have  your  arms  around  him  hold  on  to  him 
and  call  for  us."  The  boy  promised  to  do  as  he  was  told,  so  the  next 
day  as  soon  as  his  playmate  appeared  he  challenged  him  to  a  wrestling 
match.  The  other  agreed  at  once,  but  as  soon  as  they  had  their  arms 
around  each  other,  Kana'ti's  boy  began  to  scream  for  his  father.  The 
old  folks  at  once  came  running  down,  and  as  soon  as  the  Wild  Boy  saw 
them  he  struggled  to  free  himself  and  cried  out,  "Let  me  go;  you 
threw  me  away!"  but  his  brother  held  on  until  the  parents  leached  the 
spot,  when  they  seized  the  Wild  Boy  and  took  him  home  with  them. 
They  kept  him  in  the  house  until  they  had  tamed  him,  but  he  was 
always  wild  and  artful  in  his  disposition,  and  was  the  leader  of  his 
brother  in  every  mischief.  It  was  not  long  until  the  old  people  dis- 
covered that  he  had  magic  powers,  and  they  called  him  I'nage-utasun'ln 
(He-who-grew-up-wild). 

Whenever  Kana'ti  went  into  the  mountains  he  always  brought  back 
a  fat  buck  or  doe,  or  maybe  a  couple  of  turkeys.  One  day  the  Wild 
Boy  said  to  his  brother,  ''I  wonder  where  our  father  gets  all  that 
game;  let's  follow  him  next  time  and  find  out."  A  few  days  afterward 
Kana'ti  took  a  bow  and  some  feathers  in  his   hand  and  started  off 


UOONEY]  KANATI     AMI    SKI.T  243 

toward  the  west.  The  boys  waited  a  little  while  and  then  went  afti  r 
him,  keeping  out  <d'  sight  until  they  saw  him  go  into  a  swamp  where 
there  were  a  great  many  of  the  small  reeds  that  hunters  use  to  make 
arrowshafts.  Then  the  Wild  Boy  changed  bimself  into  a  puff  of 
l>ird's  down,  w  hich  the  wind  took  up  and  carried  until  it  alighted  upon 
Kana'ti's  shoulder  just  as  he  entered  the  swamp,  but  Kana'ti  knew 
nothing  about  it.  Theold  man  «ut  reeds,  fitted  the  feathers  to  them  and 
made  some  arrows,  and  the  Wild  Boy-  in  his  other  shape  thought, 
••I  wonder  what  those  things  are  for?"  When  Kana'ti  had  his  arrows 
finished  he  came  out  of  the  swamp  and  went  on  again.  The  wind  blew 
the  down  from  his  shoulder,  and  it  fell  in  the  woods,  when  the  Wild 
Boy  took  his  right  shape  again  and  went  back  and  told  his  brother 
what  he  had  seen.  Keeping  Out  of  sight  of  their  father,  they  followed 
him  up  the  mountain  until  he  stopped  at  a  certain  place  and  lifted  a 
large  rock.  At  once  there  ran  out  a  buck,  which  Kana'ti  shot,  and 
then  lifting  it  upon  his  back  he  started  for  home  again.  "Oho!" 
exclaimed  the  boys,  "he  keeps  all  the  deer  shut  up  in  that  hole,  and 
whenever  he  wants  meat  he  just  Lets  one  out  and  kills  it  with  those 
things  he  made  in  the  swamp."  They  hurried  and  reached  home  before 
their  father,  who  had  the  heavy  deer  to  carry,  and  he  never  knew  that 
they  had  followed. 

A  few  days  later  the  hoys  went  back  to  the  swamp,  (ait  some  reeds, 
and  made  seven  arrows,  and  then  started  up  the  mountain  to  where 
their  father  kept  the  game.  When  they  got  to  the  place,  they  raised 
the  rock  and  a  deercame  running  out.  .lust  as  they  drew  hack  to  shoot 
it.  another  came  out.  and  then  another  and  another,  until  the  boys  got 
confused  and  forgot  what  they  were  about.  In  those  days  all  the  deer 
had  their  tails  hanging  down  like  other  animals,  but  as  a  buck  was 
running  past  the  Wild  Roy  struck  its  tail  with  his  arrow  so  that  it 
pointed  upward.  The  boys  thought  this  good  sport,  and  when  the 
next  oik'  ran  past  the  Wild  Boy  struck  its  tail  so  that  it  stood  straight 
up.  and  his  brother  struck  the  next  one  so  hard  with  his  arrow  that 
the  deer's  tail  was  almost  curled  over  his  back.  The  deer  carries  his 
tail  this  way  ever  since.  The  deer  came  running  past  until  the  last 
one  had  come  out  of  the  hole  and  escaped  into  the  forest.  Then  came 
droves  of  raccoons,  rabbits,  and  all  the  other  four-footed  animals — all 
hut  the  hear,  because  there  was  no  bear  then.  Last  came  great  flocks 
of  turkeys,  pigeons,  and  partridges  that  darkened  the  air  like  a  (loud 
and  made  such  a  noise  with  their  wings  that  Kana'ti.  sitting  at  home, 
heard  the  sound  like  distant  thunder  on  the  mountains  and  said  to  him- 
self. "•  My  bad  boys  have  got  into  trouble;  T  must  go  and  see  what  they 
are  doing.-' 

So  he  went  up  the  mountain,  and  when  he  came  to  the  place  where 
he  kept  the  game  he  found  the  two  boys  standing  by  the  rock,  and  all 
the  birds  and  animals  were  g-oue.     Kana'ti  was  furious,   but  without 


244  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

saving  a  word  he  went  down  into  the  cave  and  kicked  the  covers  off 
four  jars  in  one  corner,  when  out  swarmed  bedbugs,  fleas,  lice,  and 
gnats,  and  got  all  over  the  boys.  They  screamed  with  pain  and  fright 
and  tried  to  beat  off  the  insects,  but  the  thousands  of  vermin  crawled 
over  them  and  bit  and  stung  them  until  both  dropped  down  nearly 
dead.  Kana'ti  stood  looking  on  until  he  thought  they  had  been  pun- 
ished enough,  when  he  knocked  off  the  vermin  and  made  the  boys  a 
talk.  "Now,  you  rascals,"  said  he,  "you  have  always  had  plenty  to 
eat  and  never  had  to  work  for  it.  Whenever  you  were  hungry  all  I 
had  to  do  was  to  come  up  here  and  get  a  deer  or  a  turkey  and  bring  it 
home  for  your  mother  to  cook;  but  now  you  have  let  out  all  the  ani- 
mals, and  after  this  when  you  want  a  deer  to  eat  you  will  have  to  hunt 
all  over  the  woods  for  it,  and  then  maybe  not  find  one.  Go  home  now 
to  your  mother,  while  I  see  if  I  can  find  something  to  eat  for  supper." 

When  the  boys  got  home  again  they  were  very  tired  and  hungry  and 
asked  their  mother  for  something  to  eat.  "There  is  no  meat,"  said 
Selu,  "  but  wait  a  little  while  and  I'll  get  you  something.'''  So  she 
took  a  basket  and  started  out  to  the  storehouse.  This  storehouse  was 
built  upon  poles  high  up  from  the  ground,  to  keep  it  out  of  the  reach 
of  animals,  and  there  was  a  ladder  to  climb  up  by,  and  one  door,  but 
no  other  opening.  Every  day  when  Selu  got  ready  to  cook  the  dinner 
she  would  go  out  to  the  storehouse  with  a  basket  and  bring  it  back 
full  of  corn  and  beans.  The  boys  had  never  been  inside  the  storehouse, 
so  wondered  where  all  the  corn  and  beans  could  come  from,  as  the 
house  was  not  a  very  large  one;  so  as  soon  as  Selu  went  out  of  the 
door  the  Wild  Boy  said  to  his  brother,  "Let's  go  and  see  what  she 
does."  They  ran  around  and  climbed  up  at  the  back  of  the  storehouse 
and  pulled  out  a  piece  of  clay  from  between  the  logs,  so  that  they 
could  look  in.  There  they  saw  Selu  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room 
with  the  basket  in  front  of  her  on  the  floor.  Leaning  over  the  basket, 
she  rubbed  her  stomach — so — and  the  basket  was  half  full  of  corn. 
Then  she  rubbed  under  her  armpits — so — and  the  basket  was  full  to 
the  top  with  beans.  The  boys  looked  at  each  other  and  said,  "This 
will  never  do;  our  mother  is  a  witch.  If  we  eat  any  of  that  it  will 
poison  us.     We  must  kill  her." 

When  the  boys  came  back  into  the  house,  she  knew  their  thoughts 
before  they  spoke.  "  So  you  are  going  to  kill  me? "  said  Selu.  "  Yes," 
said  the  boys,  "you  are  a  witch."  "Well,"  said  their  mother,  "when 
you  have  killed  me,  clear  a  large  piece  of  ground  in  front  of  the  house 
and  drag  my  body  seven  times  around  the  circle.  Then  drag  me  seven 
times  over  the  ground  inside  the  circle,  and  stay  up  all  night  and  watch, 
and  in  the  morning  you  will  have  plenty  of  corn."  The  boys  killed 
her  with  their  clubs,  and  cut  off  her  head  and  put  it  up  on  the  roof  of 
the  house  with  her  face  turned  to  the  west,  and  told  her  to  look  for  her 
husband.     Then  thev  set  to  work  to  clear  the  ground  in  front  of  the 


i keyj  kana'ti   AND  ski.t  245 

house,  bu<  instead  of  clearing  the  whole  piece  they  cleared  onlj  seven 
little  spots.  This  is  why  corn  now  grows  only  in  a  few  places  instead 
01  over  the  whole  world.  They  dragged  the  body  of  Selu  around  the 
circle,  and  wherever  her  blood  fell  on  the  ground  the  corn  sprang  up. 
But  instead  of  dragging  her  body  seven  times  across  the  ground  they 
dragged  ii  over  onlj  twice,  which  is  the  reason  the  Indians  still  work 
their  crop  but  twice.  The  two  brothers  sat  up  and  watched  their  coin 
all  night,  and  in  the  morning  it  was  full  grown  and  ripe. 

When  Kana'ti  came  home  at  last,  he  looked  around,  but  could  not  see 
Selu  anywhere,  and  asked  the  boys  where  was  their  mother.  "She  was 
a  witch,  and  we  killed  her."  said  the  boys;  •'there  is  her  head  up  there 
on  top  of  the  house."  "When  he  saw  his  wife's  head  on  the  roof,  he 
was  very  angry,  and  said,  ''I  won't  stay  with  you  any  longer:  I  am 
going  to  the  Wolf  people."  So  he  started  off,  but  before,  he  had  gone 
far  the  Wild  Boy  changed  himself  again  to  a  tuft  of  down,  which  fell 
on  Kana'tfs  shoulder.  When  Kana'ti  reached  the  settlement  of  the 
Wolf  people,  they  were  holding  a  council  in  the  townhouse.  He  went 
in  and  sat  down  with  the  tuft  of  bird's  down  on  his  shoulder,  but  he 
never  noticed  it.  When  the  Wolf  chief  asked  him  his  business,  he 
said:  "  I  have  two  bad  boys  at  home,  and  I  want  you  to  go  in  seven 
days  from  now  and  play  ball  against  them."  Although  Kana'ti  spoke 
as  though  he  wanted  them  to  play  a  game  of  ball,  the  Wolves  knew 
that  he  meant  for  them  to  go  and  kill  the  two  boys.  They  promised  to 
go.  Then  the  bird's  down  blew  off  from  Kana'tfs  shoulder,  and  the 
smoke  carried  it  up  through  the  hole  in  the  roof  of  the  townhouse. 
When  it  came  down  on  the  ground  outside,  the  Wild  Boy  took  his  right 
shape  again  and  went  home  and  told  his  brother  all  that  he  had  heard 
in  the  townhouse.  But  when  Kana'ti  left  the  Wolf  people,  he  did  not 
return  home,  but  went  on  farther. 

The  boys  then  began  to  get  ready  for  the  Wolves,  and  the  Wild 
Boy  —the  magician — told  his  brother  what  to  do.  They  ran  around 
the  house  in  a  wide  circle  until  they  had  made  a  trail  all  around  it 
excepting  on  the  side  from  which  the  Wolves  would  come,  where  they 
left  a  small  open  space.  Then  they  made  four  large  bundles  of  arrows 
and  placed  them  at  four  different  points  on  the  outside  of  the  circle, 
after  which  they  hid  themselves  in  the  woods  and  waited  for  the 
Wolves.  In  a  day  or  two  a  whole  party  of  Wolves  came  and  sur- 
rounded the  house  to  kill  the  boys.  The  Wolves  did  not  notice  the 
trail  around  the  house,  because  they  came  in  where  the  boys  had  left 
the  opening,  but  the  moment  they  went  inside  the  circle  the  trail 
changed  to  a  high  brush  fence  and  shut  them  in.  Then  the  boys  on 
the  outside  took  their  arrows  and  began  shooting  them  down,  and  as 
the  \\  olves  could  not  jump  over  the  fence  they  were  all  killed,  excepting 
a  few  that  escaped  through  the  opening  into  a  great  swamp  close  by. 
The  boys  ran  around  the  swamp,  and  a  circle  of  tire  sprang  up  in  their 


246  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

tracks  and  set  fire  to  the  grass  and  bushes  and  burned  up  nearly  all 
the  other  Wolves.  Only  two  or  three  got  away,  and  from  these  have 
come  all  the  wolves  that  are  now  in  the  world. 

Soon  afterward  some  strangers  from  a  distance,  who  had  heard  that 
the  brothers  had  a  wonderful  grain  from  which  they  made  bread,  came 
to  ask  for  some,  for  none  but  Selu  and  her  family  had  ever  known 
corn  before.  The  boys  gave  them  seven  grains  of  corn,  which  they 
told  them  to  plant  the  next  night  on  their  way  home,  sitting  up  all 
night  to  watch  the  corn,  which  would  have  seven  ripe  ears  in  the 
morning.  These  they  were  to  plant  the  next  night  and  watch  in 
the  same  way,  and  so  on  every  night  until  they  reached  home,  when 
they  would  have  corn  enough  to  supply  the  whole  people.  The 
strangers  lived  seven  days'  journey  away.  They  took  the  seven  grains 
and  watched  all  through  the  darkness  until  morning,  when  the}'  saw 
seven  tall  stalks,  each  stalk  bearing  a  ripened  ear.  They  gathered  the 
tars  and  went  on  their  way.  The  next  night  they  planted  all  their 
corn,  and  guarded  it  as  before  until  daybreak,  when  they  found  an 
abundant  increase.  But  the  way  was  long  and  the  sun  was  hot,  and 
the  people  grew  tired.  On  the  last  night  before  reaching  home  they 
fell  asleep,  and  in  the  morning  the  corn  they  had  planted  had  not  even 
sprouted.  The}'  brought  with  them  to  their  settlement  what  corn 
they  had  left  and  planted  it,  and  with  care  and  attention  were  able  to 
raise  a  crop.  But  ever  since  the  corn  must  be  watched  and  tended 
through  half  the  year,  which  before  would  grow  and  ripen  in  a  night. 

As  Kana'ti  did  not  return,  the  boys  at  last  concluded  to  go  and  find 
him.  The  Wild  Boy  took  a  gaming  wheel  and  rolled  it  toward  the 
Darkening  land.  In  a  little  while  the  wheel  came  rolling  back,  and 
the  boys  knew  their  father  was  not  there.  He  rolled  it  to  the  south 
and  to  the  north,  and  each  time  the  wheel  came  back  to  him.  and  they 
knew  their  father  was  not  there.  Then  he  rolled  it  toward  the  Sun- 
land,  and  it  did  not  return.  "Our  father  is  there,"  said  the  Wild 
Boy,  "let  us  go  and  find  him."  So  the  two  brothers  set  off  toward 
the  east,  and  after  traveling  a  longtime  they  came  upon  Kana'ti  walk- 
ing along  with  a  little  dog  by  his  side.  "You  bad  hoys,"  said  their 
father,  "  have  you  come  here  V  "'Yes,"  they  answered,  "we  always 
accomplish  what  we  start  out  to  do — we  are  men."  "This  clog  over- 
took me  four  days  ago,"  then  said  Kana'ti,  but  the  boys  knew  that  the 
dog  was  the  wheel  which  they  had  sent  after  him  to  find  him.  "Well," 
said  Kana'ti,  "  as  you  have  found  me,  we  may  as  well  travel  together, 
but  I  shall  take  the  lead." 

Soon  they  came  to  a  swamp,  and  Kana'ti  told  them  there  was  some- 
thing dangerous  there  and  they  must  keep  away  from  it.  He  went 
on  ahead,  but  as  soon  as  he  was  out  of  sight  the  Wild  Boy  said  to 
his  brother.  "Come  and  let  us  see  what  is  in  the  swamp."  They 
went  in  together,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  swamp  they  found  a  large 


mooney]  kana'ti  and  selu  -J47 

panther  asleep.  The  Wild  Hoy  got  <>ut  an  arrow  and  shot  the  panther 
in  the  side  of  the  head.  The  panther  turned  his  head  and  the  other 
boj  shot  him  on  that  side.  He  turned  his  head  away  again  and  the 
two  brothers  sho(  together  fust,  fust,  tust!  But  the  panther  was  nol 
hurt  by  the  arrow-  and  paid  no  more  attention  to  the  boys.  They 
came  oul  of  the  swamp  and  soon  overtook  Kana'ti.  waiting  for  them. 
"Did  you  find  it?"  asked  Kana'ti.  "Yes,"  said  the  boys,  "we  found 
it.  but  it  never  hurl  us.  We  are  men."  Kana'ti  was  surprised,  but 
said  nothing,  and  they  went  on  again. 

After  a  while  lie  turned  to  them  and  said.  "Now  you  must  lie  careful. 
We  are  coming  to  a  tribe  called  the  An&da'duiitaski  ("  Roasters,"  i.  e., 
cannibals),  and  if  thej  gel  you  they  will  put  you  into  a  pot  and  feast  on 
you."'  Then  lie  went  on  ahead.  Soon  the  boys  eanie  to  a  tree  which 
ha<l  Keen  struck  by  lightning,  and  the  Wild  Hoy  directed  his  brother  to 
gather  some  of  the  splinters  from  the  tree  and  told  him  what  to  do 
with  them.  In  a  little  while  they  came  to  the  settlement  of  the  can- 
nibals, who,  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  hoys,  came  running  out,  crying, 
"Good,  here  are  two  nice  fat  strangers.  Now  we'll  have  a  grand 
feast!"  They  caught  the  hoys  and  dragged  them  into  the  townhouse, 
and  sent  word  to  all  the  people  of  the  settlement  to  come  to  the  feast. 
They  made  up  a  great  tire,  put  water  into  a  large  pot  and  set  it  to 
boiling,  and  then  seized  the  Wild  Hoy  and  put  him  down  into  it.  His 
brother  was  not  in  the  least  frightened  ami  made  no  attempt  to  escape, 
hut  quietly  knelt  down  and  began  putting  the  splinters  into  the  tire, 
as  if  to  make  it  burn  better.  When  the  cannibals  thought  the  meat 
was  about  ready  they  lifted  the  pot  from  the  fire,  and  that  instant  a 
blinding  light  rilled  the  townhouse,  and  the  lightning  began  to  dart 
from  one  side"  to  the  other,  striking  down  the  cannibals  until  not  one 
of  them  was  left  alive.  Then  the  lightning  went  upthrough  the  smoke- 
hole,  and  the  next  moment  there  were  the  two  boys  standing  outside 
the  townhouse  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  They  went  on  and 
soon  met  Kana'ti.  who  seemed  much  surprised  to  see  them,  and  said, 
••What!  are  you  here  again?"  "O,  yes.  we  never  give  up.  We  are 
great  men!"  "What  did  the  cannibals  do  toj'OU?"  "We  nut  them 
and  they  brought  us  to  their  townhouse.  but  they  never  hurt  u-.'* 
Kana'ti  said  nothing  more,  and  they  went  on. 

*  *  -x-  -x  *  -::-  * 

He  soon  got  nut  of  sight  of  the  boys,  but  they  kept  on  until  they 
came  to  the  end  of  the  world,  where  the  sun  comes  out.  The  ski  was 
just  coming  down  when  they  got  there,  but  they  waited  until  it  went 
up  again,  and  then  they  went  through  and  climbed  up  on  tile  other 
side.  There  they  found  Kana'ti  and  Selu  sitting  together.  The  old 
folk  received  them  kindly  and  were  glad  to  see  them,  telling  them 
they  might  Stay  there  a  while,  but  then  they  must  go  to  live  where  the 
sun  goes  down.     The  boy-  stayed  with  their  parents  seven  day-  and 


248  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.anx.19 

then  went  on  toward  the  Darkening  land,  where  the}'  are  now.  We 
call  them  Anisga'ya  Tsunsdi'  (The  Little  Men),  and  when  they  talk 
to  each  other  we  hear  low  rolling  thunder  in  the  west. 

After  Kana'ti's  boys  had  let  the  deer  out  from  the  cave  where  their 
father  used  to  keep  them,  the  hunters  tramped  about  in  the  woods  for 
a  long  time  without  finding  any  game,  so  that  the  people  were  very 
hungry.  At  last  they  heard  that  the  Thunder  Boys  were  now  living 
in  the  far  west,  beyond  the  sun  door,  and  that  if  they  were  sent  for 
they  could  bring  back  the  game.  So  they  sent  messengers  for  them, 
and  the  boys  came  and  sat  down  in  the  middle  of  the  townhouse  and 
began  to  sing. 

At  the  first  song  there  was  a  roaring  sound  like  a  strong  wind  in 
the  northwest,  and  it  grew  louder  and  nearer  as  the  boys  sang  on, 
until  at  the  seventh  song  a  whole  herd  of  deer,  led  by  a  large  buck, 
came  out  from  the  woods.  The  boys  had  told  the  people  to  be  ready 
with  their  bows  and  arrows,  and  when  the  song  was  ended  and  all  the 
deer  were  close  around  the  townhouse,  the  hunters  shot  into  them  and 
killed  as  many  as  they  needed  before  the  herd  could  get  back  into 
the  timber. 

Then  the  Thunder  Boys  went  back  to  the  Darkening  land,  but 
before  the}'  left  they  taught  the  people  the  seven  songs  with  which  to 
call  up  the  deer.  It  all  happened  so  long  ago  that  the  songs  are  now 
forgotten — all  but  two,  which  the  hunters  still  sing  whenever  they  go 
after  deer. 

WAHNENAUH]    VERSION 

After  the  world  had  been  brought  up  from  under  the  water,  ''They 
then  made  a  man  and  a  woman  and  led  them  around  the  edge  of  the 
island.  On  arriving  at  the  starting  place  they  planted  some  corn,  and 
then  told  the  man  and  woman  to  go  around  the  way  they  had  been 
led.  This  they  did.  and  on  returning  they  found  the  corn  up  and 
growing  nicely.  They  were  then  told  to  continue  the  circuit.  Each 
trip  consumed  more  time.  At  last  the  corn  was  ripe  and  ready  for  use.1' 
*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Another  story  is  told  of  how  sin  came  into  the  world.  A  man  and 
a  woman  reared  a  large  family  of  children  in  comfort  and  plenty,  with 
very  little  trouble  about  providing  food  for  them.  Every  morning 
the  father  went  forth  and  very  soon  returned  bringing  with  him  a 
deer,  or  a  turkey,  or  some  other  animal  or  fowl.  At  the  same  time 
the  mother  went  out  and  soon  returned  with  a  large  basket  filled  with 
ears  of  corn  which  she  shelled  and  pounded  in  a  mortar,  thus  making 
meal  for  bread. 

When  the  children  grew  up,  seeing  with  what  apparent  ease  food 
was  provided  for  them,  they  talked  to  each  other  about  it.  wondering 
that  they  never  saw  such  things  as  their  parents  brought  in.     At  last 


MOONEY]  KANA'TI     AM)     SELO  249 

one  proposed  to  watch  when  their  parents  wenl  out  and  to  follow 
them. 

Accordingly  nexl  morning  the  plan  was  carried  out.  Those  who 
followed  the  father  saw  him  stop  at  a  short  distance  from  the  cabin 
and  turn  over  a  large  stone  that  appeared  to  he  carelessly  leaned 
against  another.  On  looking  closely  they  saw  an  entrance  to  a  large 
cave,  and  in  it  were  many  different  kinds  of  animals  and  birds,  suchas 
their  father  had  sometimes  brought  in  for  food.  The  man  standing  at 
the  entrance  called  a  deer,  which  was  lying  at  some  distance  and  hack 
of  some  other  animals.  It  rose  immediately  as  it  heard  the  call  and 
came  close  up  to  him.  He  picked  it  up,  closed  the  mouth  of  the  cave, 
and  returned,  not  once  seeming  to  suspect  what  his  sons  had  done. 

When  the  old  man  was  fairly  out  of  sight,  his  sons,  rejoicing  how 
they  had  outwitted  him,  left  their  hiding  place  and  went  to  the  cave. 
saying  they  would  show  the  old  folks  that  they,  too,  could  bring  in 
something.  They  moved  the  stone  away,  though  it  was  very  heavy 
and  they  were  obliged  to  use  all  their  united  strength.  When  the  cave 
was  opened,  the  animals,  instead  of  waiting  to  be  picked  up,  all  made 
a  rush  for  the  entrance,  and  leaping  past  the  frightened  and  bewildered 
boys,  scattered  in  all  directions  and  disappeared  in  the  wilderness, 
while  the  guilty  offenders  could  do  nothing  hut  gaze  in  stupified 
amazement  as  they  saw  them  escape.  There  were  animals  of  all  kinds, 
large  and  small — buffalo,  deer.  elk.  antelope,  raccoons,  and  squirrels; 
even  catamounts  and  panthers,  wolves  and  foxes,  and  many  others, 
all  fleeing  together.  At  the  same  time  birds  of  every  kind  were  seen 
emerging  from  the  opening,  all  in  the  same  wild  confusion  as  the  quad- 
ruped:— turkeys,  geese,  swans,  ducks,  quails,  eagles,  hawks,  and  owls. 

Those  who  followed  the  mother  saw  her  enter  a  small  cabin,  which 
they  had  never  seen  before,  and  close  the  door.  The  culprits  found  a 
small  crack  through  which  they  could  peer.  They  saw  the  woman 
place  a  basket  on  the  ground  and  standing  over  it  shake  herself  vigor- 
ously, jumping  up  and  down,  when  lo  and  behold!  large  ears  of  corn 
began  to  fall  into  the  basket.  When  it  was  well  tilled  she  took  it  up 
and, placing  it  on  her  head,  came  out,  fastened  the  door,  and  prepared 
their  breakfast  as  usual.  When  the  meal  had  Keen  finished  in  silence 
the  man  spoke  to  hi~  children,  telling  them  that  he  was  aware  of  what 
they  had  done:  that  now  he  must  die  and  they  would  be  obliged  to 
provide  for  themselves.  He  made  bows  and  arrows  for  them,  then 
sent  them  to  hunt  for  the  animals  which  they  had  turned  Loose. 

Then  the  mother  told  them  that  as  they  hail  found  out  her  secret 
she  could  do  nothing  more  for  them:  that  she  would  die.  and  they 
must  drag  her  body  around  .over  the  ground;  that  wherever  her  body 
was  dragged  corn  would  come  up.  Of  this  they  were  to  make  their 
bread.  She  told  them  that  they  must  always  save  some  for  seed  and 
plant  every  year. 


250  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

4.   ORIGIN    OF   DISEASE   AND    MEDICINE 

In  the  old  days  the  beasts,  birds,  fishes,  insects,  and  plants  could  all 
talk,  and  they  and  the  people  lived  together  in  peace  and  friendship. 
But  as  time  went  on  the  people  increased  so  rapidly  that  their  settle- 
ments spread  over  the  whole  earth,  and  the  poor  animals  found  them- 
selves beginning  to  be  cramped  for  room.  This  was  bad  enough,  but 
to  make  it  worse  Man  invented  hows,  knives,  blowguns,  spears,  and 
hooks,  and  began  to  slaughter  the  larger  animals,  birds,  and  fishes  for 
their  flesh  or  their  skins,  while  the  smaller  creatures,  such  as  the 
frogs  and  worms,  were  crushed  and  trodden  upon  without  thought,  out 
of  pure  carelessness  or  contempt.  So  the  animals  resolved  to  consult 
upon  measures  for  their  common  safety. 

The  Bears  were  the  first  to  meet  in  council  in  their  townhouse  under 
Kuwa'hi  mountain,  the  "Mulberry  place,"  and  the  old  White  Bear 
chief  presided.  After  each  in  turn  had  complained  of  the  way  in  which 
Man  killed  their  friends,  ate  their  flesh,  and  used  their  skins  for  his 
own  purposes,  it  was  decided  to  begin  war  at  once  against  him.  Some 
one  asked  what  weapons  Man  used  to  destroy  them.  "  Bows  and  arrows, 
of  course,*'  cried  all  the  Bears  in  chorus.  "And  what  are  they  made 
of  ] "  was  the  next  question.  "The  bow  of  wood,  and  the  string  of  our 
entrails."  replied  one  of  the  Bears.  It  was  then  proposed  that  they 
make  a  bow  and  some  arrows  and  see  if  the}T  could  not  use  the  same 
weapons  against  Man  himself.  So  one  Bear  got  a  nice  piece  of  locust 
wood  and  another  sacrificed  himself  for  the  good  of  the  rest  in  order 
to  furnish  a  piece  of  his  entrails  for  the  string.  But  when  everything 
was  ready  and  the  first  Bear  stepped  up  to  make  the  trial,  it  was  found 
that  in  letting  the  arrow  fly  after  drawing  back  the  bow,  his  long  claws 
caught  the  string  and  spoiled  the  shot.  This  was  annoying,  but  some 
one  suggested  that  they  might  trim  his  claws,  which  was  accordingly 
done,  and  on  a  second  trial  it  was  found  that  the  arrow  went  straight 
to  the  mark.  But  here  the  chief,  the  old  White  Bear,  objected,  say- 
ing it  was  necessary  that  they  should  have  long  claws  in  order  to  be 
able  to  climb  trees.  "  One  of  us  has  already  died  to  furnish  the  bow- 
string, and  if  we  now  cut  off  our  claws  we  must  all  starve  together. 
It  is  better  to  trust  to  the  teeth  and  claws  that  nature  gave  us,  for  it  is 
plain  that  man's  weapons  were  not  intended  for  us." 

No  one  could  think  of  any  better  plan,  so  the  old  chief  dismissed  the 
council  and  the  Bears  dispersed  to  the  woods  and  thickets  without  hav- 
ing concerted  any  waj'  to  prevent  the  increase  of  the  human  race. 
Had  the  result  of  the  council  been  otherwise,  we  should  now  be  at  war 
with  the  Bears,  but  as  it  is.  the  hunter  does  not  even  ask  the  Bear's  par- 
don when  he  kills  one. 

The  Deer  next  held  a  council  under  their  chief,  the  Little  Deer,  and 
after  some  talk  decided  to  send  rheumatism  to  every  hunter  who  should 


booneyJ  ORIGIN    OF    DI8EA8E  251 

kill  one  of  them  unless  he  took  care  to  ask  their  pardon  for  the  offense. 

They  sent   notice  of  their  decision  to  the  nearest  settlement  of   Indians 

and  told  them  at  the  same  time  what  to  do  when  necessity  forced  them 
to  kill  one  of  the  Deer  tribe.    Now,  whenever  the  hunter  shoots  a  Deer, 

the  Little  Deer,  who  is  Swift  as  the  wind  and  can  not  lie  wounded,  runs 
quickly  up  to  the  -pot  and.  bending  over  the  Mood -stains,  asks  the  spirit 
of  the  Deer  if  it  has  heard  the  prayer  of  the  hunter  for  pardon.  If  the 
reply  be  "  Yes,"  all  is  well, and  the  Little  Deer  goes  on  his  way;  hut  if 
the  reply  lie  "  No."  he  follows  on  the  trail  of  the  hunter,  guided  by  the 
drops  of  blood  on  the  ground,  until  he  arrives  at  his  cabin  in  the  set- 
tlement, when  the  Little  Deer  enters  invisibly  and  strikes  the  hunter 
with  rheumatism,  so  that  he  becomes  at  once  a  helpless  cripple.  No 
hunter  who  has  regard  for  his  health  ever  fails  to  ask  pardon  of  the 
Deer  for  killing  it,  although  some  hunters  who  have  not  learned  the 
prayer  may  try  to  turn  aside  the  Little  Deer  from 'his  pursuit  by 
building  a  fire  behind  them  in  the  trail. 

Next  came  the  Fishes  ami  Reptiles,  who  had  their  own  complaints 
against  Man.  They  held  their  council  toe-ether  and  determined  to 
make  their  victims  dream  of  snakes  twining  about  them  in  slimy  folds 
and  blowing  foul  breath  in  their  faces,  or  to  make  them  dream  of 
eating  raw  or  decaying  tish.so  that  they  would  lose  appetite,  sicken, 
and  die.      This  is  why  people  dream  about  snakes  and  fish. 

Finally  the  Birds,  Insects,  and  smaller  animals  came  together  for 
the  same  purpose,  and  the  Grubworm  was  chief  of  the  council.  It 
was  decided  that  each  in  turn  should  give  an  opinion,  and  then  they 
would  vote  on  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  Man  was  guilty. 
Seven  votes  should  he  enough  to  condemn  him.  One  after  another 
denounced  Man's  cruelty  and  injustice  toward  the  other  animals  and 
voted  in  favor  of  his  death.  The  Frog  spoke  first,  saying:  "  We 
must  d<>  something  to  check  the  increase  of  the  race,  or  people  will 
become  so  numerous  that  we  shall  he  crowded  from  off  the  earth. 
See  how  they  have  kicked  me  about  because  I'm  ugly,  as  they  say. 
until  my  back  is  covered  with  sores;"  and  here  he  showed  the  spots  on 
his  skin.  Next  came  the  Bird — no  one  remembers  now  which  one  it 
was — who  condemned  Man  "because  he  burns  my  feet  off,"  meaning 
the  way  in  which  the  hunter  barbecues  birds  by  impaling  them  on  a 
stick  set  over  the  fire,  so  that  their  feathers  and  tender  feet  are  singed 
off.  Others  followed  in  the  same  strain.  The  Ground-squirrel  alone 
ventured  to  say  a  good  word  for  Man.  who  seldom  hurt  him  because 
he  was  so  small,  but  this  made  the  others  so  angry  that  they  fell  upon 
the  Ground-squirrel  and  tore  him  with  their  claws,  and  the  stripes  are 
on  his  back  to  this  day. 

They  began  then  to  devise  and  name  so  many  new  diseases,  one  after 
another,  that  had  not  their  invention  at  last  failed  them,  no  one  of  the 
human  race  would  have   been  aide  to  survive.      The  Grubworm  grew 


252  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

constantly  more  pleased  as  the  name  of  each  disease  was  called  off,  until 
at  last  they  reached  the  end  of  the  list,  when  some  one  proposed  to 
make  menstruation  sometimes  fatal  to  women.  On  this  he  rose  up  in 
his  place  and  cried:  "  Waddn' !  [Thanks!]  I'm  glad  some  more  of  them 
will  die.  for  they  are  getting  so  thick  that  they  tread  on  me."  The 
thought  fairly  made  him  shake  with  joy,  so  that  he  fell  over  backward 
and  could  not  get  on  his  feet  again,  but  had  to  wriggle  off  on  his  back. 
as  the  Grubworm  has  done  ever  since. 

When  the  Plants,  who  were  friendly  to  Man,  heard  what  had  been 
done  by  the  animals,  they  determined  to  defeat  the  latters'  evil  designs. 
Each  Tree,  Shrub,  and  Herb,  down  even  to  the  Grasses  and  Mosses, 
agreed  to  furnish  a  cure  for  some  one  of  the  diseases  named,  and  each 
said:  "I  shall  appear  to  help  Man  when  he  calls  upon  me  in  his  need." 
Thus  came  medicine;  and  the  plants,  every  one  of  which  has  its  use  if 
we  only  knew  it.  furnish  the  remedy  to  counteract  the  evil  wrought 
by  the  revengeful  animals.  Even  weeds  were  made  for  some  good 
purpose,  which  we  must  find  out  for  ourselves.  When  the  doctor 
does  not  know  what  medicine  to  use  for  a  sick  man  the  spirit  of  the 
plant  tells  him. 

5.  THE   DAUGHTER   OF  THE  SUN 

The  Sun  lived  on  the  other  side  of  the  skyr  vault,  but  her  daughter 
lived  in  the  middle  of  the  sky,  directly  above  the  earth,  and  every  day 
as  the  Sun  was  climbing  along  the  sky  arch  to  the  west  she  used  to 
stop  at  her  daughter's  house  for  dinner. 

Now,  the  Sun  hated  the  people  on  the  earth,  because  they  could 
never  look  straight  at  her  without  screwing  up  their  faces.  She  said 
to  her  brother,  the  Moon,  "My  grandchildren  are  ugly;  they  grin  all 
over  their  faces  when  they  look  at  me."  But  the  Moon  said,  "I  like 
my  younger  brothers;  I  think  they  are  very  handsome" — because 
they  always  smiled  pleasantly  when  they  saw  him  in  the  sky  at  night, 
for  his  rays  were  milder. 

The  Sun  was  jealous  and  planned  to  kill  all  the  people,  so  every  day 
when  she  got  near  her  daughter's  house  she  sent  down  such  sultry 
rays  that  there  was  a  great  fever  and  the  people  died  by  hundreds, 
until  everyone  had  lost  some  friend  and  there  was  fear  that  no  one 
would  lie  left.  They  went  for  help  to  the  Little  Men,  who  said  the 
only  way  to  save  themselves  was  to  kill  the  Sun. 

The  Little  Men  made  medicine  and  changed  two  men  to  snakes,  the 
Spreading-adder  and  the  Copperhead,  and  sent  them  to  watch  near  the 
(l(Kir  of  the  daughter  of  the  Sun  to  bite  the  old  Sun  when  she  came 
next  day.  They  went  together  and  hid  near  the  house  until  the  Sun 
came,  but  when  the  Spreading-adder  was  about  to  spring,  the  bright 
light  blinded  him  and  he  could  only  spit  out  yellow  slime,  as  he  does 
to  this  day  when   he  tries  to  bite.     She  called  him  a  nasty  thing  and 


hooney]  THK    DAUGHTER    OF    THE    si   N  253 

went  by  into  the  bouse,  and  tin' Copperhead  crawled  off  without  trying 
to  do  anything. 

So  the  people  still  died  from  the  heat,  and  they  went  to  the  Little 
Men  a  second  time  for  help.  The  Little  Men  made  medicine  again  and 
Changed  one  man  into  the  great  I'ktena  and  another  into  the  Rattle- 
snake and  sent  them  to  watch  near  the  house  and  kill  the  old  Sun  when 
she  came  Eor  dinner.  They  made  the  I'ktena  very  large,  with  borns 
on  his  head,  and  everyone  thought  he  would  lie  sure  to  do  the  work. 
hut  the  Rattlesnake  was  so  quick  and  eager  that  he  got  ahead  and  coiled 
up  just  outside  tin'  house,  and  when  the  Sun's  daughter  opened  the 
door  to  look  out  for  her  mother,  he  sprang  up  and  hit  her  and  she  fell 
dead  in  the  doorway.  He  forgot  to  wait  for  the  old  Sun.  hut  went 
hack  to  the  people,  and  the  I'ktena  was  so  very  angry  that  he  went 
hack.  too.  Since  then  we  pray  to  the  rattlesnake  and  do  not  kill  him, 
because  he  is  kind  and  never  tries  to  bite  if  we  do  not  disturb  him. 
The  Lktena  grew  angrier  all  the  time  and  very  dangerous,  so  that  if 
he  even  looked  at  a  man.  that  man's  family  would  die.  After  a  long- 
time the  people  held  a  council  and  decided  that  he  was  too  dangerous 
to  he  with  them,  so  they  sent  him  up  to  Galun'lati,  and  he  is  there 
now.  The  Spreading-adder,  the  Copperhead,  the  Rattlesnake,  and  the 
Lktena  were  all  men. 

When  the  Sun  found  her  daughter  dead,  she  went  into  the  house 
and  grieved,  and  the  people  did  not  die  any  more,  but  now  the  world 
was  dark  all  the  time,  because  the  Sun  would  not  come  out.  They 
went  again  to  the  Little  Men.  and  these  told  them  that  if  they  wanted 
the  Sun  to  come  out  again  they  must  bring  back  her  daughter  from 
Tsusgina'i,  the  Ghost  country,  in  Usunhi'vi,  the  Darkening  land  in 

the  west.     They  chose  seven  men  to  go,  and  gave  each  a  sourw I  rod 

a  hand-breadth  long.  The  Little  Men  told  them  they  must  take  a  box 
with  them,  and  when  they  got  to  Tsusgina'i  they  would  find  all  the 
ghosts  at  a  dance.  They  must  stand  outside  the  circle,  and  when  the 
young  woman  passed  in  the  dance  they  must  strike  her  with  the  rods 
and  she  would  fall  to  the  ground.  Then  they  must  put  her  into  the 
box  and  bring  her  back  to  her  mother,  but  the}7  must  be  very  sure  not 
to  open  the  box.  even  a  little  way,  until  they  were  home  again. 

They  took  the  rods  and  a  box  and  traveled  seven  days  to  the  west 
until  they  came  to  the  Darkening  land.  There  were  a  great  many 
people  there,  and  they  were  having  a  dance  just  as  if  they  were  at 
home  in  the  settlements.  The  young  woman  was  in  the.  outside  circle, 
and  as  she  swung  around  to  where  the  seven  men  were  standing,  one 
struck  her  with  his  rod  and  she  turned  her  head  and  saw  him.  As  she 
came  around  the  second  time  another  touched  her  with  his  rod.  and 
then  another  and  another,  until  at  the  seventh  round  she  fell  out  of 
the  ring,  and  they  put  her  into  the  l>ox  and  closed  the  lid  fast.  The 
other  ghosts  seemed  never  to  notice  what  had  happe 1. 


254  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

They  took  up  the  box  and  .started  home  toward  the  east.  In  a  little 
while  the  girl  came  to  life  again  and  begged  to  be  let  out  of  the  box, 
but  the}'  made  no  answer  and  went  on.  Soon  she  called  again  and  said 
she  was  hungry,  but  still  they  made  no  answer  and  went  on.  After 
another  while  she  spoke  again  and  called  for  a  drink  and  pleaded  so 
that  it  was  very  hard  to  listen  to  her,  but  the  men  who  carried  the  box 
said  nothing  and  still  went  on.  When  at  last  they  were  very  near 
home,  she  called  again  and  begged  them  to  raise  the  lid  just  a  little, 
because  she  was  smothering.  They  were  afraid  she  was  really  dying 
now,  so  they  lifted  the  lid  a  little  to  give  her  air,  but  as  they  did  so 
there  was  a  fluttering  sound  inside  and  something  flew  past  them  into 
the  thicket  and  they  heard  a  redbird  cry,  " Jewish/  Jewish!  hwish!"  in 
the  bushes.  They  shut  clown  the  lid  and  went  on  again  to  the  settle- 
ments, but  when  they  got  there  and  opened  the  box  it  was  empty. 

So  we  know  the  Redbird  is  the  daughter  of  the  Sun,  and  if  the  men 
had  kept  the  box  closed,  as  the  Little  Men  told  them  to  do,  they  would 
have  brought  her  home  safely,  and  Ave  could  bring  back  our  other 
friends  also  from  the  Ghost  country,  but  now  when  they  die  we  can 
never  bring  them  back. 

The  Sun  had  been  glad  when  they  started  to  the  Ghost  country,  but 
when  they  came  back  without  her  daughter  she  grieved  and  cried, 
"My  daughter,  my  daughter,"  and  wept  until  her  tears  made  a  flood 
upon  the  earth,  and  the  people  were  afraid  the  world  would  be 
drowned.  They  held  another  council,  and  sent  their  handsomest  young 
men  and  women  to  amuse  her  so  that  she  would  stop  crying.  They 
danced  before  the  Sun  and  sang  their  best  songs,  but  for  a  long  time 
she  kept  her  face  covered  and  paid  no  attention,  until  at  last  the 
drummer  suddenly  changed  the  song,  when  she  lifted  up  her  face,  and 
was  so  pleased  at  the  sight  that  she  forgot  her  grief  and  smiled. 

6.   HOW    THEY    BROUGHT    BACK    THE    TOBACCO 

In  the  beginning  of  the  world,  when  people  and  animals  were  all  the 
same,  there  was  only  one  tobacco  plant,  to  which  they  all  came  for 
their  tobacco  until  the  DaguTku  geese  stole  it  and  carried  it  far  away 
to  the  south.  The  people  were  suffering  without  it,  and  there  was  one 
old  woman  who  grew  so  thin  and  weak  that  everybody  said  she  would 
soon  die  unless  she  could  get  tobacco  to  keep  her  alive. 

Different  animals  offered  to  go  for  it,  one  after  another,  the  larger 
ones  first  and  then  the  smaller  ones,  but  the  Dagul  kfi  saw  and  killed 
every  one  before  he  could  get  to  the  plant.  After  the  others  the  little 
Mole  tried  to  reach  it  by  going  under  the  ground,  but  the  DaguTku 
saw  his  track  and  killed  him  as  he  came  out. 

At  last  the  Hummingbird  offered,  but  the  others  said  he  was  entirely 
too  small  and  might  as  well  stay  at  home.  He  begged  them  to  let  him 
try,  so  they  showed  him  a  plant  in  a  field  and  told  him  to  let  them  see 


kookbt]  iinw    THEV    BROUGHT    BACK    THE    TOBACCO  255 

how  he  would  go  aboul  it.  The  next  moment  lie  was  gone  and  they 
saw  liim  sitting  <m  the  plant,  and  then  in  a  moment  he  was  back  again, 
l>ut  do  one  had  seen  him  going  or  coming,  because  he  was  so  swift. 
"This  is  the  way  I'll  do,"  said  the  Hummingbird,  so  they  let  him  try. 

Ilr  flew  off  to  the  east,  am!  when  he  came  in  sight  of  the  tobacco 
the  Dagul  ku  were  watching  all  about  it,  but  they  could  not  see  him 
because  he  was  so  small  and  tlew  so  swiftly.  Ilr  darted  down  on  the 
plant  tea!  and  snatched  off  the  top  with  the  leaves  and  seeds,  and 
was  off  again  before  the  Dagul  ku  knew  what  had  happened.  Before 
he  got  home  with  the  tobacco  the  old  woman  had  fainted  and  they 
thought  she  was  dead,  but  he  blew  the  smoke  into  her  nostrils,  and 
with  a  cry  of  "  Tm'lu!  [Tobacco!]"  she  opened  her  eyes  and  was  alive 
again. 

-I  I  OND    VEBSION 

The  people  had  tobacco  in  the  beginning,  but  they  had  used  it  all, 
and  there  was  great  suffering  for  want  of  it.  There  was  one  old 
man  so  old  that  he  had  to  be  kept  alive  by  smoking,  and  as  his  son 
did  not  want  to  see  him  die  he  decided  to  go  himself  to  try  and  get 
some  more.  The  tobacco  country  was  far  in  the  south,  with  high 
mountains  all  around  it,  and  the  passes  were  guarded, so  that  it  was 
very  bard  to  get  into  it.  but  the  young  man  was  a  conjurer  and  was  not 
afraid.  He  traveled  southward  until  he  came  to  the  mountains  on  the 
border  of  the  tobacco  country.  Then  he  opened  his  medicine  bag  and 
took  out  a  hummingbird  skin  and  put  it  over  himself  like  a  dress. 
Now  he  was  a  hummingbird  and  flew  over  the  mountains  to  the  tobacco 
field  and  pulled  some  of  the  leaves  and  seed  and  put  them  into  his 
medicine  bag.  He  was  so  small  and  swift  that  the  guards,  whoever 
they  were,  did  not  see  him,  and  when  he  had  taken  as  much  as  he  could 
carry  he  tlew  back  over  the  mountains  in  the  same  way.  Then  he  took 
off  the  hummingbird  skin  and  put  it  into  his  medicine  bag.  and  was  a 
man  again.  He  started  home,  and  on  his  way  came  to  a  tree  that  had 
a  hole  in  the  trunk,  like  a  door,  near  the  first  branches,  and  a  very 
pretty  woman  was  looking  out  from  it.  Hestoppedand  tried  toclimb 
the  tree,  but  although  he  was  a  good  climber  he  found  that  he  always 
slipped  back.  He  put  on  a  pair  of  medicine  moccasins  from  his  pouch, 
and  then  he  could  climb  the  tree,  but  when  he  reached  the  first  branches 
he  looked  up  and  the  hole  was  still  as  far  away  as  before.  He  climbed 
higher  and  higher,  but  every  time  he  looked  up  the  hole  seemed  to  be 
farther  than  before,  until  at  last  he  was  tired  and  came  down  again. 
When  he  reached  home  he  found  his  father  very  weak,  but  still  alive, 
and  one  draw  at  the  pipe  made  him  strong  again.  The  people  planted 
the  seed  and  have  had  tobacco  ever  since. 

7.   THE  JOURNEY  TO   THE  SUNRISE 

A  long  time  ago  several  young  men  made  up  their  minds  to  find  the 
place  where  the  Sun    lives  and   see  what    the  Sun   is  like.      They  got 


256  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ahn.19 

ready  their  bows  and  arrows,  their  parched  corn  and  extra  moccasins, 
and  started  out  toward  the  east.  At  first  they  met  tribes  they  knew, 
then  they  came  to  tribes  they  had  only  heard  about,  and  at  last  to 
others  of  which  they  had  never  heard. 

There  was  a  tribe  of  root  eaters  and  another  of  acorn  eaters,  with 
great  piles  of  acorn  shells  near  their  houses.  In  one  tribe  they  found 
a  sick  man  dying,  and  were  told  it  was  the  custom  there  when  a  man 
died  to  bury  his  wife  in  the  same  grave  with  him.  They  waited  until 
he  was  dead,  when  thev  saw  his  friends  lower  the  body  into  a  great 
pit,  so  deep  and  dark  that  from  the  top  they  could  not  see  the  bottom. 
Then  a  rope  was  tied  around  the  woman's  body,  together  with  a  bun- 
dle of  pine  knots,  a  lighted  pine  knot  was  put  into  her  hand,  and  she 
was  lowered  into  the  pit  to  die  there  in  the  darkness  after  the  last  pine 
knot  was  burned. 

The  young  men  traveled  on  until  they  came  at  last  to  the  sunrise 
place  where  the  sky  reaches  down  to  the  ground.  They  found  that  the 
sky  was  an  arch  or  vault  of  solid  rock  hung  above  the  earth  and  was 
always  swinging  up  and  down,  so  that  when  it  went  up  there  was  an 
open  place  like  a  door  between  the  sky  and  ground,  and  when  it  swung 
back  the  door  was  shut.  The  Sun  came  out  of  this  door  from  the  east 
and  climbed  along  on  the  inside  of  the  arch.  It  had  a  human  figure,  but 
was  too  bright  for  them  to  see  clearly  and  too  hot  to  come  very  near. 
They  waited  until  the  Sun  had  come  out  and  then  tried  to  get  through 
while  the  door  was  still  open,  but  just  as  the  first  one  was  in  the  door- 
way the  rock  came  down  and  crushed  him.  The  other  six  were  afraid 
to  try  it,  and  as  they  were  now  at  the  end  of  the  world  they  turned 
around  and  started  back  again,  but  they  had  traveled  so  far  that  they 
were  old  men  when  they  reached  home. 

8.    THE    MOON   AND   THE   THUNDERS. 

The  Sun  was  a  young  woman  and  lived  in  the  East,  while  her  brother, 
the  Moon,  lived  in  the  West.  The  girl  had  a  lover  who  used  to  come 
every  month  in  the  dark  of  the  moon  to  court  her.  He  would  come 
at  night,  and  leave  before  daylight,  and  although  she  talked  with  him 
she  could  not  see  his  face  in  the  dark,  and  he  would  not  tell  her  his 
name,  until  she  was  wondering  all  the  time  who  it  could  be.  At  last 
she  hit  upon  a  plan  to  find  out.  so  the  next  time  he  came,  as  they  were 
sitting  together  in  the  dark  of  the  asi,  she  slyly  dipped  her  hand  into 
the  cinders  and  ashes  of  the  fireplace  and  rubbed  it  over  his  face,  say- 
ing. "Your  face  is  cold;  you  must  have  suffered  from  the  wind,'' 
and  pretending  to  be  very  sorry  for  him,  but  he  did  not  know  that 
she  had  ashes  on  her  hand.  After  a  while  he  left  her  and  went  away 
again. 

The  next  night  when  the  Moon  came  up  in  the  sky  his  face  was  cov- 
ered with  spots,  and  then  his  sister  knew  he  was  the  one  who  had  been 


BUREAU   OF  AMERICAN   ETHNOLOGV 


NINETEENTH    ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.   X.ll 


TAGWADlHi' 


mooney]  THE    MOOM    AND    THE    THUNDERS  257 

coming  to  see  her.  He  was  so  much  ashamed  to  have  her  know  it 
thai  li«'  kept  us  far  away  as  he  could  at  the  other  end  of  the  skj  all  the 
night.  Ever  since  he  tries  to  keep  a  long  way  behind  the  Sun.  and 
when  he  doc-  sometimes  have  to  conic  near  her  in  the  west  he  makes 
himself  as  thin  as  a  ribbon  so  thai  he  can  hardly  be  seen. 

Some  old  people  saj  that  the  moon  is  a  hall  which  was  thrown  up 
against  the  sky  in  a  game  a  lone-  time  ago.  They  say  that  two  towns 
were  playing  against  each  other,  hut  one  of  them  had  tin'  best  runners 

and  had  almost  won  the  came,  when  the  leader  of  tl ther  side  picked 

up  the  hall  with  his  hand-    a  thine-  that  is  not   allowed   in   the  game 
and  tried  to  throw  it  to  the  goal,  hut  it   struck  against   the  solid   sky 
vault  and  was  fastened  there,  to  remind  players  never  to  cheat.      When 

the  moon  look-  -mall  and  pale  it  is  because  somi has  handled  the 

hall  unfairly,  and  for  this  reason  they  formerly  played  only  at  the 
time  of  a  full  moon. 

When  the  sun  or  moon  i-  eclipsed  it  is  because  a  great  frog  up  in 
the  sky  is  trying  to  swallow  it.  Everybody  knows  this,  even  the 
Creek-  and  the  other  tribes,  and  in  the  olden  times,  eighty  or  a  hun- 
dred year-  ago,  before  the  great  medicine  men  were  all  dead,  when 
ever  they  -aw  the  sun  grow  dark  the  people  would  come  together  and 
tire  guns  and  heat  the  drum,  ami  in  a  little  while  tin-  would  frighten 
off  the  greal  frog  ami  the  sun  would  he  all  right  again. 

The  common  people  call  both  Sun  and  Moon  Nundd,  one  being 
"Nunda  that  dwell-  in  the  day"  ami  the  other  "Nunda  that  dwell-  in 
the  night,"  hut  the  priests  call  the  Sun  Su'tdlidiki',  ••Six-killer."  and 
the  Moon  Gi '  yagu'ga,  though  nobody  knows  now  what  this  wurd  means. 
or  why  they  use  these  name-.  Sometime-  people  ask  the  Moon  not  to 
let  it  rain  or  -now  . 

The  great  Thunder  ami  hi-  sons,  the  two  Thunder  boys,  live  far  in 
the  west  above  the  sky  vault.  The  lightning  and  the  rainbow  are 
their  beautiful  dress.  The  priests  pray  to  the  Thunder  and  call  him 
the  Red  Man.  because  that  is  the  brightest  color  of  his  dress.  There 
arc  other  Thunder-  that  live  lower  down,  in  the  cliffs  and  mountains, 
and  under  waterfalls,  and  travel  on  invisible  bridges  from  one  high 
peak  to  another  where  they  have  their  town  house-.  The  great  Thun- 
ders above  the  sky  are  kind  and  helpful  when  we  pray  to  them,  hut 
these  other-  are  always  plotting  mischief.  One  must  not  point  at  the 
rainbow,  or  one'-  finger  will  swell  at  the  lower  joint. 

9.   WHAT   THE  STARS  ARE   LIKE 

There  are  different  opinion-  about  the  -tars.  Some  say  they  are 
balls  of  light,  othei-  gaj  they  are  human,  but  most  people  say  they 
are  living  creature-  covered  with  luminous  fur  or  feathers. 

One  night  a  hunting  party  camping  in  the  mountain-  noticed  two 
lights  like  large  star-  moving  alone-  the  top  of  a  distant  ridge.     They 

19  eth— i'H 17 


258  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

wondered  and  watched  until  the  light  disappeared  on  the  other  side. 
The  next  night,  and  the  next,  they  saw  the  lights  again  moving  along 
the  ridge,  and  after  talking  over  the  matter  decided  to  go  on  the  mor- 
row and  try  to  learn  the  cause.  In  the  morning  they  started  out  and 
went  until  they  came  to  the  ridge,  where,  after  searching  some  time. 
they  found  two  strange  creatures  about  so  large  (making  a  circle  with 
outstretched  arms),  with  round  bodies  covered  with  tine  fur  or  downy 
feathers,  from  which  small  heads  stuck  out  like  the  heads  of  terrapins. 
As  tlic  breeze  played  upon  these  feathers  showers  of  sparks  flew  out. 
The  hunters  carried  the  strange  creatures  back  to  the  camp,  intend- 
ing to  take  them  home  to  the  settlements  on  their  return.  They  kept 
them  several  days  and  noticed  that  every  night  they  would  grow 
bright  and  shine  like  great  stars,  although  by  day  they  were  (inly  balls 
of  gray  fur.  except  when  the  wind  stirred  and  made  the  sparks  fly  out. 
They  kept  very  quiet,  and  no  one  thought  of  their  trying  to  escape, 
when,  on  the  seventh  night,  they  suddenly  rose  from  the  ground  like 
balls  of  fire  and  were  soon  above  the  tops  of  the  trees.  Higher  and 
higher  they  went,  while  the  wondering  hunters  watched,  until  at  last 
they  were  only  two  bright  points  of  light  in  the  dark  sky,  and  then 
the  hunters  knew  that  they  were  stars.    • 

10.  ORIGIN   OF  THE   PLEIADES   AND   THE  PINE 

Long  ago,  when  the  world  was  new,  there  were  seven  boys  who 
used  to  spend  all  their  time  down  by  the  townhouse  playing  the 
gatayu'sti  game,  rolling  a  .stone  wheel  along  the  ground  and  sliding  a 
curved  stick  after  it  to  strike  it.  Their  mothers  scolded,  but  it  did  no 
good,  so  one  day  they  collected  some  gatayu'sti  stones  and  boiled 
them  in  the  pot  with  the  corn  for  dinner.  When  the  boys  came  home 
hungry  their  mothers  dipped  out  the  stones  and  said.  ■•Since  you  like 
the  gatayu'sti  better  than  the  cornfield,  take  the  stones  now  for  your 
dinner." 

The  boys  were  very  angry,  and  went  down  to  the  townhouse,  say- 
ing. "As  our  mothers  treat  us  this  way,  let  us  go  where  we  shall 
never  trouble  them  any  more."  They  began  a  dance — some  say  it 
was  the  Feather  dance — and  went  round  and  round  the  townhouse, 
praying  to  the  .spirits  to  help  them.  At  last  their  mothers  were 
afraid  something  was  wrong  and  went  out  to  look  for  them.  They 
saw  the  boys  still  dancing  around  the  townhouse.  and  as  they  watched 
they  noticed  that  their  feet  were  off  the  earth,  and  that  with  every 
round  they  rose  higher  and  higher  in  the  air.  They  ran  to  get  their 
children,  but  it  was  too  late,  for  they  were  already  above  the  roof  of 
the  townhouse — all  but  one,  whose  mother  managed  to  pull  him  down 
with  the  gatayu'sti  pole,  but  he  struck  the  ground  with  such  force 
that  he  sank  into  it  and  the  earth  closed  over  him. 

The  other  six  circled  higher  and  higher  until  they  went   up  to  the 


ORIGIN    OF    STRAWBEEE]  ES  2  >9 

sky,  where  we  see  them  now  as  the  Pleiades,  which  the  Cherokee 
stiil  call  A.ni'tsutsa  (The  Boys).  The  people  grieved  long  after  them, 
but  the  mother  whose  boy  had  gone  into  the  ground  came  every 
morning  and  every  evening  to  cry  over  the  spot  until  the  earth  was 
damp  with  her  tears.  At  hist  a  little  green  shoot  sprouted  up  and 
gre^  day  by  day  until  it  became  the  tall  tree  that  we  call  now  the 
pine,  and  the  pine  is  of  the  same  nature  as  the  stars  and  holds  in 
itself  the  same  bright  light. 

n.   THE   MILKY   WAY 

Some  people  in  the  south  hail  a  corn  mill,  in  which  they  pounded 
thi'  corn  into  meal,  and  several  mornings  when  they  came  to  till  it  they 
noticed  that  some  of  the  meal  had  been  stolen  d urine- the  night.  They 
examined  the  ground  anil  found  the  tracks  of  a  doe'.  s(>  the  next  night 
the\  watched,  and  when  the  doe-  came  from  the  north  and  began  to  eat 
the  meal  out  of  the  howl  they  sprang  out  and  whipped  him.  lie  ran 
off  howling  to  his  home  in  the  north,  with  the  meal  dropping  from  his 
mouth  as  lie  ran,  and  leaving  behind  a  white  trail  where  now  weseethe 
Milky  Way.  which  the  Cherokee  call  to  this  day  (ii  li'-utsun'stanufi'j  i. 
■•  Where  the  doe-  ran." 

12.  ORIGIN   OF  STRAWBERRIES 

When  the  first  man  was  created  and  a  mate  was  given  to  him.  they 
lived  together  very  happily  for  a  time,  hut  then  began  to  quarrel,  until 
at  last  the  woman  left  her  husband  and  started  oh"  toward  Nund&gun'ja, 
the  Sun  land,  in  the  east.  The  man  followed  alone  and  grieving,  but 
the  woman  kept  on  steadily  ahead  and  never  looked  behind,  until 
I'ne'  lanun'hi,  the  great  Apportioner  (the  Sun),  took  pity  on  him  and 
asked  him  if  he  was  still  angry  with  his  wife.  lb'  said  he  was  not.  and 
I'ne'  lanun'hi  then  asked  him  if  he  would  like  to  have  her  hack  again, 
to  which  lie  eagerly  answered  yes. 

So  I'ne'  lanun'hi  caused  a  patch  of  the  finest  ripe  huckleberries  to 
spring  up  alone-  the  path  in  front  of  the  woman,  but  she  passed  by 
without  paying  any  attention  to  them.  Farther  on  he  put  a  clump  of 
blackberries,  but  these  also  she  refused  to  notice.     Other  fruits,  one, 

two,  and  three,  and  then  some  trees  covered  with  beautiful  red  service 

berries,  were  placed  beside  the  path  to  tempt  her.  hut  she  still  went  on 
until  suddenly  she  saw  in  front  a  patch  of  large  ripe  strawberries,  the 
first  ever  known.  She  stooped  to  gather  a  few  to  eat.  and  as  she  picked 
them  -he  chanced  to  turn  her  face  to  the  west,  and  at  once  the  memory 
of  her  husband  came  hack  to  her  and  she  found  herself  unable  to  go 
on.  She  sat  down,  hut  the  longer  she  waited  the  stronger  became  her 
desire  for  her  husband,  and  at  last  she  gathered  a  hunch  of  the  finest 
berries  and  started  back  alone-  the  path  to  give  them  to  him.  He  met 
her  kindly  and  they  went  home  together. 


260  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

13.   THE   GREAT   YELLOW-JACKET:   ORIGIN    OF   FISH   AND    FROGS 

A  long  time  ago  the  people  of  the  old  town  of  Kanu'ga  la'yi  ("  Brier 
place,"  or  Briertown),  on  Nantahala  river,  in  the  present  Macon 
county.  North  Carolina,  were  much  annoyed  by  a  great  insect  called 
U'la'gu.',  as  large  as  a  house,  which  used  to  come  from  some  secret 
hiding  place,  and  darting  swiftly  through  the  air,  would  snap  up  chil- 
dren from  their  play  and  carry  them  away.  It  was  unlike  any  other 
insect  ever  known,  and  the  people  tried  many  times  to  track  it  to  its 
home,  but  it  was  too  swift  to  be  followed. 

They  killed  a  squirrel  and  tied  a  white  string  to  it,  so  that  its  course 
could  be  followed  with  the  eye.  as  bee  hunters  follow  the  flight  of  a 
lice  to  its  tree.  The  U'la'gu'  came  and  carried  off  the  squirrel  with 
the  string  hanging  to  it,  but  darted  away  so  swiftly  through  the  air 
that  it  was  out  of  sight  in  a  moment.  They  killed  a  turkey  and  put  a 
longer  white  string  to  it,  and  the  U'la'gvi'  came  and  took  the  turkey, 
but  was  gone  again  before  they  could  see  in  what  direction  it  flew. 
They  took  a  deer  ham  and  tied  a  white  string  to  it.  and  again  the 
U'la'gu'  swooped  down  and  bore  it  off  so  swiftly  that  it  could  not  be 
followed.  At  last  they  killed  a  yearling  deer  and  tied  a  very  long 
white  string  to  it.  The  U'la'gu'  came  again  and  seized  the  deer,  but 
this  time  the  load  was  so  heavy  that  it  had  to  fly  slowly  and  so  low 
down  that  the  string  could  be  plainly  seen. 

The  hunters  got  together  for  the  pursuit.  They  followed  it  along 
a  ridge  to  the  east  until  they  came  near  where  Franklin  now  is,  when, 
on  looking  across  the  valley  to  the  other  side,  they  saw  the  nest  of 
the  U'la'gu'  in  a  large  cave  in  the  rocks.  On  this  they  raised  a  great 
shout  and  made  their  way  rapidly  down  the  mountain  and  across  to  the 
cave.  The  nest  had  the  entrance  below  with  tiers  of  cells  built  up  one 
above  another  to  the  roof  of  the  cave.  The  great  U'la'gu'  was  there, 
with  thousands  of  smaller  ones,  that  we  now  call  yellow-jackets.  The 
hunters  built  tires  around  the  hole,  so  that  the  smoke  filled  the  cave 
and  smothered  the  great  insect  and  multitudes  of  the  smaller  ones, 
but  others  which  were  outside  the  cave  were  not  killed,  and  these 
escaped  and  increased  until  now  the  yellow- jackets,  which  before 
were  unknown,  are  all  over  the  world.  The  people  called  the  cave 
Tsgagun'yi.  "  Where  the  yellow-jacket  was."  and  the  place  from  which 
they  first  saw  the  nest  they  called  Atahi'ta.  "  Where  they  shouted,"  and 
these  are  their  names  today. 

They  say  also  that  all  the  fish  and  frogs  came  from  a  great  monster 
fish  and  frog  which  did  much  damage  until  at  last  they  were  killed 
by  the  people,  who  cut  them  up  into  little  pieces  which  were  thrown 
into  the  water  and  afterward  took  shape  as  the  smaller  fishes  and 
frous. 


THE    F01  RFOOTED   TRIBES  26  1 


14.   THE   DELUGE 


A  longtime  ago  a  man  bad  a  dog,  which  began  to  go  down  to  the 
river  cxn\  . l:i \  and  look  at  the  water  and  howl.  At  last  the  man 
was  angry  and  scolded  the  dog,  which  then  spoke  to  bira  and  said: 
"Very  soon  there  is  going  to  be  a  great  freshet  and  the  water  will 
come  so  high  that  everybody  will  lie  drowned;  hut  if  you  will  make  a 
raft  to  gel  upon  when  the  rain  comes  you  can  lie  saved,  but  you  must 
first  throw  me  into  the  water."  The  man  did  not  believe  it.  and  the 
dog  said,  "If  you  want  a  sign  that  I  speak  the  truth,  look  at  the  hack 
of  my  neck."  lie  looked  and  saw  that  the  dog's  neck  had  the  skin 
worn  oil'  so  that  the  hones  stuck  out. 

Then  lie  believed  the  dog,  and  began  to  build  a  raft.  Soon  the  rain 
came  and  he  took  his  family,  with  plenty  of  provisions,  and  they  all 
got  upon  it.  It  rained  for  a  long  time,  and  the  water  rose  until  the 
mountains  were  covered  and  all  the  people  in  the  world  were  drow  ned. 
Then  the  rain  stopped  and  the  waters  went  down  again,  until  at  last 
it  was  safe  to  come  oil  the  raft.  Now  there  was  no  one  alive  hut  the 
man  ami  his  family,  but  one  day  they  heard  a  sound  of  dancing  and 
shouting  on  the  other  side  of  the  ridge.  The  man  climbed  to  the  top 
and  looked  over;  everything  was  still,  hut  all  along  the  valley  he  saw 
great  piles  of  hones  of  the  people  who  had  been  drowned,  and  then 
he  knew  that  the  ghosts  had  been  dancing. 

Quadruped  Myths 
15.  the  fourfooted  tribes 

In  Cherokee  mythology,  as  in  that  of  Indian  tribes  generally,  there 
is  no  essential  difference  between  men  and  animals.  In  the  primal 
genesis  period  they  seem  to  he  completely  undifferentiated,  and  we 
find  all  creatures  alike  living  and  working  together  in  harmony  and 
mutual  helpfulness  until  man.  by  his  aggressiveness  and  disregard  for 
the  rights  of  the  others,  provokes  their  hostility,  when  insects,  birds, 
fishes,  reptiles,  and  fourfooted  beasts  join  forces  against  him  (see 
story.  ••(  )rigin  of  Disease  and  Medicine"").  Henceforth  their  lives  are 
apart,  but  the  difference  is  always  one  of  decree  only.  The  animals, 
like  the  people,  are  organized  into  tribes  and  have  like  them  their 
chief-  and  townhouses,  their  councils  and  ballplays,  and  the  same 
hereafter  in  the  Darkening  land  of  Qsunhi'yi.  Man  is  still  the  para- 
mount power,  and  hunts  and  slaughters  the  others  as  his  own  necessi 
tie-  compel,  hut  is  obliged  to  satisfy  the  animal  tribes  in  every 
instance,  very  much  as  a  murder  is  compounded  for,  according  to  the 
Indian  system,  by  "covering  the  hones  of  the  dead"  with  presents  for 
the  bereaved  relatives. 

This  pardon  to  the  hunter  is  made  the  easier  through  a  peculiar 


262  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

doctrine  of  reincarnation,  according  to  which,  as  explained  by  the 
shamans,  there  is  assigned  to  every  animal  a  definite  life  term  which 
can  not  be  curtailed  by  violent  means.  If  it  is  killed  before  the  expi- 
ration of  the  allotted  time  the  death  is  only  temporary  and  the  body 
is  immediately  resurrected  in  its  proper  shape  from  the  blood  (Imps, 
and  the  animal  continues  its  existence  until  the  end  of  the  predestined 
period,  when  the  body  is  finally  dissolved  and  the  liberated  spirit  goes 
to  join  its  kindred  shades  in  tin1  Darkening  land.  This  idea  appears 
in  the  story  of  the  bear  man  and  in  the  belief  concerning  the  Little 
Deer.  Death  is  thus  but  a  temporary  accident  and  the  killing  a  mere 
minor  crime.  By  some  priests  it  is  held  that  there  are  seven  succes- 
sive reanimations  before  the  final  end. 

Certain  supernatural  personages,  Kana'ti  and  Tsul'kalii'  (see  the 
myths),  have  dominion  over  the  animals,  and  are  therefore  regarded 
as  the  distinctive  gods  of  the  hunter.  Kana'ti  at  one  time  kept  the 
game  animals,  as  well  as  the  pestiferous  insects,  shut  up  in  a  cave 
under  ground,  from  which  they  were  released  by  his  undutiful  sons. 
The  primeval  animals — the  actors  in  the  animal  myths  and  the  pred- 
ecessors of  the  existing  species — are  believed  to  have  been  much 
larger,  stronger,  and  cleverer  than  their  successors  of  the  present 
day.  In  these  myths  we  find  the  Indian  explanation  of  certain  pecu- 
liarities of  form,  color,  or  habit,  and  the  various  animals  are  always 
consistently  represented  as  acting  in  accordance  with  their  well-known 
characteristics. 

First  and  most  prominent  in  the  animal  myths  is  the  Rabbit  (  Tsisfat), 
who  figures  always  as  a  trickster  and  deceiver,  generally  malicious, 
but  often  beaten  at  his  own  game  by  those  whom  he  had  intended  to 
victimize.  The  connection  of  the  rabbit  with  the  dawn  god  and  the 
relation  of  the  Indian  myths  to  the  stories  current  among  the  southern 
negroes  are  discussed  in  another  place.  Ball  players  while  in  train- 
ing are  forbidden  to  eat  the  flesh  of  the  rabbit,  because  this  animal  so 
easily  becomes  confused  in  running.  On  the  other  hand,  their  spies 
seek  opportunity  to  strew  along  the  path  which  must  be  taken  by 
their  rivals  a  soup  made  of  rabbit  hamstrings,  with  the  purpose  of 
rendering  them  timorous  in  action. 

In  a  ball  game  between  the  birds  and  the  fourfooted  animals  (see 
story)  the  Bat,  which  took  sides  with  the  birds,  is  said  to  have  won  the 
victory  for  his  party  by  his  superior  dodging  abilities.  For  this  rea- 
son the  wings  or  sometimes  the  stuffed  skin  of  the  bat  are  tied  to  the 
implements  used  in  the  game  to  insure  success  for  the  players.  Accord- 
ing to  the  same  myth  the  Flying  Squirrel  (  Tewa)  also  aided  in  securing 
the  victory,  and  hence  both  these  animals  are  still  invoked  by  the  ball 
player.  The  meat  of  the  common  gray  squirrel  (stil&'U)  is  forbidden 
to  rheumatic  patients,  on  account  of  the  squirrel's  habit  of  assuming 
a  cramped  position  when  eating.     The  stripes  upon  the  back  of  the 


THE    FOURFOOTED    TRIBES  263 

ground  squirrel  (kiyu'  ga)  are  the  mark  of  scratches  made  by  the  angry 
animals  at  a  memorable  council  in  which  be  took  ii  upon  himself  to 
say  a  good  word  for  the  archenemy,  Man  (see  "  ( )rigin  of  1  disease  and 
Medicine").  The  peculiarities  of  the  mink  (sufigi)  ai-e  accounted  for  by 
another  storj  . 

The  buffalo,  the  largest  game  animal  of  America,  was  hunted  in  the 
southern  Alleghenj  region  until  almost  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
the  particular  species  being  probably  that  known  in  th<'  West  as  the 
wood  or  mountain  buffalo.  The  name  in  use  among  the  principal  gulf 
tribes  was  practically  tin-  same,  and  can  not  be  analyzed,  viz,  Cherokee, 
//I'ntst'i';  Hichitee, ya'nasi;  Creek, ySna'sa;  Choctaw, yaiiask.  Although 
the  flesh  <>t'  the  buffalo  was  eaten,  its  skin  dressed  for  blankets  and  bed 
coverings,  its  lone-  hair  woven  into  belts,  and  its  horns  carved  into 
spoons,  it  is  yet  strangely  absent  from  Cherokee  folklore.  So  far  as 
is  known  it  is  mentioned  in  hut  a  single  one  of  the  sacred  formula-,  in 
which  a  person  under  treatment  for  rheumatism  is  forbidden  to  eat 
the  meat,  touch  the  >kin.  or  use  a  spoon  made  from  the  horn  of  the 
buffalo,  upon  the  ground  of  an  occult  connection  between  the  habitual 
cramped  attitude  of  a  rheumatic  and  the  natural  "hump"  of  that 
animal. 

The  elk  is  known,  probably  by  report,  under  the  name  of  a  <<■<' 
,'ijir,i.  "great  deer",  but  there  is  no  myth  or  folklore  in  connection 
with  it. 

The  deer.  awl',  which  is  still  common  in  the  mountains,  was  the 
principal  dependence  of  the  Cherokee  hunter,  and  is  consequently 
prominent  in  myth,  folklore,  and  ceremonial.  One  of  the  seven 
gentes  of  the  tribe  i-  named  from  it  (Ani'-Kawf,  "Deer  People'*). 
According  to  a  myth  given  elsewhere,  the  deer  won  hi-  horn-  in  a  suc- 
cessful race  with  the  rabbit.  Rheumatism  is  usually  ascribed  to  the 
work  of  revengeful  deer  ghosts,  which  the  hunter  has  neglected  to 
placate,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  aid  of  the  deer  is  invoked  against 
frostbite,  as  its  feet  are  believed  to  be  immune  from  injuiw  by  frost. 
'I'iie  wolf,  the  fox.  and  the  opossum  are  also  invoked  for  this  purpose, 
and  for  the  same  reason.  When  the  redrool  {Ceanothus  americanus) 
put-  forth  it-  leaves  the  people  say  the  young  fawn-  are  then  in  the 
mountains.  On  killing  a  deer  the  hunter  always  .ait-  out  the  ham- 
string from  the  hind  quarter  and  throws' it  away,  for  fear  that  if 
he  ate  it  he  would  thereafter  tire  easilj  in  traveling. 

The  powerful   chief  of    the  deer  tribe   i-    the   A  wi'   Usdi',  or   ••Little 

Deer,"  who  is  invisible  to  all  except  the  greatest  masters  of  the 
hunting  secrets,  and  can  be  wounded  only  by  the  hunter  who  ha-  sup- 
plemented years  of  occult  study  with  frequent  fasts  and  lonely  vigils. 
The  Little  Deer  keeps  constant  protecting  watch  over  hi-  subjects,  and 
sees  well  to  it  that  not  one  is  ever  killed  in  wantonness.  When  a  deer 
i-  -hot  l>v  tin'  hunter  the  Little  Deer  know-  it  at  once  and  i-  instantly 


264  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.akk.19 

at  the  spot.  Bending  low  his  head  he  asks  of  the  blood  stains  upon 
the  ground  if  they  have  heard  -i.  e.,  if  the  hunter  has  asked  pardon 
for  the  life  that  he  has  taken.  If  the  formulistic  prayer  has  been  made, 
all  i>  well,  because  the  necessary  sacrifice  has  been  atoned  for;  but  if 
otherwise,  the  Little  Deer  tracks  the  hunter  to  his  house  by  the  blood 
drops  along  the  trail,  and.  unseen  and  unsuspected,  puts  into  his  body 
the  spirit  of  rheumatism  that  shall  rack  him  with  aches  and  pains  from 
that  time  henceforth.  As  seen  at  rare  intervals  —perhaps  once  in  a 
lonu'  lifetime — the  Little  Deer  is  pure  white  and  about  the  size  of  a 
.small  doy,  has  branching  antlers,  and  is  always  in  company  with  a  large 
herd  of  deer.  Even  though  shot  by  the  master  hunter,  he  comes  to  life 
again,  being  immortal,  but  the  fortunate  huntsman  who  can  thus 
make  prize  of  his  antlers  has  in  them  an  unfailing  talisman  that  brings 
him  success  in  the  chase  forever  after.  The  smallest  portion  of  one 
of  those  horns  of  the  Little  Deer,  when  properly  consecrated,  attracts 
the  deer  to  the  hunter,  and  when  exposed  from  the  wrapping  dazes 
them  so  that  they  forget  to  run  and  thus  become  an  easy  prey. 
Like  the  Ulunsu'tl  stone  (see  number  50),  it  is  a  dangerous  prize  when 
not  treated  with  proper  respect,  and  is — or  was — kept  always  in  a  secret 
place  away  from  the  house  to  guard  against  sacrilegious  handling. 

Somewhat  similar  talismanic  power  attached  to  the  down  from  the 
young  antler  of  the  deer  when  properly  consecrated.  So  firm  was 
the  belief  that  it  had  influence  over  •"anything  about  a  deer"  that 
eighty  and  a  hundred  years  ago  even  white  traders  used  to  bargain 
with  the  Indians  for  such  charms  in  order  to  increase  their  store  of 
deerskins  by  drawing  the  trade  to  themselves.  The  faith  in  the  exist- 
ence of  the  miraculous  Little  Deer  is  almost  as  strong  and  universal 
to-day  among  the  older  Cherokee  as  is  the  belief  in  a  future  life. 

The  bears  (i/i'iiii'i)  are  transformed  Cherokee  of  the  old  clan  of  the 
Ani'-Tsa'guhi  (see  story.  "Origin  of  the  Bear").  Their  chief  is  the 
White  Bear,  who  lives  at  Kuwa'hi,  •"Mulberry  place."  one  of  the  high 
peaks  of  the  Great  Smoky  mountains,  near  to  the  enchanted  lake  of 
Atag&'hl  (see  number  ti!>).  to  which  the  wounded  bears  go  to  lie  cured  of 
their  hurts.  Under  Kuwa'hi  and  each  of  three  other  peaks  in  the  same 
mountain  region  the  bears  have  townhouses,  where  they  congregate 
and  hold  dances  every  fall  before  retiring  to  their  dens  for  the  winter. 
Being  really  human,  they  can  talk  if  they  only  would,  and  once  a 
mother  bear  was  heard  singing  to  her  cub  in  words  which  the  hunter 
understood.  There  is  one  variety  known  as  JcaM^-gikwLhi'ta,  "long 
hams."  described  as  a  large  black  bear  with  long  legs  and  small  feet, 
which  is  always  lean,  and  which  the  hunter  does  not  care  to  shoot,  pos- 
sibly on  account  of  its  leanness.  It  is  believed  that  new-born  cubs  are 
hairless,  like  mice. 

The  wolf  ()/',/'  ya)  is  revered  as  the  hunter  and  watchdog  of  Kana'ti. 
and  the  largest  yens  in  the  tribe  bears  the  name  of  Ani'-wa'  ya,  "Wolf 


THE    FOURFOOTED    TRIBES  265 

people."  The  ordinary  ( Iherokee  w  ill  never  kill  one  if  he  can  possibly 
avoid  it,  but  will  let  the  animal  go  by  unharmed,  believing  that  the 
kindred  of  a  slain  wolf  will  surely  revenge  his  death,  and  that  the 
weapon  with  which  the  deed  is  done  will  be  rendered  worthless  for 
further  shooting  until  cleaned  and  exorcised  by  a  medicine  man.  ( ler 
tain  persons,  however,  having  knowledge  of  the  proper  atonement 
rites,  may  kill  wolves  with  impunity,  and  are  hired  for  this  purpose 
t>\  others  who  have  suffered  from  raids  upon  their  fish  traps  or  their 
stock.  Like  the  eagle  killer  (see  "'The  BirdTi'ibes"),  the  professional 
wolf  killer,  after  killing  one  of  these  animals,  addresses  to  it  a  prayer 
in  which  he  seeks  to  turn  aside  the  vengeance  of  the  tribe  by  laying 
the  burden  of  blame  upon  the  people  of  some  other  settlement.  lie 
then  unscrews  the  barrel  of  his  gun  and  inserts  into  it  seven  small  sour- 
wood  rods  heated  over  the  fire,  and  allows  it  to  remain  thus  overnight 
in  the  running  stream;  in  the  morning  the  rods  are  taken  out  and  the 
barrel  is  thoroughly  dried  and  cleaned. 

The  dog  (gili'),  although  as  much  a  part  of  Indian  life  among  the 
Cherokee  as  in  other  tribes,  hardly  appears  in  folklore.  One  myth 
makes  him  responsible  for  the  milky  way:  another  represents  him  as 
driving  the  wolf  from  the  comfortable  house  lire  and  taking  the  place 
for  himself.  He  figures  also  in  connection  with  the  deluge.  There  is 
no  tradition  of  the  introduction  of  the  horse  (sd'gwdli,  iromasd1 'gwdlihu' ', 
"a  pack  or  burden")  or  of  the  cow  (wa''ka,  from  the  Spanish,  vaca). 
The  hog  is  called  sikiod,  this  being  originally  the  name  of  the  opossum, 
which  somewhat  resembles  it  in  expression,  and  which  is  now  distin 
guished  as  sikwd  utse'tsti,  "grinning  sikwa."  In  the  same  wa\  the 
-hce  p.  another  introduced  animal,  is  called  a  "•/'  unddt  'net,"  woolly  deer"; 
the  goat,  dwi'  alianu'l&M,  "bearded  deer,"  and  the  mule,  " sd'gwd'li 
digu'landhi'ta,  "long-eared  horse."  The  cat,  also  obtained  from  the 
whites,  is  called  wesd,  an  attempt  at  the  English  "pussy."  When  it 
purrs  by  the  fireside,  the  children  say  it  is  counting  in  Cherokee, 
"  ta'ladvl ',  in'iu'iji.  ta'ladu',  nurHgt"  "sixteen,  four,  sixteen,  four."  The 
elephant,  which  a  few  of  the  Cherokee  have  seen  in  show-,  is  called 
by  them  Je&ma'md  u'tdnu,  "great  butterfly,"  from  the  supposed  resem- 
blance of  its  long  trunk  and  flapping  ears  to  the  proboscis  and  wines 
<>1  that  insect.  The  anatomical  peculiarities  of  the  opossum,  of  both 
sexes,  are  the  subject  of  much  curious  speculation  among  the  Indians, 
many  of  whom  believe  that  its  young  are  produced  without  an)  help 
from  the  male.     It  occurs  in  one  or  two  of  the  minor  myths. 

The  fox  (tsu''ld)  is  mentioned  in  one  of  the  formulas,  but  doc-  no 
appear  in  the  tribal  folklore.  The  black  fox  is  known  by  a  differenf 
name  {in&'U).  The  odor  of  the  skunk  (dUd')  is  believed  to  keep  off 
contagious  diseases,  and  the  scent  bag  is  therefore  taken  out  and 
hung  over  the  doorway,  a  small  hole  being  pierced  in  it  in  order  that 
the  content-    may  ooze  out   upon  the  timbers.     At   times,  as  in  the 


266  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [ETH.ANN.19 

smallpox  epidemic  of  1S66,  the  entire  body  of  the  animal  was  thus 
hung  up,  and  in  some  eases,  as  :ui  additional  safeguard,  the  meat  was 
rooked  and  eaten  and  the  oil  rubbed  over  the  skin  of  the  person.  The 
underlying  idea  is  that  the  fetid  smell  repels  the  disease  spirit,  and 
upon  the  same  principle  the  buzzard,  which  is  so  evidently  superior  to 
carrion  smells,  is  held  to  he  powerful  against  the  same  diseases. 

The  beaver  (dd'yi),  by  reason  of  its  well-known  gnawing  ability, 
against  which  even  the  hardest  wood  is  not  proof,  is  invoked  on  behalf 
of  young  children  just  getting  their  permanent  teeth.  According  to 
the  little  formula  which  is  familiar  to  nearly  every  mother  in  the  tribe, 
when  the  loosened  milk  tooth  is  pulled  out  or  drops  out  of  itself,  the 
child  runs  with  it  around  the  house,  repeating  four  times,  "  Dd'yi, 
sl'nitu'  (Beaver,  put  a  new  tooth  into  my  jaw)'*  after  which  he  throws 
the  tooth  upon  the  roof  of  the  house. 

In  a  characteristic  song  formula  to  prevent  frostbite  the  traveler, 
before  starting  out  on  a  cold  winter  morning,  rubs  his  feet  in  the  ashes 
of  the  tire  and  sings  a  song  of  four  verses,  by  means  of  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  Indian  idea,  he  acquires  in  turn  the  cold-defying  powers  of 
the  wolf,  fleer,  fox,  and  opossum,  four  animals  whose  feet,  it  is  held, 
are  never  frostbitten.  After  each  verse  he  imitates  the  cry  and  the 
action  of  the  animal.  The  words  used  are  archaic  in  form  and  may  be 
rendered  "'I  become  a  real  wolf,"  etc.     The  song  runs: 

Txini'ir<i''ij(t-tj<i'  (repeated  four  times),  wa-\-a!  (prolonged  howl).  (Imitates  a 
wolf  pawing  the  ground  with  Ins  feet. ) 

Tsd.fi' -ha/ vA-ye'  (repeated  four  times),  sauh!  sauh!  sauh!  smth.'  (Imitates  call  and 
jumping  of  a  deer.) 

TsiiH/-t.iii/'/ii-)jn'  (repeated  four  times),  gaih!  gaih!  gaih!  >j<iih.'  (Imitates  barking 
and  scratching  of  a  fox. ) 

Txi'nl'-xVkiru-iin'  (repeated  four  times),  />■?-)-.  (Imitates  the  cry  of  an  opossum 
when  cornered,  and  throws  his  head  back  as  that  animal  does  when  feigning  death,  i 

16.   THE   RABBIT   GOES   DUCK   HUNTING 

The  Rabbit  was  so  boastful  that  lie  would  claim  to  do  whatever  he 
saw  anyone  else  do.  and  so  tricky  that  he  could  usually  make  the  other 
animals  believe  it  all.  Once  he  pretended  that  he  could  swim  in  the 
water  and  eat  fish  just  as  the  Otter  did.  and  when  the  others  told  him 
to  prove  it  he  lixed  up  a  plan  so  that  the  Otter  himself  was  deceived. 

Soon  afterward  they  met  again  and  the  Otter  said,  "I  eat  ducks  some- 
times." Said  the  Rabbit,  "Well,  I  eat  ducks  too."  The  Otter  chal- 
lenged him  to  try  it;  so  they  went  up  along  the  river  until  they  saw 
several  ducks  in  the  water  and  managed  to  get  near  without  being 
seen.  The  Rabbit  told  the  Otter  to  go  first.  The  Otter  never  hesi- 
tated, but  dived  from  the  bank  and  swam  under  water  until  he  reached 
the  ducks,  when  he  pulled  one  down  without  being  noticed  by  the 
others,  and  came  back  in  the  same  way. 

While  the  Otter  had  been  under  the  water  the  Rabbit  had  peeled 


THE    BABBIT    GOES    DUCK     111  NTING  267 

sonic  bark  from  a  sapling  and  made  himself  a  noose.  "  Now  ."  he  said, 
"Just  watch  me:"' and  he  dived  in  and  swam  a  little  way  under  the 
water  until  he  was  nearly  choking  and  had  to  come  up  to  the  top  to 
breathe.  He  went  under  again  and  came  up  again  a  little  nearer  to 
the  ducks.  He  look  another  breath  and  dived  under,  and  this  time  he 
came  up  among  the  ducks  and  threw  the  noose  over  the  head  of  one 
and  caught  it.  The  duck  struggled  hard  and  finally  spread  its  wings 
and  flew  up  from  the  water  with  the  Rabbit  hanging  on  to  the  noose. 
It  flew  on  and  on  until  at  last  the  Rabbil  could  not  hold  on  any 
longer,  bul  had  i>-  let  go  and  drop.  As  it  happened,  he  fell  into  a  tall, 
hollow  sycamore  stump  without  any  hole  at  the  bottom  to  gel  oul 
from,  and  there  lie  stayed  until  he  was  so  hungry  that  lie  had  to  eat 
his  own  fui-.  as  the  rabbil  does  ever  since  when  he  is  starving.  After 
several  days,  when  he  was  very  weak  with  hunger,  he  heard  children 
playing  outside  around  the  trees.     lie  began  to  sing: 

Cm  a  door  and  l""k  at  me; 

I'm  the  prettiest  thing  you  ever  did  aee. 

The  children  ran  home  and  told  their  father,  who  came  and  began 
to  cut  a  hole  in  the  tree.  As  lie  chopped  away  tin'  Rabbit  inside  kepi 
singing,  "Cut  it  larger,  so  you  can  see  me  better;  I'm  so  pretty."  They 
made  the  hole  larger,  and  then  the  Rabbit  told  them  to  stand  hack  so 
that  they  could  take  a  good  look  as  he  came  out.  They  stood  away 
hack,  and  the  Rabbit  watched  his  chance  and  jumped  oul  and  got  away. 

17.  HOW  THE  RABBIT  STOLE  THE  OTTER'S  COAT 

The  animals  were  of  different  sizes  and  wore  coats  of  various  colors 
and  patterns.  Some  wore  lone-  fur  and  others  wore  short.  Some  had 
rings  on  their  tails,  and  some  had  no  tails  at  all.  Some  had  coat-  of 
brown,  others  of  black  or  yellow.  They  were  always  disputing  aboul 
their  good  looks,  so  at  last  they  agreed  to  hold  a  council  to  decide  who 
had  the  finest  coat. 

They  had  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  Otter,  w  ho  lived  SO  far  up  the 
creek  that  he  seldom  came  down  to  visit  the  other  animals.  It  was  -aid 
that  he  had  the  finest  coat  of  all.  but  no  one  knew  just  what  it  was  like. 
because  it  was  a  lone-  time  since  anyone  had  seen  him.  They  did  not 
even  know  exactly  where  he  lived — only  the  general  direction;  but 
they  knew  he  would  come  to  the  council  when  the  word  gol  out. 

Now  the  Rabbil  wanted  the  verdict  for  himself,  so  when  it  began  to 
look  as  if  it  might  go  to  the  Otter  he  studied  up  apian  to  cheat  him  out 
of  it.  He  asked  a  few  sly  questions  until  he  learned  what  trail  the 
Otterwould  take  to  gel  to  the  council  place.  Then,  without  saying  any- 
thing, he  went  on  ahead  and  after  four  days'  travel   he  met  the  Otter 

and  knew  him  at  -e  by  hi-  beautiful  coal  of  -oft  dark-brown* fur. 

The  Otter  wa-  glad  to  see  him  and  asked  him  where  he  was  eroingr. 


268  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.ij 

•■  ( )."  said  the  Rabbit,  "  the  animals  sent  me  to  bring  you  to  the  council; 
because  you  live  so  far  away  they  were  afraid  you  mightn't  know  the 
road.'"     The  Otter  thanked  him.  and  they  went  on  together. 

They  traveled  all  day  toward  the  council  ground,  and  at  night  the 
Rabbit  selected  the  camping  place,  because  the  Otter  wasa  stranger 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  cut  down  bushes  for  beds  and  fixed 
everything  in  good  shape.  The  next  morning  they  started  on  again. 
In  the  afternoon  the  Rabbit  began  to  pick  up  wood  and  bark  as  they 
went  along  and  to  load  it  on  his  hack.  When  the  Otter  asked  what  this 
was  for  the  Rabbit  said  it  was  that  they  might  be  warm  and  comfort- 
able at  night.  After  a  while,  when  it  was  near  sunset,  they  stopped 
and  made  their  camp. 

When  supper  was  over  the  Rabbit gota  stick  and  shaved  it  down  to 
a  paddle.     The  Otter  wondered  and  asked  again  what  that  was  for. 

"I  have  good  dreams  when  I  sleep  with  a  paddle  under  my  head," 
said  the  Rabbit. 

When  the  paddle  was  finished  the  Rabbit  began  to  cut  awa}'  the 
bushes  so  as  to  make  a  clean  trail  down  to  the  river.  The  Otter  won- 
dered more  and  more  and  wanted  to  know  what  this  meant. 

Said  the  Rabbit.  "This place  is  called  Di'tatlaski'yi  [The  Place  Where 
it  Rains  Fire].  Sometimes  it  rains  tire  here,  and  the  sky  looks  a  little 
that  way  to-night.  You  go  to  sleep  and  1*11  sit  up  and  watch,  and  if 
the  tire  does  come,  as  soon  as  you  hear  me  shout,  you  run  and  jump 
into  the  river.  Better  hang  your  eoat  on  a  limb  over  there,  so  it  won't 
get  burnt." 

The  Otter  did  as  he  was  told,  and  they  both  doubled  up  to  go  to  sleep, 
but  the  Rabbit  kept  awake.  After  a  while  the  tire  burned  down  to  red 
coals.  The  Rabbit  called,  but  the  Otter  was  fast  asleep  and  made  no 
answer.  In  a  little  while  he  called  again,  but  the  Otter  never  stirred. 
Then  the  Rabbit  Idled  the  paddle  with  hot. coals  and  threw  them  up  into 
the  air  and  shouted,  "  It's  raining  tire!   It's  raining  tire!" 

The  hot  coals  fell  all  around  the  Otter  and  he  jumped  up.  "To  the 
water! "  cried  the  Rabbit,  and  the  Otter  ran  and  jumped  into  the  river, 
and  he  has  lived  in  the  water  ever  since. 

The  Rabbit  took  the  Otter's  coat  and  put  it  on,  leaving  his  own 
instead,  and  went  on  to  the  council.  All  the  animals  were  there,  even- 
one  looking  out  for  the  Otter.  At  last  they  saw  him  in  the  distance, 
and  they  said  one  to  the  other,  "The  Otter  is  coming!"  and  sent  one 
of  the  small  animals  to  show  him  the  best  seat.  They  were  all  glad 
to  see  him  and  went  up  in  turn  to  welcome  him.  but  the  Otter  kept 
his  head  down,  with  one  paw  over  his  face.  They  wondered  that  he 
was  so  bashful,  until  the  Rear  came  up  and  pulled  the  paw  away,  and 
there  was  the  Rabbit  with  his  split  nose.  He  sprang  up  and  started  to 
run,  when  the  Bear  struck  at  him  and  pulled  his  tail  off,  but  the  Rabbit 
was  too  quick  for  them  and  got  away. 


moonky]  HOW    THE    WILDCAT    CAUGHT    THE    GOBBLES  269 

18.   WHY    THE    POSSUM'S    TAIL    IS    BARE 

The  Possum  used  to  have  a  long,  bushy  tail,  and  was  so  proud  of  it 
that  he  combed  it  oul  every  morning  and  sang  about  it  ai  the  dance. 
until  tlic  Rabbit,  who  had  had  no  tail  since  the  Bear  pulled  it  out. 
became  very  jealous  and  made  up  his  mind  to  play  the  Possum  a  i  rick. 

There  was  to  be  a  great  council  and  a  dance  at  which  all  the  animals 
were  to  he  present.      It  was  the  Rabbit's  business  to  send  out   the  news. 

so  a-  he  was  passing  the  Possum's  place  he  stopped  to  ask  him  if  he 

intended  to  lie  there.  The  Possum  said  he  Would  come  if  hi'  could 
have  a  special  seat,  "because  I  have  such  a  handsome  tail  that  I  ought 
to  sit  where  everybody  can  see  me."  The  Rabbit  promised  to  attend 
to  it  and  to  send  some  one  besides  to  comb  and  dress  the  Possum's  tail 
for  the  dance,  so  the  Possum  was  very  much  pleased  and  agreed  to 
come. 

Then  the  Rabbit  went  over  to  the  Cricket,  who  is  such  an  expert  haii- 
cutter  that  the  Indians  call  him  the  barber,  and  told  him  to  e-,>  next 
morning  and  dress  the  Possum's  tail  for  the  dance  that  night.  I  le  told 
the  Cricket  just  what  to  do  and  then  went  on  about  some  other  mischief. 

In  the  morning  the  Cricket  went  to  the  Possum's  house  ami  said  he 
had  conic  to  gei  him  ready  for  the  dance.  So  the  Possum  stretched 
himself  out  and  shut  his  eyes  while  the  Cricket  combed  out  his  tail  and 
wrapped  a  red  string  around  it  to  keep  it  smooth  until  night.  Hut  all 
this  time,  as  he  wound  the  string  around,  he  was  clipping  oil'  the  hair 
close  to  the  roots,  and  the  Possum  never  knew  it. 

When  it  was  night  the  Possum  went  to  the  townhouse  where  the 
dance  was  to  he  and  found  the  best  seat  ready  for  him.  just  as  the  Rab- 
liit  had  promised.  When  his  turn  came  in  the  dance  he  loosened  the 
string  from  his  tail  and  stepped  into  the  middle  of  the  floor.  The 
drummers  began  to  drum  and  the  Possum  began  to  sine-.  "See  my 
beautiful  tail."  Everybody  shouted  and  he  danced  around  the  circle 
and  sane-  again,  •"See  what  a  fine  color  it  has."  They  shouted  again 
and  he  danced  around  another  time,  singing,  "See  how  it  sweeps  the 
ground."  The  animals  shouted  more  loudly  than  ever,  and  the  Possum 
was  delighted.  He  danced  around  again  and  sang,  "See  how  tine  the 
fur  is."  Then  everybody  laughed  so  long  that  the  Possum  wondered 
what  they  meant.  He  looked  around  the  circle  of  animals  and  they 
were  all  laughing-  at  him.  Then  he  looked  down  at  his  beautiful  tail 
and  saw  that  there  was  not  a  hair  left  upon  it.  hut  that  it  was  as  bare  as 
the  tail  of  a  lizard.  He  was  so  much  astonished  and  ashamed  that  he 
could  not  say  a  word,  but  rolled  over  helpless  on  the  gi'ound  and 
grinned,  as  the  Possum  does  to  this  day  when  taken  by  surprise. 

19.   HOW   THE   WILDCAT   CAUGHT  THE   GOBBLER 

The  Wildcat  once  caught  the  Rabbit  and  was  about  to  kill  him.  when 
the   Rabbit  begged  for  his  life,  saying:  "  I'm  so  -mall  I  would  make 


270  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.i.i 

only  a  mouthful  for  you.  but  it'  you  Let  me  .y-o  I'll  show  you  where  you 
can  gel  a  whole  drove  of  Turkeys."'  So  the  Wildcat  let  him  up  and 
went  with  him  to  where  the  Turkeys  were. 

When  they  came  near  the  place  the  Rabbit  said  to  the  Wildcat, 
••  Now.  you  must  do  just  as  I  say.  Lie  down  as  it  you  were  dead  and 
don't  move,  even  if  I  kick  you.  but  when  I  give  the  word  jump  up  and 
catch  the  largest  one  there."  The  Wildcat  agreedand  stretched  out  as 
if  dead,  while  tlie  Rabbit  gathered  some  rotten  wood  and  crumbled  it 
over  his  eyes  and  nose  to  make  them  look  flyblown,  so  that  the  Turkeys 
would  think  lie  had  been  dead  some  time. 

Then  the  Rabbit  went  over  to  the  Turkeys  and  said,  in  a  sociable 
way.  "Here,  I've  found  our  old  enemy,  the  Wildcat,  lying  dead  in  the 
trail.  Let's  have  a  dance  over  him."  The  Turkeys  were  very  doubtful, 
hut  finally  went  with  him  to  where  the  Wildcat  was  lying  in  the  road 
as  if  dead.  Now,  the  Rabbit  had  a  good  voice  and  was  a  great  dance 
leader,  so  he  said,  "I'll  lead  the  song  and  you  dance  around  him." 
The  Turkeys  thought  that  line,  so  the  Rabbit  took  a  stick  to  beat  time 
and  began  to  sing:  "  Gdl&gi'na  hem tyak',  Gdldgi'na  hasuyak!  (pick  out 
the  Gobbler,  pick  out  the  Gobbler)." 

••  Why  do  you  say  that?"  said  the  old  Turkey.  "  O,  that's  all  right," 
said  the  Rabbit,  "that's  just  the  way  he  does,  and  we  sing  about  it." 
He  started  the  song  again  and  the  Turkeys  began  to  dance  around  the 
Wildcat.  When  they  had  gone  around  several  times  the  Rabbit  said, 
"  Now  go  up  and  hit  him,  as  we  do  in  the  war  dance."  So  the  Turkeys, 
thinking  the  Wildcat  surely  dead,  crowded  in  close  around  him  and 
the  old  gobbler  kicked  him.  Then  the  Rabbit  drummed  hard  and  sang 
his  loudest,  "Pick  out  the  Gobbler,  pick  out  the  Gobbler,"  and  the 
Wildcat  jumped  up  and  caught  the  Gobbler. 

20.  HOW  THE  TERRAPIN  BEAT  THE  RABBIT 

The  Rabbit  was  a  great  runner,  and  everybody  knew  it.  No  one 
thought  the  Terrapin  anything  but  a  slow  traveler,  but  he  was  a  great 
warrior  and  very  boastful,  and  the  two  were  always  disputing  about 
their  speed.  At  last  they  agreed  to  decide  the  matter  by  a  race. 
They  fixed  the  day  and  the  starting  place  and  arranged  to  run  across 
four  mountain  ridges,  and  the  one  who  came  in  first  at  the  end  was  to 
be  the  winner. 

The  Rabbit  felt  so  sure  of  it  that  he  said  to  the  Terrapin,  "You 
know  you  can't  run.  You  can  never  win  the  race,  so  I'll  give  you  the 
first  ridge  and  then  you'll  have  only  three  to  cross  while  I  go  over 
four." 

The  Terrapin  said  that  would  be  all  right,  but  that  night  wdien  he 
went  home  to  his  family  he  sent  for  his  Terrapin  friends  and  told 
them  he  wanted  their  help.  He  said  he  knew  he  could  not  outrun  the 
Rabbit,  but  he  wanted  to  stop  the  Rabbit's  boasting.  He  explained 
his  plan  to  his  friends  and  they  agreed  to  help  him. 


moonei  HOW    THE    TEBRAPIH    BEAT    THE    BABBIT  '-'71 

When  the  day  came  all  the  animals  were  there  to  see  the  race.  The 
K;il>l)it  was  with  them.  but  the  Terrapin  was  gone  ahead  toward  the  first 
ridge,  as  they  had  arranged,  and  thej  could  hardly  see  him  on  account 
of  the  lone-  grass.  The  word  was  given  and  the  Rabbil  started  nil'  with 
long  jumps  up  the  mountain,  expecting  I"  win  t  he  race  before  the  Ter- 
rapin could  gel  down  the  other  side.  But  lie  fore  lie  got  u|i  the  moun- 
tain he  saw  the  Terrapin  go  over  the  ridge  ahead  of  him.     He  ran  on. 

and  when  he  reached  the  top  he  looked  all  around.  Imt  could  not  see 
the  Terrapin  on  account  of  the  lone-  o-rass.  He  kept  on  down  the  moun 
tain  and  began  to  climb  the  second  ridge,  hut  when  he  looked  up  again 
there  was  the  Terrapin  just  going  over  the  top.  Now  he  was  surprised 
and  made  his  longest  jumps  to  catch  up,  but  when  he  o-"t  to  the  top 
there  was  the  Terrapin  away  in  trout  going  over  the  third  ridge.  The 
Rabbil  was  getting  tired  now  and  nearly  out  of  breath,  hut  he  kept  on 
down  the  mountain  and  up  the  other  ridge  until  he  got  to  the  top  just 
in  time  to  see  the  Terrapin  cross  the  fourth  ridge  and  thus  win  the  race. 

The  Rabbit  could  not  make  another  jump.  Imt  fell  over  on  the  ground, 
crying  ml,  mi.  mi,  mi.  as  the  Rabbit  does  ever  since  when  he  is  too  tired 
to  run  any  more.  The  race  was  given  to  the  Terrapin  and  all  the  ani- 
mal- wondered  how  he  could  win  against  the  Rabbit,  hut  he  kept  still 
and  never  told.  It  was  easy  enough,  however,  because  all  the  Terra 
pin's  friends  looked  just  alike,  and  he  had  simply  posted  one  near  the 
toji  of  each  ridge  to  wait  until  the  Rabbit  came  in  sight  and  then  climb 
over  and  hide  in  the  long  grass.  When  the  Rabbit  came  on  he  could 
not  find  the  Terrapin  and  so  thought  the  Terrapin  was  ahead,  and  if  he 
had  met  one  of  the  other  terrapins  he  would  have  thought  it  the  same 
one  because  they  looked.so  much  alike.  The  real  Terrapin  had  posted 
himself  on  the  fourth  ridge,  so  as  to  come  in  at  the  end  of  the  race 
and  be  ready  to  answer  questions  if  the  animals  suspected  anything. 

Because  the  Rabbit  had  to  lie  down  and  lose  the  race  the  conjurer 
now.  when  preparing  his  young  men  for  the  hall  play,  boils  a  lot  of 
rabbit  hamstrings  into  a  soup,  and  sends  some  one  at  night  to  pour  it 
across  the  path  along  which  the  other  players  are  to  come  in  the  morn- 
ing, so  that  they  may  become  tired  in  the  same  way  and  lose  the  game. 
It  is  not  always  easy  to  do  this,  because  the  other  party  is  expecting 
it  and  has  watchers  ahead  to  prevent  it. 

21.  THE   RABBIT  AND  THE  TAR  WOLF 

Once  there  was  such  a  lone'  spell  of  dry  weather  that  there  was  no 
more  water  in  the  creeks  and  springs,  and  the  animals  held  a  council 
to  see  what  to  do  about  it.  They  decided  to  die-  ;,  well,  and  all  agreed 
to  help  except  the  Rabbit,  who  was  a  lazy  fellow,  and  said.  "  I  don't 
need  to  dig  for  water.  The  dew  on  the  grass  is  enough  for  me."  The 
others  did  not  like  this,  hut  they  went  to  work  together  and  dug 
their  well. 


272  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


They  noticed  that  the  Rabbit  kepi  sleek  and  lively,  although  it  was 

still  dry  weather  and  the  water  was  getting  low  in  the  well.  They  said. 
"That  tricky  Rabbit  steals  our  water  at  night,"  so  they  made  a  wolf 
of  pine  gum  and  tar  and  set  it  up  by  the  well  to  scar  •  the  thief.  That 
night  the  Rabbit  came,  as  he  had  been  coming  every  night,  to  drink 
enough  to  last  him  all  next  day.  He  saw  the  queer  black  thing  by  the 
well  and  said.  "Who's  there?"  but  the  tar  wolf  said  nothing.  He 
came  nearer,  but  the  wolf  never  moved,  so  he  grew  braver  and  said, 
"Get  out  of  my  way  or  I'll  strike  you."  Still  the  wolf  never  moved 
and  the  Rabbit  came  up  and  struck  it  with  his  paw,  but  the  gum  held 
his  foot  and  it  stuck  fast.  Now  he  was  angry  and  said,  "Let  mo 
go  or  I'll  kick  you."  Still  the  wolf  said  nothing.  Then  the  Rabbit 
struck  again  with  his  hind  foot,  so  hard  that  it  was  caught  in  the  gum 
and  he  could  not  move,  and  there  he  stuck  until  the  animals  came  for 
water  in  the  morning.  When  they  found  who  the  thief  was  they  had 
great  sport  over  him  for  a  while  and  then  got  ready  to  kill  him,  but  as 
soon  as  he  was  unfastened  from  the  tar  wolf  he  managed  to  get 
away. — Wafford, 


SECOND    VEKSION 


"Once  upon  a  time  there  was  such  a  severe  drought  that  all  streams 
of  water  and  all  lakes  were  dried  up.  In  this  emergency  the  beasts 
assembled  together  to  devise  means  to  procure  water.  It  was  pro- 
posed by  one  to  dig  a  well.  All  agreed  to  do  so  except  the  hare.  She 
refused  because  it  would  soil  her  tiny  paws.  The  rest,  however,  dug 
their  well  and  were  fortunate  enough  to  find  water.  The  hare  begin- 
ning to  sutler  and  thirst,  and  having  no  right  to  the  well,  was  thrown 
upon  her  wits  to  procure  water.  She  determined,  as  the  easiest  way. 
to  steal  from  the  public  well.  The  rest  of  the  animals,  surprised  to 
find  that  the  hare  was  so  well  supplied  with  water,  asked  her  where 
she  got  it.  She  replied  that  she  arose  betimes  in  the  morning  and 
gathered  the  dewdrops.  However  the  wolf  and  the  fox  suspected  her 
of  theft  and  hit  on  the  following  plan  to  detect  her: 

They  made  a  wolf  of  tar  and  placed  it  near  the  well.  On  the  fol- 
lowing night  the  hare  came  as  usual  after  her  supply  of  water.  On 
seeing  the  tar  wolf  she  demanded  who  was  there.  Receiving  no  answer 
she  repeated  the  demand,  threatening  to  kick  the  wolf  if  he  did  not 
reply.  She  receiving  no  reply  kicked  the  wolf,  and  by  this  means 
adhered  to  the  tar  and  was  caught.  When  the  fox  and  wolf  got  hold 
of  her  they  consulted  what  it  was  best  to  do  with  her.  One  proposed 
cutting  her  head  off.  This  the  hare  protested  would  be  useless,  as  it 
had  often  been  tried  without  hurting  her.  Other  methods  were  pro- 
posed for  dispatching  her,  all  of  which  she  said  would  be  useless.  At 
last  it  was  proposed  to  let  her  loose  to  perish  in  a  thicket.  Upon  this 
the  hare  affected  great  uneasiness  and  pleaded  hard  for  life.     Her 


BUREAU   OF  AMERICAN   ETHNOLOGY 


NINETEENTH   ANNUAL  REPORT     PL.   XIV 


-.hot  £RAF 


hooney]  THE    RABBIT    DINKS    THE    BEAR  -J".'? 

enemies,  however,  refused  to  listen  and  she  was  accordingly  let  loose. 
As  soon,  however,  as  she  was  out  <>l'  reach  of  her  enemies  she  ga\  e  a 
whoop,  and  bounding  away  she  exclaimed:  'This  is  where  I  live."' 
Cherokee  Advocate.  December  is.  L845. 

22.  THE  RABBIT  AND  THE  POSSUM  AFTER  A  WIFE 

The  Rabbit  and  the  Possum  each  wanted  a  wife,  but  no  one  would 
marry  eitherof  them.  They  talked  overthe  matter  and  the  Rabbit  said. 
"Wecan't  get  wives  here;  let's  go  to  the  next  settlement.  I'm  the 
messenger  for  the  council,  and  I'll  tell  the  people  that  1  brine-  an  order 
that  everybody  must  take1  a  mate  at  once,  and  then  we'll  be  sure  to  get 
our  wives." 

The  Possum  thought  this  a  tine  plan,  so  they  started  oil  together  to 
the  next  town.  As  tin1  Rabbit  traveled  faster  he  got  there  first  and 
waited  outside  until  the  people  noticed  him  and  took  him  into  the 
townhouse.  When  the  chief  came  to  ask  his  business  the  Rabbit  said 
he  brought  an  important  order  from  the  council  that  everybody  must 
get  married  without  delay.  So  the  chief  called  the  people  together 
and  told  them  the  message  from  the  council.  Every  animal  took  a 
mate  at  once,  and  the  Rabbit  got  a  wife. 

The  Possum  traveled  so  slowly  that  he  got  there  after  all  the  animals 
had  mated,  leaving  him  still  without  a  wife.  The  Rabbit  pretended  to 
feel  sorry  for  him  and  said.  "Never  mind.  I'll  carry  the  message  to 
the  people  in  the  next  settlement,  and  you  hurry  on  as  fast  as  you  can, 
and  this  time  you  will  get  your  wife." 

So  he  went  on  to  the  next  town,  and  the  Possum  followed  close  after 
him.  But  when  the  Rabbit  got  to  the  townhouse  he  sent  out  the  word 
that,  as  there  had  been  peace  so  long  that  everybody  was  getting  lazy 
the  council  had  ordered  that  there  must  be  war  at  once  and  they  must 
begin  right  in  the  townhouse.  So  they  all  began  fighting,  but  the 
Rabbit  made  four  great  leaps  and  got  away  just  as  the  Possum  came 
in.  Everybody  jumped  on  the  Possum,  who  had  not  thought  of  bring- 
ing his  weapons  on  a  wedding  trip,  and  so  could  not  defend  himself. 
They  had  nearly  beaten  the  life  out  of  him  when  he  fell  over  and  pre- 
tended to  be  dead  until  lie  saw  a  good  chance  to  jump  up  and  get  away. 
The  Possum  never  got  a  wife,  but  he  remembers  the  lesson,  and  ever 
since  he  shuts  his  eyes  and  pretends  to  be  dead  when  the  hunter  has 
him  in  a  close  corner. 

23.   THE   RABBIT  DINES   THE  BEAR 

The  Rear  'united  the  Rabbit  to  dine  with  him.  They  had  beans  in 
the  pot.  but  there  was  no  grease  for  them,  so  the  Bear  cut  a  slit  in  his 
side  and  let  the  oil  run  out  until  they  had  enough  to  cook  the  dinner. 
The  Rabbit  looked  surprised,  and  thought  to  himself.  ••That's  a  handy 

l'.t    ETII— 01 18 


274  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [ETH.AHN.ly 

way.     I  think  I'll  try  that."     When  he  started  home  he  invited  the 
Bear  to  come  and  take  dinner  with  him  four  days  later. 

When  the  Bear  came  the  Babbit  .said,  "  I  have  beans  for  dinner,  too. 
Now  I'll  yet  the  grease  for  them."  So  he  took  a  knife  and  drove  it  into 
his  side,  but  instead  of  oil,  a  stream  of  blood  gushed  out  and  he  fell 
over  nearly  dead.  The  Bear  picked  him  up  and  had  hard  work  to  tie 
up  the  wound  and  stop  the  bleeding.  Then  he  scolded  him,  "You 
little  fool,  I'm  large  and  strong  and  lined  with  fat  all  over;  the  knife 
don't  hurt  me;  but  you're  small  and  lean,  and  you  can't  do  such 
things." 

24.  THE   RABBIT  ESCAPES   FROM   THE  WOLVES 

Some  Wolves  once  caught  the  Rabbit  and  were  going  to  eat  him 
when  he  asked  leave  to  show  them  a  new  dance  he  was  practicing. 
They  knew  that  the  Rabbit  was  a  great  song  leader,  and  they  wanted  to 
learn  the  latest  dance,  so  they  agreed  and  made  a  ring  about  him 
while  he  got  ready.  He  patted  his  feet  and  began  to  dance  around  in 
a  circle,  singing: 

Tldge'sili'in'  iinli'xiii'xkhi'hS. — 
Ha' unt  lil!  Hi:  Ha/nia  I; I.'  til! 

On  tin-  edge  of  the  field  I  dance  about — 
Ha'nialfl!  111!  Ha'nia  111!  HI! 

"Now,"  said  the  Rabbit,  "when  I  sing  'on  the  edge  of  the  field,'  I 
dance  that  way" — and  he  danced  over  in  that  direction — "and  when  I 
sing  7;/ .'///.'"  you  must  all  stamp  your  feet  hard."  The  Wolves  thought 
it  fine.  He  began  another  round  singing  the  same  song,  and  danced 
a  little  nearer  to  the  field,  while  the  Wolves  all  stamped  their  feet, 
lie  sang  louder  and  louder  and  danced  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  field 
until  at  the  fourth  song,  when  the  Wolves  were  stamping  as  hard  as 
they  could  and  thinking  only  of  the  song,  he  made  one  jump  and 
was  off  through  the  long  grass.  They  were  after  him  at  once,  but  he 
ran  for  a  hollow  stump  and  climbed  up  on  the  inside.  When  the 
the  Wolves  got  there  one  of  them  put  his  head  inside  to  look  up,  but 
the  Rabbit  spit  into  his  eye,  so  that  he  had  to  pull  his  head  out  again. 
The  others  were  afraid  to  try,  and  they  went  away,  with  the  Rabbit 
still  in  the  stump. 

25.   FLINT  VISITS  THE  RABBIT 

In  the  old  days  Tawi'skala  (Flint)  lived  up  in  the  mountains,  and  all 
the  animals  hated  him  because  he  had  helped  to  kill  so  many  of  them. 
They  used  to  get  together  to  talk  over  means  to  put  him  out  of  the 
way,  but  everybody  was  afraid  to  venture  near  his  house  until  the 
Rabbit,  who  was  the  boldest  leader  among  them,  offered  to  go  after 
Flint  and  try  to  kill  him.  They  told  him  where  to  find  him,  and  the 
Rabbit  set  out  and  at  last  came  to  Flint's  house. 


FLINT    VISITS    THE    BABBIT  275 

Flint  was  standing  at  his  door  when  the  Rabbit  came  up  and  said, 
sneeringly,  "Siyu'f  Hello!  Arc  you  the  fellow  they  call  Flint?" 
"Yes;  that's  what  they  call  me,"  answered  Flint.  "  Is  this  where  you 
live?"  "Yes;  this  iswhere  I  live."  All  this  time  the  Rabbit  was 
looking  about  the  place  trying  to  study  out  some  plan  t<>  take  Flint  off 
hi-  guard,  lie  bad  expected  Flint  to  invite  him  into  the  house,  so  he 
waited  a  Little  while  hut  when  Flint  made  no  move,  he  said,  •■Well. 
my  name  is  Rabbit;  I've  heard  a  good  deal  about  you.  so  I  came  to 
iu\  ite  you  to  come  ami  see  ine." 

Flint  wanted  to  know  where  the  Rabbit's  house  was.  ami  he  told  him 
it  was  down  in  the  broom-grass  field  near  the  river.  So  Flintpromised 
to  make  him  a  visit  in  a  few  days.  "Why  not  come  now  and  have 
supperwith  me?"  said  the  Rabbit,  and  after  a  little  coaxing  Flint 
agreed  and  the  two  started  down  the  mountain  together. 

When  they  came  near  the  Rabbit's  hole  the  Rabbit  said.  ••There  is 
my  house,  hut  in  summer  I  generally  stay  outside  here  where  it  is 
cooler.'"  So  he  made  a  fire,  and  they  had  their  supper  on  the  grass. 
When  it  was  over,  Flint  stretched  out  to  rest  and  the  Rabbit  got  some 
heavy  sticks  and  his  knife  and  cut  out  a  mallet  and  wedge.  Flint 
looked  up  and  asked  what  that  was  for.  '"Oh,"  said  the  Rabhit.  "I 
like  to  be  doing  something,  and  they  may  come  handy."  So  Flint  lay 
down  again,  and  pretty  soon  he  was  sound  asleep.  The  Rabbit  spoke 
to  him  once  or  twice  to  make  sure,  but  there  was  no  answer.  Then  he 
came  over  to  Flint  and  with  one  good  blow  of  the  mallet  he  drove  the 
sharp  -take  into  his  body  and  ran  with  all  his  might  for  his  own  hole; 
but  before  he  reached  it  there  was  a  loud  explosion,  and  pieces  of  flint 
flew  all  about.  That  is  why  we  find  flint  in  so  many  places  now.  One 
piece  struck  the  Rabbit  from  behind  and  cut  him  just  as  he  dived  into 
his  hole.  He  sat  listening  until  everything  seemed  quiet  again.  Then 
he  put  his  head  out  to  look  around,  but  just  at  that  moment  another 
piece  fell  and  struck  him  on  the  lip  and  split  it.  as  we  -till  see  it. 

26.   HOW    THE    DEER    GOT    HIS    HORNS 

In  the  beginning  the  Deer  had  no  horns,  but  his  head  was  smooth 
just  like  a  doe'-.  He  was  a  great  runner  and  the  Rabbit  was  a  great 
jumper,  and  the  animals  were  all  curious  to  know  which  could  go 
farther  in  the  same  time.  They  talked  about  it  a  good  deal,  and  at 
last  arranged  a  match  between  the  two.  and  made  a  nice  large  pair  of 
antlers  for  a  prize  to  the  winner.  They  were  to  start  together  from 
one  side  of  a  thicket  and  go  through  it,  then  turn  and  come  back,  and 
tin-  one  who  came  out  first  was  to  get  the  horns. 

On  the  day  fixed  all  the  animals  were  there,  with  the  antlers  put 
down  on  the  ground  at  the  edge  of  the  thicket  to  mark  the  starting 
point.  While  everybody  was  admiring  the  horns  the  Rabbit  said:  "  I 
don't  know  this  part  of  the  country;   I  want  to  take  a  look  through 


27<)  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

the  bushes  where  I  am  to  run."  They  thought  that  all  right,  so  the 
Rabbit  went  into  the  thicket,  but  he  was  gone  so  long  that  at  last  the 
animals  suspected  he  must  he  up  to  one  of  his  tricks.  They  sent  a 
messenger  to  look  for  him,  and  away  in  the  middle  of  the  thicket  he 
found  the  Rabbit  gnawing  down  the  hushes  and  pulling  them  away 
until  he  had  a  road  cleared  nearly  to  the  other  side. 

The  messenger  turned  around  quietly  and  came  back  and  told  the 
other  animals.  When  the  Rabbit  came  out  at  last  they  accused  him  of 
cheating,  but  he  denied  it  until  they  went  into  the  thicket  and  found 
the  cleared  road.  They  agreed  that  such  a  trickster  had  no  right  to 
enter  the  race  at  all,  so  they  gave  the  horns  to  the  Deer,  who  was 
admitted  to  be  the  best  runner,  and  he  has  worn  them  ever  since. 
They  told  the  Rabbit  that  as  he  was  so  fond  of  cutting  down  bushes  he 
might  do  that  for  a  living  hereafter,  and  so  he  does  to  this  day. 

27.  WHY  THE   DEER'S  TEETH   ARE  BLUNT 

The  Rabbit  felt  sore  because  the  Deer  had  won  the  horns  (see  the 
last  story),  and  resolved  to  get  even.  One  day  soon  after  the  race  he 
stretched  a  large  grapevine  across  the  trail  and  gnawed  it  nearly  in 
two  in  the  middle.  Then  he  went  back  a  piece,  took  a  good  run.  and 
jumped  up  at  the  vine.  He  kept  on  running  and  jumping  up  at  the 
vine  until  the  Deer  came  along  and  asked  him  what  he  was  doing? 

"Don't  you  see?"  says  the  Rabbit.  "I'm  so  strong  that  I  can  bite 
through  that  grapevine  at  one  jump." 

The  Deer  could  hardly  believe  this,  and  wanted  to  see  it  done.  So 
the  Rabbit  ran  back,  made  a  tremendous  spring,  and  bit  through  the 
vim1  where  he  had  gnawed  it  before.  The  Deer,  when  he  saw  that, 
said.  "  Well,  I  can  do  it  if  you  can."  So  the  Rabbit  stretched  a  larger 
grapevine  across  the  trail,  but  without  gnawing  it  in  the  middle.  The 
Deer  ran  back  as  he  had  seen  the  Rabbit  do,  made  a  spring,  and  struck 
the  grapevine  right  in  the  center,  but  it  only  flew  back  and  threw  him 
over  on  his  head.  He  tried  again  and  again,  until  he  was  all  bruised 
and  bleeding. 

"Let  me  see  your  teeth,"  at  last  said  the  Rabbit.  So  the  Deer 
show cd  him  his  teeth,  which  were  long  like  a  wolf's  teeth,  but  not  very 
sharp. 

"No  wonder  you  can't  do  it,"  says  the  Rabbit;  "your  teeth  are  too 
blunt  to  bite  anything.  Let  me  sharpen  them  for  3-011  like  mine.  My 
teeth  are  so  sharp  that  I  can  cut  through  a  stick  just  like  a  knife." 
And  he  showed  him  a  black  locust  twig,  of  which  rabbits  gnaw  the 
young  shoots,  which  he  had  shaved  off  as  well  as  a  knife  could  do  it, 
in  regular  rabbit  fashion.  The  Deer  thought  that  just  the  thing. 
So  the  Rabbit  got  a  hard  stone  with  rough  edges  and  filed  and  filed 
away  at  the  Deer's  teeth  until  they  were  worn  down  almost  to  the  gums. 


FATE    OF    THE    RABBIT  "-'77 

•■  It  hurts,"  said  the  Deer;  but  the  Rabbit  said  ii  always  hurt  a  little 
when  they  began  to  get  sharp;  so  the  Deer  kept  quiet. 

••  Now  try  it."  at  last  said  the  Rabbit.  So  the  Deer  tried  again, 
but  this  time  he  could  not  bite  at  all. 

••  Now  you've  paid  for  your  horns,"  said  the  Rabbit,  as  he  jumped 
away  through  the  bushes.  Ever  since  then  the  Deer's  teeth  arc  so 
blunt  that  he  can  not  chew  anything  but  grass  and  leave-. 

28.   WHAT   BECAME   OF    THE    RABBIT 

The  Deer  was  very  angry  at  the  Rabbit  for  filing  his  teeth  and  deter- 
mined to  lie  revenged,  hut  he  kept  still  and  pretended  to  be  friendly  until 
the  Rabbit  was  oti  his  guard.  Then  one  day.  as  they  were  going  along 
together  talking,  he  challenged  the  Rabbit  to  jump  against  him.  Now 
the  Rabbit  is  a  great  juniper,  as  every  one  knows,  so  he  agreed  at  once. 
There  was  a  small  stream  beside  the  path,  as  there  generally  is  in  that 
country,  and  the  Deer  said: 

"Let's  see  if  you  can  jump  across  this  branch.  We'll  go  hack  a 
piece,  and  then  when  I  say  h'1'1.'  then  both  run  and  jump." 

•'  All  right."  said  the  Rabbit.  So  they  went  hack  to  get  a  good  -tart. 
and  when  the  Deer  gave  the  word  Kfi .'  they  ran  tor  the  stream,  and 
the  Rabbit  made  one  jump  and  landed  on  the  other  side.  But  the  Deer 
had  stopped  on  the  bank,  and  when  the  Rabbit  looked  hack  the  Deer 
had  eonjured  the  stream  so  that  it  was  a  large  river.  The  Rabbil  was 
never  able  to  get  hack  again  and  is  still  on  the  other  side.  The  rabbit 
that  we  know  is  only  a  little  thing  that  came  afterwards. 

29.   WHY   THE   MINK   SMELLS 

The  Mink  was  such  a  great  thief  that  at  last  the  animals  held  a  coun- 
cil about  the  matter.  It  was  decided  to  burn  him.  so  they  caught  the 
Mink,  built  a  great  tire,  and  threw  him  into  it.  As  the  blaze  went  up 
and  they  smelt  the  roasted  flesh,  they  began  to  think  he  was  punished 
enough  and  would  probably  do  better  in  the  future,  so  they  took  him 
out  of  the  tire.  But  the  Mink  was  already  burned  black  and  is  black 
ever  since,  and  whenever  he  is  attacked  or  excited  lie  smells  again  like 
roasted  meat.  The  lesson  did  no  good,  however,  and  he  is  still  a-  great 
a  thief  a-  ever. 

30.  WHY  THE   MOLE   LIVES   UNDERGROUND 

A  man  was  in  love  with  a  woman  who  disliked  him  and  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  him.  He  tried  every  way  to  win  her  favor,  hut  to 
no  purpose,  until  at  last  lie  grew  discouraged  and  made  himself  sick 
thinking  over  it.  The  Mole  came  along,  and  finding  him  in  such  low 
condition  asked  what  was  the  trouble.  The  man  told  him  the  whole 
story,  and  when  he  had  finished  the  Mole  said:  "I  can  help  you,  so 
that  -lie  will  not  only  like  you,  but  will  come  to  VOU  of  her  own  will." 


278  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ahs.19 

So  that  night  the  Mole  burrowed  his  way  underground  to  where  the 
girl  was  in  bed  asleep  and  took  out  her  heart.  He  came  hack  by  the 
same  way  and  gave  the  heart  to  the  man,  who  could  not  see  it  even 
when  it  was  put  into  his  hand.  ''There,"  said  the  Mole,  "swallow  it, 
and  she  will  be  drawn  to  come  to  you  and  can  not  keep  away."  The 
man  swallowed  the  heart,  and  when  the  girl  woke  up  she  somehow 
thought  at  once  of  him,  and  felt  a  strange  desire  to  be  with  him,  as 
though  she  must  go  to  him  at  once.  She  wondered  and  could  not 
understand  it.  because  she  had  always  disliked  him  before,  but  at  last 
the  feeling  grew  so  strong  that  she  was  compelled  to  go  herself  to  the 
man  and  tell  him  she  loved  him  and  wanted  to  be  his  wife.  And  so 
they  were  married,  but  all  the  magicians  who  had  known  them  both 
were  surprised  and  wondered  how  it  had  come  about.  When  they 
found  that  it  was  the  work  of  the  Mole,  whom  they  had  always  before 
thought  too  insignificant  for  their  notice,  they  were  very  jealous  and 
threatened  to  kill  him,  so  that  he  hid  himself  under  the  ground  and 
has  never  since  dared  to  come  up  to  the  surface. 

31.   THE   TERRAPIN'S   ESCAPE   FROM   THE  WOLVES 

The  Possum  and  the  Terrapin  went  out  together  to  hunt  persim- 
mons, and  found  a  tree  full  of  ripe  fruit.  The  Possum  climbed  it  and 
was  throwing  down  the  persimmons  to  the  Terrapin  when  a  wolf  came 
up  and  began  to  snap  at  the  persimmons  as  they  fell,  before  the  Ter- 
rapin could  reach  them.  The  Possum  waited  his  chance,  and  at  last 
managed  to  throw  down  a  large  one  (some  say  a  bone  which  he  carried 
with  him),  so  that  it  lodged  in  the  wolfs  throat  as  he  jumped  up  at  it 
and  choked  him  to  death.  "  I'll  take  his  ears  for  hominy  spoons,"  -aid 
the  Terrapin,  and  cut  off  the  wolf's  ears  and  started  home  with  them, 
leaving  the  Possum  still  eating  persimmons  up  in  the  tree.  After 
a  while  he  came  to  a  house  and  was  invited  to  have  some  kanahdna 
gruel  from  the  jar  that  is  set  always  outside  the  door.  He  sat  down 
beside  the  jar  and  dipped  up  the  gruel  with  one  of  the  wolf's  ears  for 
a  spoon.  The  people  noticed  and  wondered.  When  he  was  satisfied 
he  went  on,  but  soon  came  to  another  house  and  was  asked  to  have 
some  more  kanahe'na.  He  dipped  it  up  again  with  the  wolf's  ear  and 
went  on  when  he  had  enough.  Soon  the  news  went  around  that  the 
Terrapin  had  killed  the  Wolf  and  was  using  his  ears  for  spoons.  All 
the  Wolves  got  together  and  followed  the  Terrapin's  trail  until  they 
came  up  with  him  and  made  him  prisoner.  Then  they  held  a  council 
to  decide  what  to  do  with  him,  and  agreed  to  boil  him  in  a  clay  pot. 
They  brought  in  a  pot,  but  the  Terrapin  only  laughed  at  it  and  said 
that  if  they  put  him  into  that  thing  he  would  kick  it  all  to  pieces. 
They  said  they  would  burn  him  in  the  fire,  but  the  Terrapin  laughed 
again  and  said  he  would  put  it  out.  Then  they  decided  to  throw  him 
into  the  deepest  hole  in  the  river  and  drown  him.     The  Terrapin 


mooney]  OBIGUN    OE    THE    GBOUNDHOG    DANCE  279 

begged  and  prayed  them  not  to  do  that,  but  they  paid  no  attention,  and 
dragged  him  over  to  the  river  and  threw  him  in.  Thai  was  jus!  what 
the  Terrapin  had  been  waiting  for  all  the  time,  and  he  dived  under  the 
water  and  came  up  on  the  other  side  and  got  away. 

Some  >a\  thai  when  he  was  thrown  into  the  river  he  struck  againsl 
a  rock,  which  broke  his  hack  in  a  dozen  places.  He  sang  a  medicine 
-one': 

I  il'l'ifllij,   '  iri),     I  ill', I, III,  '  II  l'l, 

I  have  sewed  myself  together,  I  have  sewed  myself  together, 

and  the  pieces  came  toe-ether,  hut  the  scars  remain  on  his  shell  to  this 
day. 

32.  ORIGIN  OF  THE  GROUNDHOG  DANCE:  THE  GROUNDHOGS 
HEAD 

Seven  wolves  once  caught  a  Groundhog  and  said.  "Now  we'll  kill 
you  ami  have  something  good  to  cat."  But  the  Groundhog-  said. 
••  When  we  find  good  food  we  must  rejoice  over  it,  as  people  do  in  the 
Green-corn  dance.  I  know  you  mean  to  kill  me  and  I  can't  help  my- 
self, but  if  you  want  to  dance  I'll  sing  for  you.  This  is  a  new  dance 
entirely.  I'll  lean  up  against  seven  trees  in  turn  and  you  will  dance 
out  and  then  turn  and  come  back,  as  T  give  the  signal,  and  at  the  last 
turn  you  may  kill  me.'' 

The  wolves  were  very  hungry,  but  they  wanted  to  learn  the  new 
dance,  so  they  told  him  to  go  ahead.  The  Groundhog  leaned  up  against 
a  tree  and  began  the  song.  //</' ' u-iij, ',  In' .  and  all  the  wolves  danced  out 
in  front,  until  he  gave  the  signal,  Yu!  and  began  with  ///';/, i,/u'„;\ 
when  they  turned  and  danced  back  in  line.  •'That's  tine,"  said  the 
Groundhog,  and  went  over  to  the  next  tree  and  started  thesecond  song. 
The  wolves  danced  out  and  then  turned  at  the  signal  and  danced 
hack  again.  "''Unit's  very  tine,"'  said  the  Groundhog,  and  went  over 
to  another  tree  and  started  the  third  song.  The  wolves  danced  their 
lust  and  the  Groundhog  encouraged  them,  but  at  each  song  he  took 
another  tree,  and  each  tree  was  a  little  nearer  to  his  hole  under  a  stump. 
At  the  seventh  song  he  said.  "Now,  this  is  the  last  dance,  and  when  I 
say  Yu.'  you  will  all  turn  and  come  after  me,  and  the  one  who  gets  me 
may  have  me."  So  he  began  the  seventh  song  and  kept  it  up  until 
the  wolves  were  away  out  in  front.  Then  he  gave  the  signal,  Yu!  and 
made  a  jump  for  his  hole.  The  wolves  turned  and  were  after  him.  but 
he  reached  the  hole  first  and  dived  in.  Just  as  he  got  inside,  the  fore- 
most wolf  caught  him  by  the  tail  and  gave  it  such  a  pull  that  it  broke 
nil.  and  the  Groundhog's  tail  ha-  been  short  ever  since. 

******* 
The  unpleasant  smell  of  the  Groundhog's  head  was  given  it  U\  the 
other  animals  to  punish  an   insulting  remark   made  by  him  in  council. 
The   story   is   a   vulgar  one.    without    wit   enough    to    make    it    worth 
recording. 


280  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ahn.19 

33.   THE   MIGRATION    OF   THE   ANIMALS 

In  the  old  times  when  the  animals  used  to  talk  and  hold  councils, 
and  the  Grubworm  and  Woodchuck  used  to  marry  people,  there  was 
once  a  great  famine  of  mast  in  the  mountains,  and  all  the  animals  and 
birds  which  lived  upon  it  met  together  and  sent  the  Pigeon  out  to 
the  low  country  to  see  if  any  food  could  be  found  there.  After  a 
time  she  came  back  and  reported  that  she  had  found  a  country  where 
the  mast  was  "up  to  our  ankles"  on  the  ground.  So  they  got 
together  and  moved  down  into  the  low  country  in  a  great  army. 

34.  THE  WOLF'S  REVENGE— THE  WOLF  AND  THE  DOG 

Kana'ti  had  wolves  to  hunt  for  him,  because  they  are  good  hunters 
and  never  fail.  He  once  sent  out  two  wolves  at  once.  One  went  to 
the  cast  and  did  not  return.  The  other  went  to  the  north,  and  when 
he  returned  at  night  and  did  not  find  his  fellow  he  knew  he  must  be 
in  trouble  and  started  after  him.  After  traveling  on  some  time 
he  found  his  brother  lying  nearly  dead  beside  a  great  greensnake 
(sdMkw&'yi)  which  had  attacked  him.  The  snake  itself  was  too  badly 
wounded  to  crawl  away,  and  the  angry  wolf,  who  had  magic  powers, 
taking  out  several  hairs  from  his  own  whiskers,  shot  them  into  the 
body  of  the  snake  and  killed  it.  He  then  hurried  back  to  Kana'ti, 
who  sent  the  Terrapin  after  a  great  doctor  who  lived  in  the  west  to 
save  the  wounded  wolf.  The  wolf  went  back  to  help  his  brother  and 
by  his  magic  powers  he  had  him  cured  long  before  the  doctor  came 
from  the  west,  because  the  Terrapin  was  such  a  slow  traveler  and  the 
doctor  had  to  prepare  his  roots  before  he  started. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

In  the  beginning,  the  people  say,  the  Dog  was  put  on  the  mountain 
and  the  Wolf  beside  the  fire.  When  the  winter  came  the  Dog  could 
not  stand  the  cold,  so  he  came  down  to  the  settlement  and  drove  the 
Wolf  from  the  fire.  The  Wolf  ran  to  the  mountains,  where  it  suited 
him  so  well  that  he  prospered  and  increased,  until  after  a  while  he 
ventured  down  again  and  killed  some  animals  in  the  settlements.  The 
people  got  together  and  followed  and  killed  him,  but  his  brothers 
came  from  the  mountains  and  took  such  revenge  that  ever  since  the 
people  have  been  afraid  to  hurt  a  wolf. 

Bird  Myths 
35.  the  bird  tribes 

Winged  creatures  of  all  kinds  arc  classed  under  the  generic  term  of 
anind' hiUdd1 hA  (flyers).  Birds  are  called,  alike  in  the  singular  and 
plural,  tsi'shwa,  the  term  being  generally  held  to  exclude  the  domestic 
fowls  introduced  by  the  whites.  When  it  is  necessary  to  make  the 
distinction  they  are  mentioned,  respectively,  as  in&gehA  (living  in  the 


mooney]  THE    EAGLE  281 

woods),  and  uhtnm'ta  (tame).  The  robin  is  called  tsiskwa'gwd,  a  name 
which  ran  nut  be  analyzed,  while  the  little  sparrow  is  called  tsishod'yd 
(the  real  or  principal  bird),  perhaps,  in  accord  with  a  principle  in 
Indian  nomenclature,  on  accou.nl  of  its  wide  distribution.  .V-  in  other 
languages,  many  of  the  bird  names  are  onomatopes,  as  10a  huhv!  (the 
screech  owl),  u'guku'  (the  booting  owl),  wagvll'  (the  whippoorwill), 
Mgil  (the  crow),  gUgtoS'  (the  quail),  huhu  (the  yellow  mocking  bird), 
tsi' k, !',!,'  (the  chickadee),  salsa!  (the  goose).  The  turtledove  is  called 
gid&'-diskanihl'  (it  cries  for  acorns),  on  account  of  the  resemblance  of 
its  cry  to  the  sound  id'  the  word  for  acorn  [guW).  'Idle  meadow  lark 
IS  called  tldhaisi'  (star),  on  account  of  the  appearance  of  its  tail  when 
spread  out  as  it  soars.  The  nuthatch  (Sitta  carolvnensis)  is  called 
tsuliefna  (deaf),  and  is  supposed  to  be  without  hearing,  possibly  on 
account  of  its  fearless  disregard  for  man's  presence.  Certain  diseases 
are  diagnosed  by  the  doctors  as  due  to  birds,  either  revengeful  bird 
ghosts,  bird  feathers  about  the  house,  or  bird  shadows  falling  upon  the 
patient  from  overhead. 

The  eagle  (cwd'hUi)  is  the  great  sacred  bird  of  the  Cherokee,  a-  of 
nearly  all  our  native  tribes,  ami  figures  prominently  in  their  ceremo- 
nial ritual,  especially  in  all  things  relating  to  war.  The  particular 
species  prized  was  the  golden  or  war  eagle  (Aquila  chryscetus),  called 
by  the  Cherokee  the  "pretty-feathered  eagle."  on  account  of  its  beau 
tiful  tail  feathers,  white,  tipped  with  black,  which  were  in  such  great 
demand  for  decorative  and  ceremonial  purposes  that  among  the  west 
ern  tribes  a  single  tail  was  often  rated  as  equal  in  value  to  a  horse. 
Among  the  Cherokee  in  the  old  times  the  killing  of  an  eagle  was  an  e\  cut 
which  concerned  the  whole  settlement,  and  could  be  undertaken  only 
by  the  professional  eagle  killer,  regularly  chosen  for  the  purpose  on 
account  of  his  knowledge  of  the  prescribed  forms  and  the  prayers  to 
be  said  afterwards  in  order  to  obtain  pardon  for  the  necessary  sacrilege, 
and  thus  ward  off  vengeance  from  the  tribe.  It  is  told  of  one  man  upon 
the  reservation  that  having  deliberately  killed  an  eagle  in  defiance  of 
the  ordinances  he  was  constantly  haunted  by  dreams  of  tierce  eagles 
swooping  down  upon  him.  until  the  nightmare  was  finally  exorcised 
after  a  lone-  course  of  priestly  treatment.  In  1890  there  was  but  one 
eagle  killer  remaining  among  the  East  Cherokee.  It  does  not  appear 
that  the  eagle  was  ever  captured  alive  as  among  the  plains  tribes. 

The  eagle  must  be  killed  only  in  the  winter  or  late  fall  after  the 
crops  were  gathered  and  the  snakes  had  retired  to  their  dens.  If  killed 
in  the  summertime  a  frost  would  come  to  destroy  the  corn,  while  the 
songs  of  the  Eagle  dance,  when  tlie  feathers  were  brought  home, 
would  so  anger  the  snakes  that  they  would  become  doubly  dangerous. 
Consequently  the  Eagle  songs  were  never  sung  until  after  the  snakes 
had  gone  to  sleep  for  the  winter. 

When  the  people  of  a  town   had  decided   upon  an    Eagle  dance  the 


282 


MYTHS    OF    THE    CHKKoKKK 


[ETH.  ANN.  19 


eagle  killer  was  called  in.  frequently  from  a  distant  settlement,  to 
procure  the  feathers  for  the  occasion.  He  was  paid  for  his  services 
from  offerings  made  later  at  the  dance,  and  as  the  few  professionals 
guarded  their  secrets  carefully  from  outsiders  their  business  was  a  quite 
profitable  one.  After  some  preliminary  preparation  the  eagle  killer 
sets  out  alone  for  the  mountains,  taking  with  him  his  gun  or  bow  and 
arrows.  Having  reached  the  mountains,  he  goes  through  a  vigil  of 
prayer  and  fasting,  possibly  lasting  four  days,  after  which  he  hunts 
until  he  succeeds  in  killing  a  deer.     Then,  placing  the  body  in  a  con- 


1  .r™i|Pr 

s 

IT!  IP 


j 


Fig.  1 — Feather  wand  of  Eagle  dance  (made  by  John  Ax). 

venient  exposed  situation  upon  one  of  the  highest  cliffs,  he  conceals 
himself  near  by  and  begins  to  sing  in  a  low  undertone  the  songs  to  call 
down  the  eagles  from  the  sky.  When  the  eagle  alights  upon  the  car- 
cass, which  will  be  almost  immediately  if  the  singer  understands  his 
business,  he  shoots  it,  and  then  standing  over  the  dead  bird,  he 
addresses  to  it  a  prayer  in  which  he  begs  it  not  to  seek  vengeance 
upon  his  tribe,  because  it  is  not  a  Cherokee,  but  a  Spaniard  (Askwa'ni) 
that  has  done  the  deed.  The  selection  of  such  a  vicarious  victim 
of  revenge  is  evidence  at  once  of  the  antiquity  of  the  prayer  in  its 
present  form  and  of  the  enduring  impression  which  the  cruelties  of 
the  early  Spanish  adventurers  made  upon  the  natives. 


MOONKYl  THE    EAGLE — THE    RAVEN  283 

The  piaycr  ended,  be  leaves  the  dead  eagle  where  it  fell  and  makes 
all  haste  to  the  settlement,  where  the  people  are  anxiously  expecting 
his  return.  On  meeting  the  first  warriors  he  says  simply,  "A  -now 
bird  has  died."  and  passes  on  at  once  to  his  own  quarters,  hi-  work 
being  now  finished.  The  announcement  is  made  in  this  form  in  order 
to  insure  against  the  vengeance  of  any  eagles  that  might  overhear,  the 
little  snowbird  being  considered  too  insignificant  a  creature  to  be 
dreaded. 

Having  waited  four  days  to  allow  time  for  the  insect  parasites  to 
leave  the  body,  the  hunters  delegated  for  the  purpose  go  out  to  bring 
in  the  feathers.  On  arriving'  at  the  place  they  strip  the  body  of  the 
large  tail  and  wing  feathers,  which  they  wrap  in  a  fresh  deerskin 
brought  with  them,  and  then  return  to  the  settlement,  leaving  the 
body  of  the  dead  eagle  upon  the  ground,  together  with  that  of  the 
slain  deer,  the  latter  being  intended  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  eagle  spirits. 
On  reaching  the  settlement,  the  feathers,  still  wrapped  in  the  deer- 
skin. arc1  hung  up  in  a  small,  round  hut  built  for  this  special  purpose 
near  the  edge  of  the  dance  ground  (detsdnHfl'li)  and  known  as  the 
place  "where  the  feathers  are  kept,"  or  feather  house.  Some  settle- 
ments had  two  such  feather  houses,  one  at  each  end  of  the  dance 
ground.  The  Eagle  dance  was  held  on  the  night  of  the  same  day  on 
which  the  feathers  were  brought  in.  all  the,  necessary  arrangements 
having  been  made  beforehand.  In  the  meantime,  as  the  feathers  were 
supposed  to  be  hungry  after  their  journey,  a  dish  of  venison  and  corn 
was  set  upon  the  ground  below  them  and  they  were  invited  to  eat. 
The  body  of  a  flaxbird  or  scarlet  tanager  {Piranga  rubra)  was  also 
hung  up  with  the  feathers  for  the  same  purpose.  The  food  thus  given 
to  the  feathers  was  disposed  of  after  the  dance,  a-  described  in  another 

place. 

The  eagle  being  regarded  as  a  great  ada'wehl,  only  the  greatest  war- 
riors and  those  versed  in  the  sacred  ordinances  would  dare  to  wear  the 
feathers  or  to  carry  them  in  the  dance.  Should  any  person  in  the  settle- 
ment dream  of  eagles  or  eagle  feathers  he  must  arrange  for  an  Eagle 
dance,  with  the  usual  vigil  and  fasting,  at  the  first  opportunity;  other- 
wise some  one  of  his  family  will  die.  Should  the  insect  parasites 
which  infest  the  feathers  of  the  bird  in  life  get  upon  a  man  they  will 
breed  a  skin  disease  which  is  sure  to  develop,  even  though  it  may  lie 
latent  for  years.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  body  of  the  eagle  is 
allowed  to  remain  four  days  upon  the  ground  before   being  brought 

into  the  settlement. 

The  raven  (kd'ldnU)  is  occasionally  seen  in  the  mountains,  but  i-  not 
prominent  in  folk  belief,  excepting  in  connection  with  the  grewsome 
tale-  of  the  Haven  Mocker  (q.  v.).  In  former  times  its  name  was  some 
times  assumed  as  a  war  title.  The  crow,  so  prominent  in  other  tribal 
mythologies,  does  not  seem  to  appear  in  that  of  the  Cherokee.     Three 


284  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


varieties  of  owls  are  recognized,  each  under  a  different  name,  viz: 
tsl.ih',  the  dusky  horned  owl  (£ubo  virginiamus  satnifgius)',  u'guku', 
the  barred  or  hooting  owl  {Syrniwn  nebulosivm),  and  wa  huku',  the 
screech  owl  ( M<  gascops  a$io).  The  first  of  these  names  signifies  a  witch. 
the  others  being  onomatopes.  Owls  and  other  night-crying  birds  are 
believed  to  be  embodied  ghosts  or  disguised  witches,  and  their  cry  is 
dreaded  as  a  sound  of  evil  omen.  If  the  eyes  of  a  child  be  bathed 
with  water  in  which  one  of  the  long  wing  or  tail  feathers  of  an  owl 
has  been  soaked,  the  child  will  be  able  to  keep  awake  all  night.  The 
feather  must  be  found  by  chance,  and  not  procured  intentionally  for 
the  purpose.  On  the  other  hand,  an  application  of  water  in  which 
the  feather  of  a  blue  jay,  procured  in  the  same  way,  has  been  .soaked 
will  make  the  child  an  early  riser. 

The  buzzard  (suli')  is  said  to  have  had  a  part  in  shaping  the  earth, 
as  was  narrated  in  the  genesis  myth.  It  is  reputed  to  be  a  doctor 
among  birds,  and  is  respected  accordingly,  although  its  feathers  are 
never  worn  by  ball  players,  for  fear  of  becoming  bald.  Its  own  bald- 
ness is  accounted  for  by  a  vulgar  story.  As  it  thrives  upon  carrion 
and  decay,  it  is  held  to  be  immune  from  sickness,  especially  of  a  con- 
tagious character,  and  a  small  quantity  of  its  flesh  eaten,  or  of  the 
soup  used  as  a  wash,  is  believed  to  be  a  sure  preventive  of  smallpox, 
and  was  used  for  this  purpose  during  the  smallpox  epidemic  among 
the  East  Cherokee  in  1866.  According  to  the  Wahnenauhi  manu- 
script, it  is  said  also  that  a  buzzard  feather  placed  over  the  cabin  door 
will  keep  out  witches.  In  treating  gunshot  wounds,  the  medicine  is 
blown  into  the  wound  through  a  tube  cut  from  a  buzzard  quill  and 
some  of  the  buzzard's  down  is  afterwards  laid  over  the  spot. 

There  is  very  little  concerning  hawks,  excepting  as  regards  the 
great  mythic  hawk,  the  Tla'nmvct'.  The  tl&'nuwti!  usdi',  or  '"little 
tla'nuwa,"  is  described  as  a  bird  about  as  large  as  a  turkey  and  of  a 
grayish  blue  color,  which  used  to  follow  the  flocks  of  wild  pigeons.  Hy- 
ing overhead  and  darting  down  occasionally  upon  a  victim,  which  it 
struck  and  killed  with  its  sharp  breast  and  ate  upon  the  wing,  without 
alighting.     It  is  probably  the  goshawk  (Astur  atricapUkis). 

The  common  swamp  gallinule.  locally  known  as  mudhen  or  didapper 
(G-ailwadagaleata),  is  called  diga'gwwil'  (lame  or  crippled),  on  account 
of  its  habit  of  flying  only  for  a  very  short  distance  at  a  time.  In  the 
Diga'gwani  dance  the  performers  sing  the  name  of  the  bird  and 
endeavor  to  imitate  its  halting  movements.  The  dagtitfou,  or  white- 
fronted  goose  (Anser  cdiifrons),  appears  in  connection  with  the  myth 
of  the  origin  of  tobacco.  The  feathers  of  the  tskw&yi,  the  great  white 
heron  or  American  egret  (BJeeodias  egretta),  are  worn  by  ball  players, 
and  this  bird  probably  the  "swan"  whose  white  wing  was  used  as  a 
peace  emblem  in  ancient  times. 

A  rare  bird  said  to  have  been  seen  occasionally  upon  the  reservation 


BUREAU   OF  AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY  NINETEENTH    ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.    XV 


SAWANU'Gi,    A     CHEROKEE     BALL-PLAYER 


mooney]  THE    BIRD    TRIBES  285 

many  years  ago  was  called  by  the  curious  name  of  nHfldd-dikani' ',  "it 
looks  at  the  sun,"  "sun-gazer."  It  is  described  as  resembling  a  blue 
crane,  and  may  possibly  have  been  1 1 » *  -  Floridus  cerulea,  or  little  blue 
heron.  Another  infrequent  visitor,  which  sometimes  passed  over  the 
mountain  country  in  company  with  flocks  of  wild  geese,  was  the 
git'wisguwi',  so  called  from  its  cry.  It  is  described  as  resembling  a 
large  snipe  with  yellow  leys  ;m<i  feet  unwebbed,  and  is  thought  to 
visit  Indian  Territory  at  intervals.  It  is  chiefly  notable  from  the 
fact  that  the  celebrated  chief  John  Ross  derives  his  Indian  name, 
Gu'wisguwi',  from  this  bird,  the  name  being  perpetuated  in  Coowee- 
scoowee  district  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  the  West. 

Another  chance  visitant,  concerning  which  there  is  much  curious 
speculation  among  the  older  men  of  the  East  Cherokee,  was  called 
tsun'digwuntsu'  gi  or  tsun'digwdn'tsM,  ""forked."  referring  to  the  tail. 
It  appeared  but  once,  for  a  short  season,  about  forty  years  ago,  ami 
has  not  been  seen  since.  It  is  said  to  have  been  pale  blue,  with  red 
in  places,  and  nearly  the  size  of  a  crow,  and  to  have  had  a  lone- 
forked  tail  like  that  of  a  fish.  It  preyed  upon  hornets,  which  it  took 
upon  the  winy,  and  also  feasted  upon  the  larv;e  in  the  nests.  Appear 
ing  unexpectedly  and  as  suddenly  disappearing,  it  was  believed  to  be 
not  a  bird  but  a  transformed  red-horse  fish  {Moxostoma,  Cherokee 
dligd'),  a  theory  borne  out  by  the  red  spots  and  the  long,  forked  tail.  It 
is  even  maintained  that  about  the  time  those  birds  first  appeared  some 
hunters  on  Oconaluftee  saw  seven  of  them  sitting  on  the  limb  of  a  tree 
and  they  were  still  shaped  like  a  red-horse,  although  they  already  had 
wines  and  feathers.  It  was  undoubtedly  the  scissor-tail  or  swallow- 
tailed  flycatcher  (Mihndus  forficabus),  which  belongs  properly  in  Texas 
and  the  adjacent  region,  but  strays  occasionally  into  the  eastern  states. 

On  account  of  the  red  throat  appendage  of  the  turkey,  somewhat 
resembling  the  goitrous  growth  known  in  the  South  as  "kernels" 
(Cherokee,  dideUsi),  the  feathers  of  this  bird  are  not  worn  by  ball 
players,  neither  is  the  neck  allowed  to  be  eaten  by  children  or  sick 
persons,  under  the  fear  that  a  growth  of  "kernels"  would  be  the 
result.  The  meat  of  the  rutted  grouse,  locally  known  as  the  pheasant 
[Sonasa  umbettus),  is  tabued  to  a  pregnant  woman,  because  this  bird 
hatches  a  large  brood,  but  loses  most  of  them  before  maturity.  Under 
a  stricter  construction  of  the  theory  this  meat  is  forbidden  to  a  woman 
until  she  is  past  child  bearing. 

The  redbird,  tatsu'hwd,  is  believed  to  have  been  originally  the 
daughter  of  the  Sun  (see  the  story).  The  huhu,  or  yellow  mocking- 
bird, occurs  in  several  stories.  It  is  regarded  as  something  supernat- 
ural, possibly  on  account  of  its  imitative  powers,  and  its  heart  is  given 
to  children  to  make  them  quick  to  learn. 

The  chickadee  {Parux  carol hunsis),  tsilili!;'.  and  the  tufted  tit- 
mouse,  {Parw  bicolor),  utsu''gi,  or  u'sttiti,  are  both  regarded  as  news 


286  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.  asn.19 

bringers,  but  the  one  is  venerated  as  a  truth  teller  while  the  other 
is  scoffed  at  as  a  lying'  messenger,  for  reasons  which  appear  in  the 
story  of  Nunyunu'wi  (q.  v.).  When  the  tsikilili'  perches  on  a  branch 
near  the  house  and  chirps  its  song  it  is  taken  as  an  omen  that  an  absent 
friend  will  soon  be  heard  from  or  that  a  secret  enemy  is  plotting  mis- 
chief. Many  stories  are  told  in  confirmation  of  this  belief,  among 
which  may  1  le  instanced  that  of  Tom  Starr,  a  former  noted  outlaw  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation  of  the  West,  who,  on  one  occasion,  was  about  to  walk 
unwittingly  into  an  ambush  prepared  for  him  along  a  narrow  trail, 
when  he  heard  the  warning  note  of  the  tsikilili',  and,  turning  abruptly, 
ran  up  the  side  of  the  ridge  and  succeeded  in  escaping  with  his  life, 
although  hotly  pursued  by  his  enemies. 

36.  THE  BALL  GAME  OF  THE  BIRDS  AND  ANIMALS 

Once  the  animals  challenged  the  birds  to  a  great  ballplay.  and  the 
birds  accepted.  The  leaders  made  the  arrangements  and  fixed  the 
day.  and  when  the  time  came  both  parties  met  at  the  place  for  the 
ball  dance,  the  animals  on  a  smooth  grassy  bottom  near  the  river  and 
the  birds  in  the  treetops  over  by  the  ridge.  The  captain' of  the  animals 
was  the  Bear,  who  was  so  strong  and  heavy  that  he  could  pull  down 
anyone  who  got  in  his  way.  All  along  the  road  to  the  ball  ground 
he  was  tossing  up  great  logs  to  show  his  strength  and  boasting  of 
what  he  would  do  to  the  birds  when  the  game  began.  The  Terrapin, 
too — not  the  little  one  we  have  now,  but  the  great  original  Terrapin — 
was  with  the  animals.  His  shell  was  so  hard  that  the  heaviest  blows 
could  not  hurt  him,  and  he  kept  rising  up  on  his  hind  legs  and  drop- 
ping heavily  again  to  the  ground,  bragging  that  this  was  the  way  he 
would  crush  any  bird  that  tried  to  take  the  ball  from  him.  Then 
there  was  the  Deer,  who  could  outrun  every  other  animal.  Alto- 
gether it  was  a  tine  company. 

The  birds  had  the  Eagle  for  their  captain,  with  the  Hawk  and  the 
great  Tla'nuwa,  all  swift  and  strong  of  flight,  but  still  they  were  a 
little  afraid  of  the  animals.  The  dance  was  over  and  they  were  all 
pruning  their  feathers  up  in  the  trees  and  waiting  for  the  captain  to 
give  the  word  when  here  came  two  little  things  hardly  larger  than 
field  mice  climbing  up  the  tree  in  which  sat  perched  the  bird  captain. 
At  last  they  reached  the  top,  and  creeping  along  the  limb  to  where 
the  Eagle  captain  sat  they  asked  to  be  allowed  to  join  in  the  game. 
The  captain  looked  at  them,  and  seeing  that  they  were  four-footed,  he 
asked  why  they  did  not  go  to  the  animals,  where  they  belonged.  The 
little  things  said  that  they  had,  but  the  animals  had  made  fun  of  them 
and  driven  them  off  because  they  were  so  small.  Then  the  bird  cap- 
tain pitied  them  and  wanted  to  take  them. 

But  how  could  they  join  the  birds  when  they  had  no  wings '.  The 
Eagle,  the  Hawk,  and  the  others  consulted,  and  at  last  it  was  decided 


boone\  THE    BALL    SAME    OF    BIRDS    AND    ANIMALS  287 

to  make  some  wings  for  the  little  fellows.  They  tried  for  a  lone-  time 
to  think  of  something  that  might  do,  until  someone  happened  to 
remember  the  drum  they  had  used  in  the  dance.  The  head  was  of 
ground-hog  -kin  and  maybe  they  could  cut  oil*  a  corner  and  make 
wine-sot'  it.  So  they  took  two  pieces  of  leather  from  the  drumhead 
and  cut  them  into  shape  for  wines,  and  stretched  them  with  cane 
splint-  and  fastened  them  on  to  the  forelegs  of  one  of  the  small  ani- 
mal-, and  in  this  way  came  Tla'mehd,  the  Hat.  They  threw  tie-  ball 
to  him  and  told  him  to  catch  it.  and  by  the  way  he  dodged  and  circled 
about,  keeping  the  hall  always  in  the  air  and  never  letting  it  fall  to  the 
ground,  the  birds  soon  saw  that  he  would  be  one  of  their  best  men. 

Now  they  wanted  to  fix  the  other  little  animal,  but  they  had  \\>rt\ 
up  all  their  leather  to  make  wines  for  the  Bat,  and  there  was  no  time 
to  send  for  more.  Somebody  said  that  they  might  do  it  by  stretching 
hi-  skin,  so  two  large  birds  took  hold  from  opposite  sides  with  their 
strong  bills,  ami  by  pulling  at  his  fur  for  several  minutes  they  man- 
aged to  stretch  the  skin  on  each  side  between  the  fore  and  hind 
feet,  until  they  had  Tewa,  the  Flying  Squirrel.  To  try  him  the  bird 
captain  threw  up  the  ball,  when  the  Flying  Squirrel  sprang  off  the 
limb  after  it,  caught  it  in  his  teeth  and  carried  it  through  the  air  to 
another  tree  nearly  across  the  bottom. 

"When  they  were  all  ready  the  signal  was  given  and  thegame  began, 
but  almost  at  the  first  toss  the  Flying  Squirrel  caught  the  ball  and 
carried  it  up  a  tree,  from  which  he  threw  it  to  the  birds,  who  kepi  it 
in  the  air  for  some  time  until  it  dropped.  The  Bear  rushed  to  gel  it. 
but  the  Martin  darted  after  it  and  threw  it  to  the  Bat,  who  was  flying 
near  the  ground,  and  by  his  dodging  and  doubling  kept  it  out  of  the 
way  of  even  the  Deer,  until  he  finally  threw  it  in  between  the  post-  and 
won  the  game  for  the  birds. 

The  Bear  and  the  Terrapin,  who  had  boasted  so  of  what  they  would 
do,  never  got  a  chance  even  to  touch  the  ball.  For  saving  the  ball 
when  it  dropped,  the  birds  afterwards  gave  the  Martin  a  gourd  in 
which  to  build  hi- nest,  and  he  still  has  it. 

37.  HOW  THE  TURKEY  GOT  HIS  BEARD 

When  the  Terrapin  won  the  race  from  the  Rabbit  (see  the  story)  all 
the  animals  wondered  and  talked  about  it  a  great  deal,  because  they 
had  always  thought  the  Terrapin  slow,  although  they  knew  that  he 
was  a  warrior  and  had  many  conjuring  secrets  beside.  But  the  Turkey 
was  not  satisfied  and  told  the  others  there  must  be  some  trick  aboul  it. 
Said  he.  "I  know  the  Terrapin  can't  run — he  can  hardly  crawl  and 
I'm  going  to  try  him." 

So  one  day  the  Turkey  met  the  Terrapin  coming  home  from  war 
with  a  fresh  scalp  hanging  from  his  neck  and  dragging  on  the  ground 
a-  he  traveled.     The  Turkey  laughed   at   the    sight  and  said:   •"That 


288  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE  [eth.a.nn.19 

scalp  don't  look  right  on  you.  Your  neck  is  too  short  and  low  down 
to  wear  it  that  way.      Let  me  show  you." 

The  Terrapin  agreed  and  gave  the  scalp  to  the  Turkey,  who  fastened 
it  around  his  neck.  "'Now."  said  the  Turkey.  "I'll  walk  a  little  way 
and  you  can  see  how  it  looks."  So  he  walked  ahead  a  short  distance 
and  then  turned  and  asked  the  Terrapin  how  he  liked  it,  Said  the, 
Terrapin,  "It  looks  very  nice;  it  becomes  you." 

"'Now  I'll  fix  it  in  a  different  way  and  let  you  see  how7  it  looks."  said 
the  Turkey.  So  he  gave  the  string  another  pull  and  walked  ahead  again. 
"O,  that  looks  very  nice."  said  the  Terrapin.  But  the  Turkey  kept  on 
walking,  and  when  the  Terrapin  called  to  him  to  bring  back  the  scalp 
he  only  walked  faster  and  broke  into  a  run.  Then  the  Terrapin  got 
out  his  bow  and  by  his  conjuring  art  shot  a  number  of  cane  splints  into 
the  Turkey's  leg  to  cripple  him  so  that  he  could  not  run,  which  accounts 
for  all  the  many  small  bones  in  the  Turkey's  leg,  that  are  of  no  use 
whatever;  but  the  Terrapin  never  caught  the  Turkey,  who  still  wears 
the  scalp  from  his  neck. 

38.   WHY    THE  TURKEY   GOBBLES 

The  Grouse  used  to  have  a  tine  voice  and  a  good  halloo  in  the  ball- 
play.  All  the  animals  and  birds  used  to  play  ball  in  those  days  and 
were  just  as  proud  of  a  loud  halloo  as  the  ball  players  of  to-day.  The 
Turkey  had  not  a  good  voice,  so  he  asked  the  Grouse  to  give  him  les- 
sons. The  Grouse  agreed  to  teach  him,  but  wanted  pay  for  his  trouble, 
and  the  Turkey  promised  to  give  him  some  feathers  to  make  himself  a 
collar.  That  is  how  the  Grouse  got  his  collar  of  turkey  feathers.  They 
began  the  lessons  and  the  Turkey  learned  very  fast  until  the  Grouse 
thought  it  was  time  to  try  his  voice.  "Now,"  said  the  Grouse.  "  I'll 
stand  on  this  hollow  log,  and  when  I  give  the  signal  by  tapping  on  it, 
you  must  halloo  as  loudly  as  you  can."  So  he  got  upon  the  log  ready 
to  tap  on  it,  as  a  Grouse  does,  but  when  he  gave  the  signal  the  Turkey 
was  so  eager  and  excited  that  he  could  not  raise  his  voice  for  a  shout, 
but  only  gobbled,  and  ever  since  then  he  gobbles  whenever  he  hears  a 
noise. 

39.   HOW    THE    KINGFISHER    GOT    HIS    BILL 

Some  old  men  say  that  the  Kingfisher  was  meant  in  the  beginning  to 
be  a  water  bird,  but  as  he  had  not  been  given  either  web  feet  or  a  good 
bill  he  could  not  make  a  living.  The  animals  held  a  council  over  it 
and  decided  to  make  him  a  bill  like  a  long  sharp  awl  for  a  fish-gig  (fish- 
spear).  So  they  made  him  a  fish-gig  and  fastened  it  on  in  front  of  his 
mouth.  He  flew  to  the  top  of  a  tree,  sailed  out  and  darted  down  into 
the  water,  and  came  up  with  a  fish  on  his  gig.  And  he  has  been  the 
best  gigger  ever  since. 

Sonic  others  say  it  was  this  way:  A  Blacksnake  found  a  Yellowham- 


THE    BEDBIRD's    COLOR  28V) 

iikt's  nc-t  in  a  hollow  tree,  ami  after  swallowing  the  young  birds, 
coiled  up  to  sleep  in  the  nest,  where  the  mother  bird  found  him  when 
she  came  home.     She  went  for  help  to  the  Little  People,  who  sent  her 

to  the  Kingfisher.     He  ca and  after  flying  back  and  forth  past  the 

hole  a  few  times,  made  one  daii  at  the  snake  and  pulled  him  out  dead. 
When  they  looked  they  found  a  hole  in  the  snake's  bead  where  the 
Kingfisher  had  pierced  it  with  a  slender  tugcttu'/id  tish.  which  he  car 

ried  in  his  bill  like  a  lance.     From  this  the  Little  People  c bided 

that  he  would  make  a  first-class  gigger  if  he  only  had  the  righl  spear, 
so  they  gave  him  his  lone-  hill  as  a  reward. 

40.   HOW    THE    PARTRIDGE    GOT    HIS    WHISTLE 

In  the  old  days  the  Terrapin  had  a  tine  whistle,  but  the  Partridge 
had  none.  The  Terrapin  was  constantly  going  about  whistling  and 
showing  his  whistle  to  the  other  animals  until  the  Partridge  became 
jealous,  so  one  day  when  they  met  the  Partridge  asked  leave  to  try  it. 
The  Terrapin  was  afraid  to  risk  it  at  first,  suspecting  some  trick,  but 
the  Partridge  -aid.  "  I'll  give  it  back  right  away,  and  if  you  an' afraid 
you  can  stay  with  me  while  I  practice."  So  the  Terrapin  let  him  have 
the  whistle  and  the  Partridge  walked  around  blowing  on  it  in  tine 
fashion.  ••  How  does  it  sound  with  rpe  ?"  asked  the  Partridge.  "(). 
you  do  very  well,"  --aid  the  Terrapin,  walking  alongside.  "Now.  how 
do  you  like  it."  said  the  Partridge,  running  ahead  and  whistling  a  little 
faster.  "That's  tine."  answered  the  Terrapin,  hurrying  to  keep  up. 
"  but  don't  run  so  fast."  "And  now,  how  do  you  like  this;"  called 
the  Partridge,  and  with  that  he  spread  his  wings,  gave  one  long 
whistle,  and  flew  to  the  top  of  a  tree,  leaving  the  poor  Terrapin  to  look 
after  him  from  the  ground.  The  Terrapin  never  recovered  his  whistle, 
and  from  that,  and  the  loss  of  his  scalp,  which  the  Turkey  stole  from 
him.  he  grew  ashamed  to  be  seen,  and  ever  since  he  -.huts  himself  up 
in  his  box  when  anyone  comes  near  him. 

41     HOW   THE   REDBIRD   GOT   HIS   COLOR 

A  Raccoon  passing  a  Wolf  one  day  made  several  insulting  remarks, 
until  at  last  the  Wolf  became  angry  and  turned  and  chased  him.  The 
Raccoon  ran  his  best  and  managed  to  reach  a  tree  by  the  river  side 
before  the  Wolf  came  up.  He  climbed  the  tree  and  stretched  out  on 
a  limb  overhanging  the  water.  When  the  Wolf  arrived  he  saw  the 
reflection  in  the  water,  and  thinking  it  was  the  Raccoon  he  jumped  at 
it  and  was  nearly  drowned  before  he  could  scramble  out  again,  all  wet 
and  dripping.  He  lay  down  on  the  bank  to  dry  and  fell  asleep,  and 
while  he  was  sleeping  the  Raccoon  came  down  tin'  tree  and  plastered 
his  eyes  with  dunu'.  When  the  Wolf  awoke  he  found  he  could  not 
open  hi- eyes,  and  began  to  whine.  Alone-  came  a  little  brown  bird 
through  the  bushes    and    heard    the  Wolf   crying   and    asked  what   was 

19    ETH— 01 19 


290  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


the  matter.  The  Wolf  told  his  story  and  said.  "If  you  will  get  my 
eyes  open.  I  will  show  you  where  to  find  some  nice  red  paint  to  paint 
yourself."  ••All  right,"  said  the  brown  bird;  so  he  peeked  at  the 
Wolfs  eyes  until  he  got  oil'  all  the  plaster.  Then  the  Wolf  took  him 
to  a  rock  that  had  streaks  of  bright  red  paint  running  through  it.  and 
the  little  bird  painted  himself  with  it.  and  has  ever  since  been  a  Red- 


42.  THE  PHEASANT  BEATING  CORN;  ORIGIN  OF  THE  PHEASANT 
DANCE 

The  Pheasant  once  saw  a  woman  heating  corn  in  a  wooden  mortar  in 
front  of  the  house.  "I  can  do  that,  too,"  said  he,  but  the  woman 
would  not  believe  it,  so  the  Pheasant  went  into  the  woods  and  got  upon 
a  hollow  log  and  •"drummed"  with  his  wings  as  a  pheasant  does,  until 
the  people  in  the  house  heard  him  and  thought  he  was  really  beating 
corn. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

In  the  Pheasant  dance,  a  part  of  the  Green-corn  dance,  the  instru- 
ment used  is  the  drum,  and  the  dancers  heat  the  ground  with  their  feet 
in  imitation  of  the  drumming  sound  made  by  the  pheasant.  They 
form  two  concentric  circles,  the  men  being  on  the  inside,  facing  the 
women  in  the  outer  circle,  each  in  turn  advancing  and  retreating  at  the 
signal  of  the  drummer,  who  sits  at  one  side  and  sings  the  Pheasant 
songs.  According  to  the  story,  there  was  once  a  winter  famine  among 
the  birds  and  animals.  No  mast  (fallen  nuts)  could  be  found  in  the 
woods,  and  they  were  near  starvation  when  a  Pheasant  discovered  a 
holly  tree,  loaded  with  red  berries,  of  which  the  Pheasant  is  said  to 
be  particularly  fond.  He  called  his  companion  birds,  and  they  formed 
a  circle  about  the  tree,  singing,  dancing,  and  drumming  with  their 
wings  in  token  of  their  joy.  and  thus  originated  the  Pheasant  dance. 

43.  THE  RACE  BETWEEN  THE  CRANE  AND  THE  HUMMINGBIRD 

The  Hummingbird  and  the  Crane  were  both  in  love  with  a  pretty 
woman.  She  preferred  the  Hummingbird,  who  was  as  handsome  as 
the  Crane  was  awkward,  but  the  Crane  was  so  persistent  that  in  order 
to  get  rid  of  him  she  finally  told  him  he  must  challenge  the  other  to 
a  race  and  she  would  marry  the  winner.  The  Hummingbird  was  so 
swift — almost  like  a  Hash  of  lightning — and  the  Crane  so  slow  and 
heavy,  that  she  felt  sure  the  Hummingbird  would  win.  She  did  not 
know  the  Crane  could  fly  all  night. 

They  agreed  to  start  from  her  house  and  fly  around  the  circle  of 
the  world  to  the  beginning,  and  the  one  who  came  in  first  would  marry 
the  woman.  At  the  word  the  Hummingbird  darted  off  like  an  arrow 
and  was  out  of  sight  in  a  moment,  leaving  his  rival  to  follow  heavily 
behind.      He  flew  all  day.  and  when  evening  came  and  he  stopped  to 


THE    OWL    GETS    MARRIED  291 

roost  for  the  night  be  was  far  ahead.  I '> m  the  Crane  lieu  steadily  ;ill 
night  Long,  passing  the  Hummingbird  soon  after  midnighl  and  going 
on  until  he  came  to  a  creek  and  stopped  to  rest  about  daylight.  The 
Hummingbird  woke  up  in  the  morning  and  flew  on  again,  thinking 
how  easily  he  would  win  the  race,  until  he  reached  the  creek  and 
there  found  the  Crane  spearing  tadpoles,  with  his  lone-  bill,  for  break- 
fast. He  was  very  nuieh  surprised  and  wondered  bow  this  could  have 
happened,  hut  he  flew  swiftly  by  and  soon  left  the  Crane  out  of  sight 
again. 

The  ('fane  finished  his  breakfast  and  started  on.  and  when  evening 
catiie  he  kept  on  as  before.  This  time  it  was  hardly  midnight  when 
he  passed  the  Hummingbird  asleep  on  a  limb,  and  in  the  morning  he 
had  finished  his  breakfast  before  the  other  came  up.  The  next  day 
he  gained  a  little  more,  and  on  the  fourth  day  he  was  spearing  tadpoles 
for  dinner  when  the  Hummingbird  passed  him.  On  the  fifth  and 
sixth  days  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  the  Hummingbird  came 
up.  and  on  the  morning  of  the  seventh  day  the  Crane  was  a  whole 
night's  travel  ahead.  He  took  his  time  at  breakfast  and  then  fixed 
himself  up  as  nicely  as  he  could  at  the  creek  and  came  in  at  the  start- 
ing place  where  the  woman  lived,  early  in  the  morning.  When  the 
Hummingbird  arrived  in  the  afternoon  he  found  he  had  lost  the  race, 
hut  the  woman  declared  she  would  never  have  such  an  ugly  fellow  as 
the  Crane  for  a  husband,  so  she  stayed  single. 

44    THE  OWL  GETS  MARRIED 

A  widow  with  one  daughter  was  always  warning  the  girl  that  she 
must  be  sure  to  get  a  good  hunter  for  a  husband  when  she  married. 
The  young  woman  listened  and  promised  to  do  as  her  mother  advised. 
At  last  a  suitor  came  to  ask  the  mother  for  the  girl,  but  the  widow 
told  him  that  only  a  good  hunter  could  have  her  daughter.  "1*111  just 
that  kind."  said  the  lover,  and  again  asked  her  to  speak  for  him  to  the 
young  woman.  So  the  mother  went  to  the  girl  and  told  her  a  young 
man  had  come  a-courting,  and  as  he  said  he  was  a  good  hunter  she 
advised  her  daughter  to  take  him.  '•Just  as  you  say."  said  the  girl. 
So  when  he  came  again  the  matter  was  all  arranged,  and  he  went  to 
live  with  the  girl. 

The  next  morning  he  got  ready  and  said  he  would  go  out  hunting, 
but  before  starting  he  changed  his  mind  and  said  he  would  go  fishing. 
He  was  gone  all  day  and  came  home  late  at  night, bringing  only  three 
small  fish,  saying  that  he  had  had  no  luck,  but  would  have  better  suc- 
cess to-morrow.  The  next  morning  he  started  off  again  to  fish  and 
was  gone  all  day.  but  came  home  at  night  with  only  two  worthless 
spring  lizards  [duwS'gd)  and  the  same  excuse.  Next  day  he  said  he 
would  go   hunting  this  time.     He  was  gone  again   until  night,  and 


292  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEBOKEE  [eth.akk.1S 

returned  at  last  with  only  a  handful  <>f  scraps  that  he  had  found  where 
some  hunters  had  cut  up  a  deer. 

By  this  time  the  old  woman  was  suspicious.  So  next  morning  when 
he  started  off  again,  as  he  said,  to  fish,  she  told  her  daughter  to  follow 
him  secretly  and  see  how  he  set  to  work.  The  girl  followed  through 
the  woods  and  kept  him  in  sight  until  he  came  down  to  the  river,  where 
she  saw  her  husband  change  to  a  hooting  owl  {ugvJcu')  and  fly  over  to 
a  pile  of  driftwood  in  the  water  and  cry,  "  U-gu-ku!  huf  lm!  u!  «/" 
She  was  surprised  and  very  angry  and  said  to  herself.  "I  thought 
1  hail  married  a  man.  hut  my  husband  is  only  an  owl."  She  watched 
and  saw  the  owl  look  into  the  water  for  a  long  time  and  at  last 
swoop  down  and  tiring  up  in  his  (laws  a  handful  of  sand,  from 
which  he  picked  out  a  crawfish.  Then  he  flew  across  to  the  bank,  took 
the  form  of  a  man  again,  and  started  home  with  the  crawfish.  His 
wife  hurried  on  ahead  through  the  woods  and  got  there  before  him. 
When  he  came  in  with  the  crawfish  in  his  hand,  she  asked  him  where 
were  all  the  fish  he  had  caught.  He  said  he  had  none,  because  an  owl 
had  frightened  them  all  away.  "I  think  you  are  the  owl,"  said  his 
wife,  and  drove  him  out  of  the  house.  The  owl  went  into  the  woods 
and  there  he  pined  away  with  grief  and  love  until  there  was  no  flesh 
left  on  any  part  of  his  body  except  his  head. 

45.  THE  HUHU   GETS   MARRIED 

A  widow  who  had  an  only  daughter,  but  no  son,  found  it  very  hard 
to  make  a  living  and  was  constantly  urging  upon  the  young  woman 
that  they  ought  to  have  a  man  in  the  family,  who  would  be  a  good 
hunter  and  able  to  help  in  the  field.  One  evening  a  stranger  lover 
came  courting  to  the  house,  and  when  the  girl  told  him  that  she  could 
marry  only  one  who  was  a  good  worker,  he  declared  that  he  was 
exactly  that  sort  of  man;  so  the  girl  talked  to  her  mother,  and  on  her 
advice  they  were  married. 

The  next  morning  the  widow  gave  her  new  sondndaw  a  hoe  and  sent 
him  out  to  the  cornfield.  When  breakfast  was  ready  she  went  to  call 
him,  following  a  sound  as  of  some  one  hoeing  on  stony  soil,  but  when 
she  came  to  the  spot  she  found  only  a  small  circle  of  hoed  ground  and 
no  sign  of  her  sondndaw.  Away  over  in  the  thicket  she  heard  a  huhu 
calling. 

He  did  not  come  in  for  dinner,  either,  and  when  he  returned  home 
in  the  evening  the  old  woman  asked  him  where  he  had  been  all  day. 
"Hard  at  work,"  said  he.  "But  I  didn't  see  you  when  1  came  to  call 
you  to  breakfast."  "  I  was  down  in  the  thicket  cutting  sticks  to  mark 
off  the  field,"  said  he.  "But  why  didn't  you  come  in  to  dinner??' 
"  I  was  too  busy  working,"  said  he.  So  the  old  woman  was  satisfied, 
and  they  had  their  supper  together. 


moonei  THE    EAGLE'S    REVENGE  293 

Early  next  morning  In-  started  off  with  his  hoe  over  his  shoulder. 
When  breakfast  was  ready  the  old  woman  went  again  to  call  him,  but 
found  no  sign  of  him,  only  the  hoe  lying  there  and  no  work  done. 
And  away  over  in  the  thicket  a  huhu  was  calling,  " Sau-h.'  sau-h! 
sau-h!  ku!  I<»:  //".'  /<».'  /"'•'  /"'■'  chi!  chi!  chi.'-whew/" 

She  wont  back  to  the  house,  and  when  at  last  In'  came  home  in  the 
e\  ening  -he  asked  him  again  what  he  had  been  doing  all  day.  "  Work- 
ing hard,"  said  he.  "  But  you  were  not  there  when  I  came  after  you." 
■•().  1  just  went  over  in  the  thicket  a  while  to  sec  some  of  my  kins- 
folk," said  he.  Then  the  old  woman  -aid.  "  I  have  lived  here  a  long 
time  and  there  is  nothing  living  in  the  swamp  but  huhus.  My  daugh- 
ter wants  u  husband  that  can  work  and  not  a  lazy  huhu;  so  you  may 
go."     And  she  drove  him  from  the  house. 

46.  WHY  THE  BUZZARD'S  HEAD  IS  BARE 

The  buzzard  used  to  have  a  tine  topknot,  of  which  he  was  so  proud 
that  he  refused  to  eat  carrion,  and  while  the  other  birds  were  pecking 
at  the  body  of  a  deer  or  other  animal  which  they  had  found  he  would 
strut  around  and  say:  "You  may  have  it  all.  it  is  not  good  enough  for 
me."  They  resolved  to  punish  him.  and  with  the  help  of  the  buffalo 
carried  out  a  plot  by  which  the  buzzard  lost  not  his  topknot  alone,  but 
nearly  all  the  other  feathers  on  his  head.  He  lost  his  pride  at  the 
same  time,  so  that  he  is  willing  enough  now  to  eat  carrion  for  a  living. 

47.   THE   EAGLE'S   REVENGE 

Once  a  hunter  in  the  mountains  heard  a  noise  at  night  like  a  rushing 
wind  outside  the  cabin,  and  on  going  out  he  found  that  an  eagle  had 
just  alighted  on  the  drying  pole  and  was  tearing  at  the  body  of  a  deer 
hanging  there.  Without  thinking  of  the  danger,  he  shot  the  eagle. 
In  the  morning  he  took  the  deer  and  started  back  to  the  settlement, 
where  he  told  what  he  had  done,  and  the  chief  sent  out  some  men  to 
bring  in  the  eagle  and  arrange  for  an  Eagle  dance.  They  brought 
back  the  dead  eagle,  everything  was  made  ready,  and  that  night  they 
-tailed  thi'  dance  in  the  townhouse. 

About  midnight  there  was  a  whoop  outside  and  a  strange  warrior 

came  into  the  circle  and  began  to  recite  his  exploits.      X ■   knew 

him,  but  they  thought  he  had  come  from  one  of  the  farther  Cherokee 
towns.  He  told  how  he  had  killed  a' man.  and  at  the  end  of  the  story 
he  gave  a  hoarse  yell.  Hi!  that  startled  the  whole  company,  and  one  of 
the  seven  men  with  the  rattle-  fell  over  dead.  He  sang  of  another 
deed,  and  at  the  end  straightened  up  with  another  loud  yell.     A  second 

rattler  fell  dead,  and  the  ] pie  were  so  full  of   fear  that   they  could 

not  stir  from  their  place-.  Still  he  kept  on.  and  at  every  pause  there 
came  again  that  terrible  scream,  until  the  last  of  the  seven  rattlers  fell 
dead,  and  then  the  stranger  went  out   into  the  darkness.     Long  after- 


2U4  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


ward  they  learned  from  the  eagle  killer  that  it  was  the  brother  of  the 
eagle  shot  by  the  hunter. 

48.  THE   HUNTER  AND   THE  BUZZARD 

A  hunter  had  been  all  day  looking  for  deer  in  the  mountains  without 
success  until  he  was  completely  tired  out  and  sat  down  on  a  log  to  rest 
and  wonder  what  he  should  do.  when  a  buzzard — a  bird  which  always 
has  magic  powers — came  flying  overhead  and  spoke  to  him,  asking  him 
what  was  his  trouble.  When  the  hunter  had  told  his  story  the  buzzard 
said  there  were  plenty  of  deer  on  the  ridges  beyond  if  only  the  hunter 
were  high  up  in  the  air  where  he  could  see  them,  and  proposed  that 
they  exchange  forms  for  a  while,  when  the  buzzard  would  go  home  to 
the  hunter's  wife  while  the  hunter  would  go  to  look  for  deer.  The 
hunter  agreed,  and  the  buzzard  became  a  man  and  went  home  to  the 
hunter's  wife,  who  received  him  as  her  husband,  while  the  hunter 
became  a  buzzard  and  new  off  over  the  mountain  to  locate  the  deer. 
After  staying  some  time  with  the  woman,  who  thought  always  it  was 
her  real  husband,  the  buzzard  excused  himself,  saying  he  must  go 
again  to  look  for  game  or  they  would  have  nothing  to  eat.  He  came 
to  the  place  where  he  had  first  met  the  hunter,  and  found  him  already 
there,  still  in  buzzard  form,  awaiting  him.  He  asked  the  hunter  what 
success  he  had  had,  and  the  hunter  replied  that  he  had  found  several 
deer  over  the  ridge,  as  the  buzzard  had  said.  Then  the  buzzard 
restored  the  hunter  to  human  shape,  and  became  himself  a  buzzard 
again  and  flew  away.  The  hunter  went  where  he  had  seen  the  deer 
and  killed  several,  and  from  that  time  he  never  returned  empty-handed 
from  the  woods. 

Snake.  Fish,  and  Insect  Myths 

49.  the  snake  tribe 

The  generic  name  for  snakes  is  m&d>&'.  They  are  all  regarded  as 
anida'wehl,  " supernaturals,"  having  an  intimate  connection  with  the 
rain  and  thunder  gods,  ami  possessing  a  certain  influence  over  the  other 
animal  and  plant  tribes.  It  is  said  that  the  snakes,  the  deer,  and  the 
ginseng  act  as  allies,  so  that  an  injury  to  one  is  avenged  by  all.  The 
feeling  toward  snakes  is  one  of  mingled  fear  and  reverence,  and  every 
precaution  is  taken  to  avoid  killing  or  offending  one,  especially  the 
rattlesnake.  He  who  kills  a  snake  will  soon  see  others;  and  should  he 
kill  a  second  one,  so  many  will  come  around  him  whichever  way  he 
may  turn  that  he  will  become  dazed  at  the  sight  of  their  glistening 
eyes  and  darting  tongues  and  will  go  wandering  about  like  a  crazy  man, 
unable  to  find  his  way  out  of  the  woods.  To  guard  against  this  mis- 
fortune there  are  certain  prayers  which  the  initiated  say  in  order  that 
a  snake  may  not  cross  their  path,  and  on  meeting  the  first  one  of  the 


THE    SNAKE    TRIBE  295 

season  the  hunter  huinbh  begs  of  him,  "Let  us  nol  see  each  other  this 
summer.'''  Certain  smells,  as  thai  of  the  wild  parsnip,  and  certain 
songs,  as  those  of  the  Unika'wl  or  Townhouse  dance,  arc  offensive  to 
the  snakes  ami  make  them  angry.  For  this  reason  the  I'nika'u  1  dance 
is  held  ..nix  late  in  the  fall,  after  they  have  retired  to  their  dens  for 
the  « inter. 

When  one  dreams  of  being  bitten  by  a  snake  lie  must  he  treated  t  li<' 
same  as  for  an  actual  bite,  because  it  is  a  snake  ghosl  thai  has  Kitten 
hi  in;  otherwise  the  place  will  swell  and  ulcerate  in  the  same  way,  even 
though  it  he  years  afterwai'ds.  For  fear  of  offending  them,  even  in 
speaking,  it  is  never  said  that  a  man  has  been  bitten  byasnake,  but 
onh  that  he  has  been  "scratched  by  a  brier."  Most  of  the  beliefs  ami 
customs  in  this  connection  have  more  special  reference  to  the  rattle- 
snake. 

The  rattlesnake  is  called  utsa'ndti,  which  may  In'  rendered,  "he  has 
a  bell,"  alluding  to  the  rattle.  According  to  a  myth  given  elsewhere, 
he  was  once  a  man.  and  was  transformed  to  his  present  shape  that  lie 
mighl  save  the  human  face  from  extermination  by  the  Sun.  a  mission 
which  he  accomplished  successfully  after  others  had  failed.  By  the 
old  men  he  is  also  spoken  of  as  "the  Thunder's  necklace"  (see  the 
story  of  Ontsaiyi'),  and  to  kill  one  is  to  destroy  one  of  the  most  prized 
ornaments  of  the  thunder  god.  In  one  of  the  formulas  addressed  to 
the  Little  Men.  the  sons  of  the  Thunder,  they  are  implored  to  take 
the  disease  snake  to  themselves,  because  "it  is  just  what  you  adorn 
yourselves  with." 

For  obvious  reasons  the  rattlesnake  is  regarded  as  the  chief  of  the 
snake  tribe  and  is  feared  ami  respected  accordingly.  Few  Cherokee 
will  venture  to  kill  one  except  under  absolute  necessity,  and  even  then 
the  crime  must  he  atoned  for  by  asking  pardon  of  the  snake  ghost, 
either  in  person  or  through  the  mediation  of  a  priest,  according  to  a  set 
formula.  Otherwise  the  relatives  of  the  dead  snake  will  send  one  of 
their  number  to  track  up  the  offender  and  bite  him  so  that  he  will  die 
(see  story.  "The  Rattlesnake's  Vengeance  ").  The  only  thine-  of  which 
the  rattlesnake  is  afraid  is  -aid  to  be  the  plant  known  a-  campion,  or 
""rattlesnake's  master"  (Silent  stellata),  which  b  used  by  the  doctors 
to  counteract  the  effect  of  the  bite,  and  it  is  believed  that  a  snake  will 
lice  in  terror  from  the  hunter  who  carries  a  -mall  piece  of  the  root 
about  his  person,  ('hewed  linn  bark  b  also  applied  to  the  bite,  perhaps 
from  tin'  supposed  occult  connection  between  the  snake  and  the  thun- 
der, as  this  tree  is  said  to  be  immune  from  the  lightning  stroke. 

Notwithstanding  the  fear  of  the  rattlesnake,  his  rattle-,  teeth,  flesh, 
and  oil  are  greatly  prized  for  occult  or  medical  uses,  the  snakes  being 
killed  for  this  purpose  by  certain  priests  who  know  the  necessary  rites 
and  formulas  for  obtaining  pardon.  This  device  for  whipping  the 
devil  around  the  stump,  ami  incidentally  increasing  their  own  re\  enues, 


2V>(>  MYTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE 


is  a  common  trick  of  Indian  medicine  men.  Outsiders  desiring  to 
acquire  this  secret  knowledge  are  discouraged  by  beingtold  that  it  is  a 
dangerous  thing  to  learn,  for  the  reason  that  the  new  initiate  is  almost 
certain  to  be  bitten,  in  order  that  the  snakes  may  "try"  him  to  know 
if  he  has  correctly  learned  the  formula.  When  a  rattlesnake  is  killed 
the  head  must  be  cut  off  and  buried  an  arm's  length  deep  in  the  ground 
and  the  body  carefully  hidden  away  in  a  hollow  log.  If  it  is  left  ex- 
posed to  the  weather,  the  angry  snakes  will  send  such  torrents  of  rain 
that  all  the  streams  will  overflow  their  banks.  Moreover,  they  will  tell 
their  friends,  the  deer,  and  the  ginseng  in  the  mountains,  so  that  these 
will  hide  themselves  and  the  hunters  will  seek  them  in  vain. 

The  tooth  of  a  rattlesnake  which  has  been  killed  by  the  priest  with 
the  proper  ceremonies  while  the  snake  was  lying  stretched  out  from 
east  to  west  is  used  to  scarify  patients  preliminary  to  applying  the 
medicine  in  certain  ailments.  Before  using  it  the  doctor  holds  it 
between  the  thumb  and  finger  of  his  right  hand  and  addresses  it  in  a 
prayer. at  the  end  of  which  the  tooth  "becomes alive,"  when  it  is  ready 
for  the  operation.  The  explanation  is  that  the  tense,  nervous  grasp  of 
the  doctor  causes  his  hand  to  twitch  and  the  tooth  to  move  slightly 
between  his  ringers.  The  rattles  are  worn  on  the  head,  and  sometimes 
a  portion  of  the  flesh  is  eaten  by  ballplayers  to  make  them  more  terri- 
ble to  their  opponents,  but  it  is  said  to  have  the  bad  effect  of  making 
them  cross  to  their  wives.  From  the  lower  half  of  the  body,  thought 
to  be  the  fattest  portion,  the  oil  is  extracted  and  is  in  as  great  repute 
among  the  Indians  for  rheumatism  and  sore  joints  as  among  the  white 
mountaineers.  The  doctor  who  prepares  the  oil  must  also  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  snake.  In  certain  seasons  of  epidemic  a  roasted  (barbe- 
cued) rattlesnake  was  kept  hanging  up  in  the  house,  and  every  morn- 
ing the  father  of  the  family  bit  off  a  small  piece  andchewed  it,  mixing 
it  then  with  water,  which  he  spit  upon  the  bodies  of  the  others  to  pre- 
serve them  from  the  contagion.  It  was  said  to  be  a  sure  cure,  but  apt 
to  make  the  patients  hot  tempered. 

The  copperhead,  wd'dige-askd'U,  "brown-head,"  although  feared  on 
account  of  its  poisonous  bite,  is  hated,  instead  of  being  regarded  with 
veneration,  as  is  the  rattlesnake.  It  is  believed  to  be  a  descendant  of 
a  great  mythic  serpent  (sec  number  5)  and  is  said  to  have  ••eyes  of 
fire,"  on  account  of  their  intense  brightness.  The  blacksnake  is  called 
ffide'gi,  "the  climber."  Biting  its  body  is  said  to  be  a  preventive  of 
toothache,  and  there  is  also  a  belief,  perhaps  derived  from  the  whites. 
that  if  the  body  of  one  be  hung  upon  a  tree  it  will  bring  rain  within 
three  (four?)  days.  The  small  greensnake  is  called  tsdlifotod'yl,  the  same 
name  being  also  applied  to  a  certain  plant,  the  Eryngvum  virgmianum, 
or  bear  grass,  whose  long,  slender  leaves  bear  some  resemblance  to  a 
greensnake.  As  with  the  blacksnake.  it  is  believed  that  toothache 
may  be  prevented  and  sound  teeth   insured  as  long  as  life   lasts   by 


mooney]  THE    SNAKE    TRIBE  297 

biting  the  greensnake  along  it-  body.  It  must  bo  held  bv  the  head 
and  tail,  and  :ill  the  teeth  ;it  once  pressed  down  four  times  along  the 
middle  of  it-  body,  bul  without  biting  into  the  flesh  or  injuring  the 
snake.  Some  informants  say  that  the  operation  must  be  repeated 
four  times  upon  as  many  snakes  and  that  a  certain  food  tabu  must 
also  be  observed.  The  water  moccasin,  kanegwd'ti,  is  not  specially 
regarded,  but  a  very  rare  wood  snake,  said  to  resemble  it  except  that 
it  has  blue  eves,  is  considered  to  have  great  supernatural  powers, 
in  what  way  is  not  specified.  The  repulsive  hut  harmless  spreading 
adder  (Heterodori)  is  called  daWcstA',  "vomiter,"  mi  account  of  its 
habit  of  spitting,  and  sometimes  kwanddya' hH,  a  word  of  uncertain 
etymology.  It  was  formerly  a  man.  hut  was  transformed  into  a  snake 
in  order  to  accomplish  the  destruction  of  the  Daughter  of  the  Sun 
(see  the  story).  For  its  failure  on  this  occasion  it  is  generally 
despised. 

The  Wahnenauhi  manuscript  mentions  a  legend  of  a  greal  serpent 
called  on  account  of  its  color  the  "ground  snake."  To  set'  it  was  an 
omen  of  death  to  the  one  who  saw  it.  and  if  it  was  seen  by  several  per- 
sons some  great  tribal  calamity  was  expected.  For  traditions  and 
beliefs  in  regard  to  the  Uktena.  the  Uksuhi,  and  other  mythic  ser- 
pents, see  under  those  headings. 

50.  THE  UKTENA  AND  THE  ULONSO'TI 

Long  ago — Mlahi'yit — when  the  Sun  became  angry  at  the  people 
on  earth  and  sent  a  sickness  to  destroy  them,  the  Little  Men  changed 
a  man  into  a  monster  snake,  which  they  called  Uktena,  ■"The  Keen 
eyed."  and  sent  him  to  kill  her.  He  failed  to  do  the  work,  and  the 
Rattlesnake  had  to  lie  -cut  instead,  which  made  the  Uktena  so  jealous 
and  angry  that  the  people  were  afraid  of  him  and  had  him  taken  up 
to  Galunlati,  to  stay  with  the  other  dangerous  things.1  He  left  others 
behind  him.  though,  nearly  as  large  and  dangerous  as  himself,  and 
they  hide  now  in  deep  pools  in  the  river  and  about  lonely  passes  in 
the  high  mountains,  the  places  which  the  Cherokee  call  •"Where  the 
Uktena  stays." 

Those  who  know  say  that  the  Uktena  is  a  great  snake,  a-  large  around 
a- a  tree  trunk,  with  horns  on  its  head,  and  a  bright,  blazing  crest  like 
a  diamond  upon  its  forehead,  and  scales  glittering  like  sparks  of  fire. 
It  has  rings  or  spot.-  of  color  along  its  whole  length,  and  can  not  lie 
wounded  except  by  shooting  in  the  seventh  spot  from  the  head,  because 
under  this  spot  are  its  heart  and  its  life.  The  blazing  diamond  is 
called  I'l '"nisi)' ti,  "Transparent,"  and  he  who  can  win  it  may  become 
the  greatest  wonder  worker  of  the  tribe,  hut  it  is  worth  a  man's  life 
to  attempt  it,  for  whoever  is  seen  by  the  Uktena  is  so  dazed  by  the 
bright  light  that  he  run-  toward  the  snake  instead  of  trying  toe-cape. 


'  Sec    -'I'll..  Daughter  of  tl 


298  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


Even  to  see  the  Ukfcena  asleep  is  death,  uot  to  the  hunter  himself,  but 
to  hi*  family. 

Of  all  the  daring  warriors  who  nave  started  out  in  search  of  the 
Ulunsu'ti  only  Agan-uni'tsi  ever  came  back  successful.1  The  East 
Cherokee  still  keep  the  one  which  he  brought.  It  is  like  a  large  trans- 
parent crystal,  nearly  the  shape  of  a  cartridge  bullet,  with  a  blood-red 
streak  running  through  the  center  from  top  to  bottom.  The  owner 
keeps  it  wrapped  in  a  whole  deerskin,  inside  an  earthen  jar  hidden 
away  in  a  secret  cave  in  the  mountains.  Every  seven  days  he  feeds  it 
with  the  blood  of  small  game,  rubbing  the  blood  all  over  the  crystal 
as  soon  as  the  animal  has  been  killed.  Twice  a  year  it  must  have  the 
blood  of  a  deer  or  some  other  large  animal.  Should  he  forget  to  feed 
it  at  the  proper  time  it  would  come  out  from  its  cave  at  night  in  a  shape 
of  fire  and  fly  through  the  air  to  slake  its  thirst  with  the  lifeblood  of 
the  conjurer  or  some  one  of  his  people.  He  may  save  himself  from 
this  danger  by  telling  it,  when  he  puts  it  away,  that  he  will  not  need 
it  again  for  a  long  time.  It  will  then  go  quietly  to  sleep  and  feel  no 
hunger  until  it  is  again  brought  out  to  be  consulted.  Then  it  must  be 
fed  again  with  blood  before  it  is  used. 

No  white  man  must  ever  see  it  and  no  person  but  the  owner  will 
venture  near  it  for  fear  of  sudden  death.  Even  the  conjurer  who 
keeps  it  is  afraid  of  it.  and  changes  its  hiding  place  every  once  in  a 
while  so  that  it  can  not  learn  the  way  out.  When  he  dies  it  will  be 
buried  with  him.  Otherwise  it  will  come  out  of  its  cave,  like  a  blazing 
star,  to  search  for  his  grave,  night  after  night  for  seven  years,  when, 
if  still  not  able  to  find  him.  it  will  go  back  to  sleep  forever  where  he 
has  placed  it. 

Whoever  owns  the  Ulunsu'ti  is  sure  of  success  in  hunting,  love,  rain- 
making,  and  every  other  business,  but  its  great  use  is  in  life  prophecy. 
When  it  is  consulted  for  this  purpose  the  future  is  seen  mirrored  in 
the  clear  crystal  as  a  tree  is  reflected  in  the  quiet  stream  below,  and 
the  conjurer  knows  whether  the  sick  man  will  recover,  whether  the 
warrior  will  return  from  battle,  or  whether  the  youth  will  live  to  be 
old. 

51.   AGAN-UNI'TSl'S   SEARCH    FOR  THE   UKTENA 

In  one  of  their  battles  with  the  Shawano,  who  are  all  magicians,  the 
Cherokee  captured  a  great  medicine-man  whose  name  was  Agan- 
uni'tsi.  "The  Ground-hogs*  Mother."  They  had  tied  him  ready  for  the 
torture  when  he  begged  for  his  life  and  engaged,  if  spared,  to  find  for 
them  the  great  wonder  worker,  the  Ulunsu'ti.  Now.  the  Ulunsu'ti  is 
like  a  blazing  star  set  in  the  forehead  of  the  great  Uktena  serpent, 
and  the  medicine-man  who  could  possess  it  might  do  marvelous  things, 
but   everyone  knew  this  could  not  be,  because  it  was  certain  death  to 


See  tin'  next  story. 


VGAN-UNl'TSl    AM)   THE    UKTENA  299 

inert  the  Uktena.  They  warned  him  of  all  this,  but  he  onlj  answered 
that  his  medicine  was  strong  and  he  was  not  afraid.  So  they  gave  him 
his  life  "ii  that  condition  and  he  began  the  search. 

The  Uktena  used  to  lie  in  wait  in  lonely  places  to  surprise  its  vic- 
tims, and  especially  haunted  the  dark  passes  of  the  Great  Smok} 
mountains.  Knowing  this,  the  magician  went  li i .-. t  to  a  gap  in  the 
range  on  the  far  northern  border  of  the  Cherokee  country.  He 
searched  and  found  there  a  monster  blacksnake,  larger  than  had  ever 
been  known  before,  but  ii  was  not  what  he  was  looking  for,  and  he 
laughed  at  it  as  something  too  small  for  notice.  Coming  southward 
tn  the  next  gap  he  found  there  a  great  moccasin  snake,  the  largest 
ever  seen,  but  when  the  people  wondered  he  said  it  was  nothing.  In 
the  next  gap  he  found  a  greensnake  and  called  the  people  to  see  "the 
pretty  salikwS'yi,"  but  when  they  found  an  immense  greensnake 
coiled  up  in  the  path  they  ran  away  in  fear.  Coming  on  t<>  U'tawa- 
gun'ta,  the  Bald  mountain,  he  found  there  a  great  diya'hali  (lizard) 
basking,  but,  although  it  was  large  and  terrible  t<>  look  at,  it  was  not 
what  he  wanted  and  lie  paid  no  attention  to  it.  Going  still  south  to 
Walasi'vi.  the  Frog  place,  he  found  a  great  frog  squatting  in  the  gap, 
but  when  the  people  who  came  to  see  it  were  frightened  like  the 
others  and  ran  away  from  the  monster  he  mocked  at  them  for  being 
afraid  of  a  frog  and  went  on  to  the  next  gap.  He  went  on  to  Duni- 
skwa'lgun'yi,  the  Gap  of  the  Forked  Antler,  and  to  the  enchanted  lake 
of  Ataga'hl,  and  at  each  he  found  monstrous  reptiles,  hut  he  said  they 
were  nothing.  He  thought  the  Uktena  might  he  hiding  in  the  deep 
water  at  Tlanusi'vi,  the  Leech  place,  on  Hiwassee,  where  other  strange 
things  had  been  seen  before,  and  going  there  he  dived  far  down  under 
the  surface.  He  saw  turtles  and  water  snakes,  and  two  immense  sun- 
percb.es  rushed  at  him  and  retreated  again,  hut  that  was  all.  Other 
places  he  tried,  going  always  southward,  and  at  last  on  Gahu'ti 
mountain  he  found  the  Uktena  asleep. 

Turning  without  noise,  he  ran  swiftly  down  the  mountain  side  as 
far  as  he  could  go  with  one  lone-  breath,  nearly  to  the  bottom  of  the 
slope.  There  he  stopped  and  piled  up  a  great  circle  of  pine  tone-. 
and  inside  of  it  he  dug  a  deep  trench.  Then  he  set  tire  to  the  cones 
and  came  hack  again  up  the  mountain. 

The  Uktena  was  still  asleep,  and.  putting  an  arrow  to  his  bow, 
Agan-uni'tsi  shot  and  sent  the  arrow  through  its  heart,  which  was 
under  the  seventh  -pot  from  the  serpent's  head.  The  great  snake 
raised  his  head,  with  the  diamond  in  front  Hashing  tire,  and  came 
straight  at  his  enemy,  but  the  magician,  turning  quickly,  ran  at  full 
speed  down  the  mountain,  cleared  the  circle  of  tire  and  the  trench  at 
one  bound,  and  lay  down  on  the  ground  inside. 

The  Uktena  tried  to  follow,  but  the  arrow  was  through  his  heart. 
and  in  another  moment  he  rolled  over  in   his  death   struggle,  spitting 


300  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.akn.19 

poison  over  all  the  mountain  side.  But  the  poison  drops  could  not 
pass  the  circle  of  fire,  l>ut  only  hissed  and  sputtered  in  the  blaze,  and 
the  magician  <>n  the  inside  was  untouched  except  by  one  small  drop 
which  struck  upon  his  head  as  he  lay  close  to  the  ground;  hut  he  did 
not  know  it.  The  blood,  too.  as  poisonous  as  the  froth,  poured  from 
the  Uktena's  wound  and  down  the  slope  in  a  dark  stream,  hut  it  ran 
into  the  trench  and  left  him  unharmed.  The  dying  monster  rolled 
over  and  over  down  the  mountain,  breaking  down  large  trees  in  its 
path  until  it  reached  the  bottom.  Then  Agan-uni'tsi  called  every  bird 
in  all  the  woods  to  come  to  the  feast,  and  so  many  came  that  when  they 
were  done  not  even  the  bones  were  left. 

After  seven  days  he  went  by  night  to  the  spot.  The  body  and  the 
bones  of  the  snake  were  gone,  all  eaten  by  the  birds,  but  he  saw  a 
bright  light  shining  in  the  darkness,  and  going  over  to  it  he  found, 
resting  on  a  low-hanging  branch,  where  a  raven  had  dropped  it,  the 
diamond  from  the  head  of  the  Uktena.  He  wrapped  it  up  carefully 
and  took  it  with  him.  and  from  that  time  he  became  the  greatest  medi- 
cine-man in  the  whole  tribe. 

When  Agan-uni'tsi  came  down  again  to  the  settlement  the  people 
noticed  a  small  snake  hanging  from  his  head  where  the  single  drop  of 
poison  from  the  Uktena  had  struck;  but  so  long  as  he  lived  he  him- 
self never  knewr  that  it  was  there. 

Where  the  blood  of  the  Uktena  had  tilled  the  trench  a  lake  formed 
afterwards,  and  the  water  was  black  and  in  this  water  the  women  used 
to  dye  the  cane  splits  for  their  baskets. 

52.  THE  RED  MAN  AND  THE  UKTENA  . 

Two  brothers  went  hunting  together,  and  when  they  came  to  a  good 
camping  place  in  the  mountains  they  made  a  tire,  and  while  one  gath- 
ered bark  to  put  up  a  shelter  the  other  started  up  the  creek  to  look  for 
a  deer.  Soon  he  heard  a  noise  on  the  top  of  the  ridge  as  if  two  animals 
were  fighting.  He  hurried  through  the  bushes  to  see  what  it  might 
be,  and  when  he  came  to  the  spot  he  found  a  great  uktena  coiled 
around  a  man  and  choking  him  to  death.  The  man  was  fighting  for 
his  life,  and  called  out  to  the  hunter:  "Help  me.  nephew;  he  is  your 
enemy  as  well  as  mine."  The  hunter  took  good  aim,  and,  drawing 
the  arrow  to  the  head,  sent  it  through  the  body  of  the  uktena,  so  that 
the  blood  spouted  from  the  hole.  The  snake  loosed  its  coils  with  a 
snapping  noise,  and  went  tumbling  down  the  ridge  into  the  valley, 
tearing  up  the  earth  like  a  water  spout  as  it  rolled. 

The  stranger  stood  up,  and  it  was  the  Asga'va  Gi'gagei,  the  Red 
Man  of  the  Lightning.  He  said  to  the  hunter:  "  You  have  helped  me. 
and  now  I  will  reward  you.  and  give  you  a  medicine  so  that  you  can 
always  find  game."  They  waited  until  it  was  dark,  and  then  went 
down  the  ridjje  to  where  the  dead  uktena  had  rolled,  but  bv  this  time 


THE    HUNTER    ami    THE    ['K-r'KI  301 

the  birds  and  insects  had  eaten  the  body  and  only  the  bones  were  left.. 
In  one  place  were  flashes  of  light  coming  up  from  the  ground,  and  on 
digging  bere,  just  under  the  surface,  the  Red  Man  found  a  scale  of  the 
uktena.  Next  be  wen(  over  to  a  tree  thai  had  been  struck  by  light 
ning,  and  gathering  a  handful  of  splinters  he  made  a  fire  and  burned  the 
uktena  scale  to  a  coal.  He  wrapped  this  in  a  piece  of  deerskin  and 
gave  it  to  the  hunter,  saying:  "As  long  as  you   keep  this  you  can 

always  kill   game."      Then   he  told  tin'  hunter  that   when  he  went   hack 

to  camp  he  must  hangup  the  medicine  on  a  tree  outside,  because  it 
was  very  strong  and  dangerous.  He  told  him  also  that  when  he  went 
into  the  cabin  he  would  find  his  brother  lying  inside  nearly  dead  mi 
account  of  the  presence  of  the  uktena's  scale,  hut  he  must  take  a  small 
piece  of  cane,  which  the  Red  Man  gave  him.  and  scrape  a  little  of  it 
into  water  and  give  it  to  his  brother  to  drink  and  lie  would  he  well 
again.  Then  the  Red  Man  was  gone,  and  the  hunter  could  not  see 
where  he  went.  He  returned  to  camp  alone,  and  found  his  brother 
very  sick,  but  soon  cured  him  with  the  medicine  from  the  cane,  and 
that  day  and  the  next,  and  every  day  after,  he  found  game  whenever 
he  went  for  it. 

53.  THE   HUNTER   AND   THE   UKSU'HI 

A  man  living  down  in  Georgia  came  to  visit  some  relatives  at  Hick- 
ory-log. He  was  a  great  hunter,  and  after  resting  in  the  house  a  day 
or  two  got  ready  to  go  into  the  mountains.  His  friends  warned  him 
not  to  go  toward  the  north,  as  in  that  direction,  near  a  certain  large 
uprooted  tree,  there  lived  a  dangerous  monster  uksu'hi  snake.  It  kept 
constant  watch,  and  whenever  it  could  spring  upon  an  unwary  hunter  it 
would  coil  about  him  and  crush  out  his  life  in  its  folds  and  then  drag 
the  dead  body  down  the  mountain  side  into  a  deep  hole  in  Hiwassee. 

He  listened  quietly  to  the  warning,  but  all  they  said  only  made  him 
the  more  anxious  to  see  such  a  monster,  so,  without  saying  anything 
of  his  intention,  he  left  the  settlement  and  took  his  way  directly  up 
the  mountain  toward  the  north.  Soon  he  came  to  the  fallen  tree  and 
(limbed  upon  the  trunk,  and  there,  sure  enough,  on  the  other  side  was 
the  great  uksu'hi  stretched  out  in  the  grass,  with  its  head  raised,  but 
looking  the  other  way.  It  was  about  so  large  [making  a  circle  of  a 
foot  in  diameter  with  his  hands].  The  frightened  hunter  got  down 
again  at  once  and  started  to  run;  but  the  snake  had  heard  the  noise  and 
turned  quickly  and  was  after  him.  Up  the  ridge  the  hunter  ran,  the 
snake  close  behind  him,  then  down  the  other  side  toward  the  river. 
With  all  his  running  the  uksu'hi  gained  rapidly,  and  just  as  he  reached 
the  low  ground  it  caught  up  with  him  and  wrapped  around  him.  pin- 
ning one  arm  down  by  his  side,  but  leaving  the  other  free. 

Now  it  gave  him  a  terrible  squeeze  that  almost  broke  his  ribs,  and 
then  began  to  drag  him  along  toward  the  water.      With  his  free  hand 


•"'Hi'  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [ETH. 


the  hunter  clutched  at  the  bushes  as  they  passed,  l>ut  the  snake  turned 
its  head  and  blew  its  sickening  breath  into  his  face  until  he  had  to  let 
go  his  hold.  Again  and  again  this  happened,  and  all  the  time  they 
were  getting  nearer  to  a  deep  hole  in  the  river,  when,  almost  at  the 
last  moment,  a  lucky  thought  came  into  the  hunter's  mind. 

He  was  sweating  all  over  from  his  hard  run  across  the  mountain, 
and  suddenly  remembered  to  have  heard  that  snakes  can  not  bear  the 
smell  of  perspiration.  Putting  his  free  hand  into  his  bosom  he  worked 
it  around  under  his  armpit  until  it  was  covered  with  perspiration. 
Then  withdrawing  it  he  grasped  at  a  bush  until  the  snake  turned  its 
head,  when  he  quickly  slapped  his  sweaty  hand  on  its  nose.  The 
uksu'hi  gave  one  gasp  almost  as  if  it  had  been  wounded,  loosened  its 
coil,  and  glided  swiftly  away  through  the  bushes,  leaving  the  hunter, 
bruised  but  not  disabled,  to  make  his  way  home  to  Hickory-log. 

54.   THE   USTO'TLl 

There  was  once  a  great  serpent  called  the  Ustu'tli  that  made  its  haunt 
upon  Cohutta  mountain.  It  was  called  the  Ustu'tli  or  "•foot"  snake, 
because  it  did  not  glide  like  other  snakes,  but  had  feet  at  each  end  of 
its  body,  and  moved  by  strides  or  jerks,  like  a  great  measuring  worm. 
These  feet  were  three-cornered  and  flat  and  could  hold  on  to  the  ground 
like  .suckers.  It  had  no  legs,  but  would  raise  itself  up  on  its  hind  feet. 
with  its  snaky  head  waving  high  in  the  air  until  it  found  a  good  place 
lo  take  a  fresh  hold;  then  it  would  bend  down  and  grip  its  front  feet 
to  the  ground  while  it  drew  its  body  up  from  behind.  It  could  cross 
rivers  and  deep  ravines  by  throwing  its  head  across  and  getting  a  grip 
with  its  front  feet  and  then  swinging  its  body  over.  Wherever  its 
footprints  were  found  there  was  danger.  It  used  to  bleat  like  a  young 
fawn,  and  when  the  hunter  heard  a  fawn  bleat  in  the  woods  he  never 
looked  for  it,  but  hurried  away  in  the  other  direction.  Up  the  moun- 
tain or  down,  nothing  could  escape  the  Ustu'tli's  pursuit,  but  along  the 
side  of  the  ridge  it  could  not  go,  because  the  great  weight  of  its  swing- 
ing head  broke  its  hold  on  the  ground  when  it  moved  sideways. 

It  came  to  pass  after  a  while  that  not  a  hunter  about  Cohutta  would 
venture  near  the  mountain  for  dread  of  the  Ustu'tli.  At  last  a  man 
from  one  of  the  northern  settlements  came  down  to  visit  some  rela- 
tives in  that  neighborhood.  When  he  arrived  thi'y  made  a  feast  for 
him.  but  had  only  corn  and  beans,  and  excused  themselves  for  having 
no  meat  because  the  hunters  were  afraid  to  go  into  the  mountains.  He 
asked  the  reason,  and  when  they  told  him  he  said  he  would  go  himself 
to-morrow  and  either  bring  in  a  deer  or  find  the  Ustu'tli.  They  tried 
to  dissuade  him  from  it,  but  as  he  insisted  upon  going  they  warned  him 
that  if  he  heard  a  fawn  bleat  in  the  thicket  he  must  run  at  once  and  if 
the  snake  came  after  him  he  must  not  try  to  run  down  the  mountain, 
but  alone  the  side  of  the  ridare. 


THE   rMi'Ti.f  303 

In  the  morning  he  started  ou1  and  went  directly  toward  the  moun- 
tain. Working  hi-  way  through  the  bushes  :ii  the  base,  lie  suddenly 
heard  a  fawn  Meat  in  front.  He  guessed  at  once  that  it  was  1 1 1 * ■  Cstu'tlt, 
l>ut  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  see  it,  so  he  did  not  turn  back,  but  went 
straight  forward,  and  there,  sure  enough,  was  the  monster,  with  itsgreal 
head  in  the  air,  as  high  as  the  pine  branches,  looking  in  >-\  ery  direction 
to  discover  a  deer,  or  maybe  a  man.  for  breakfast.  It  -aw  him  ami 
came  sit  him  at  once,  moving  in  jerky  strides,  every  one  the  length  of 
a  tii','  trunk,  holding  its  scaly  head  high  above  the  bushes  and  bleating 
as  it  came. 

The  hunterwas  so  badly  frightened  that  he  lost  his  wits  entirely  and 
started  to  run  directly  up  the  mountain.  The  great  snake  came  after 
him.  gaining  half  its  length  on  him  every  time  it  took  a  fresh  grip  with 
it-  fore  feet,  and  would  have  caught  the  hunter  before  he  reached  the 
top  of  the  ridge,  but  that  he  suddenly  remembered  the  warning  and 
changed  his  course  to  run  alone-  the  sides  of  the  mountain.  At  once 
the  snake  began  to  lose  ground,  for  every  time  it  raised  itself  up  the 
weight  of  its  body  threw  it  out  of  a  straight  line  and  made  it  fall  a  little 
lower  down  the  side  of  the  ridge.  It  tried  to  recover  itself,  but  now 
the  hunter  gained  and  kept  on  until  he  turned  the  end  of  the  ridge  and 
left  the  snake  out  of  sight.  Then  he  cautiously  climbed  to  the  topand 
looked  over  and  saw  the  I'stu'tli  still  slowly  working  its  way  toward 
the  summit. 

He  went  down  to  the  base  of  the  mountain,  opened  hi-  lire  pouch. 
and  set  fire  to  the  grass  and  leaves.  Soon  the  tire  ran  all  around  the 
mountain  and  began  to  climb  upward.  When  the  great  snake  smelled 
the  smoke  and  saw  the  flames  coming  it  forgot  all  about  the  hunter 
and  turned  to  make  all  speed  for  a  high  cliff  near  the  summit.  It 
reached  the  rock  and  got  upon  it.  but  the  fire  followed  and  caught  the 
dead  pines  about  the  base  of  the  cliff  until  the  heat  made  the  I'stu'tH's 
scales  crack.  Taking  a  close  grip  of  the  rock  with  its  hind  feet  it 
raised  its  body  and  put  forth  all  its  strength  in  an  effort  to  spring 
across  the  wall  of  tire  that  surrounded  it.  but  the  .-moke  choked  it  and 
its  hold  loosened  and  it  fell  among  the  blazing  pine  trunks  and  lay 
there  until  it  wa-  burned  to  ashes. 

55.   THE   UW'TSUN'TA 

At  Nun'daye'  li.  the  wildest  spot  on  Nantahala  river,  in  what  i-  now 
Macon  county.  North  Carolina,  where  the  overhanging  cliff  is  highest 
and  the  river  far  below,  there  lived  in  the  old  time  a  great  snake  called 
the  Uw'tsflfi'ta or  ••bouncer."  because  it  moved  by  jerks  like  a  measur 
ing  worm,  with  only  one  part  of  its  body  on  the  ground  at  a  time.  It 
stayed  generally  on  the  east  side,  where  the  .sun  came  first  in  the 
morning,  and  used  to  cross  by  reaching  over  from  the  highest  point  of 
the  cliff  until  it  could  get  a  grip  on  the  other  side,  when  it  would  pull 


304  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


over  the  rest  of  its  body.  It  was  so  immense  that  when  it  was  thus 
stretched  across  its  shadow  darkened  the  whole  valley  below.  For  a 
long  time  the  people  did  not  know  it  was  there,  but  when  at  last  they 
found  out  al>out  it  they  were  afraid  to  live  in  the  valley,  so  that  it  was 
deserted  even  while  still  Indian  country. 

56.    THE    SNAKE    BOY 

There  was  a  boy  who  used  to  go  bird  hunting  every  day.  and  all  the 
birds  he  brought  home  lie  gave  to  his  grandmother,  who  was  very 
fond  of  him.  This  made  the  rest  of  the  family  jealous,  and  they 
treated  him  in  such  fashion  that  at  last  one  day  he  told  his  grand- 
mother lie  would  leave  them  all,  but  that  .she  must  not  grieve  for 
him.  Next  morning  he  refused  to  eat  any  breakfast,  hut  went  off 
hungry  to  the  woods  and  was  gone  all  day.  In  the  evening  he 
returned,  bringing  with  him  a  pair  of  deer  horns,  and  went  directly 
to  the  hothouse  (asi),  where  his  grandmother  was  waiting  for  him. 
He  told  the  old  woman  he  must  be  alone  that  night,  so  she  got  up  and 
went  into  the  house  where  the  others  were. 

At  early  daybreak  she  came  again  to  the  hothouse  and  looked  in, 
and  there  she  saw  an  immense  uktena  that  filled  the  asi,  with  horns 
on  its  head,  but  still  with  two  human  legs  instead  of  a  snake  tail.  It 
was  all  that  was  left  of  her  boy.  He  spoke  to  her  and  told  her  to 
leave  him,  and  she  went  away  again  from  the  door.  When  the  sun 
was  well  up,  the  uktena  began  slowly  to  crawl  out,  but  it  was  full 
noon  before  it  was  all  out  of  the  asi.  It  made  a  terrible  hissing  noise 
as  it  came  out,  and  all  the  people  ran  from  it.  It  crawled  on  through 
the  settlement,  leaving  a  broad  trail  in  the  ground  behind  it,  until  it 
came  to  a  deep  bend  in  the  river,  where  it  plunged  in  and  went  under 
the  water. 

The  grandmother  grieved  much  for  her  boj-,  until  the  others  of  the 
family  got  angry  and  told  her  that  as  she  thought  so  much  of  him  she 
ought  to  go  and  stay  with  him.  So  she  left  them  and  went  along  the 
trail  made  by  the  uktena  to  the  river  and  walked  directly  into  the 
water  and  disappeared.  Once  after  that  a  man  fishing  near  the  place 
saw  her  sitting  on  a  large  rock  in  the  river,  looking  just  as  she  had 
always  looked,  but  as  soon  as  she  caught  sight  of  him  she  jumped  into 
the  water  and  was  gone. 

57.    THE   SNAKE   MAN 

Two  hunters,  both  for  some  reason  under  a  tabu  against  the  meat  of 
a  squirrel  or  turkey,  had  gone  into  the  woods  together.  When  even- 
ing came  they  found  a  good  camping  place  and  lighted  a  fire  to  prepare 
their  supper.  One  of  them  had  killed  several  squirrels  during  the 
day,  and  now  got  ready  to  broil  them  over  the  fire.  His  companion 
warned  him  that  if  he   broke  the  tabu  and   ate  squirrel  meat  he  would 


mooney]  SNAKE    TALKS  305 

become  a  snake,  but  the  other  laughed  and  said  that  was  only  a  con 
jurer's  story.     I  If  went  <>n  with  his  preparation,  and  when  the  squirrels 
were  roasted  made  liis  supper  of  them  and  then  lay  clown  beside  the 
fire  to  sleep. 

Late  that  night  bis  companion  was  aroused  by  groaning,  and  on 
Looking  around  be  found  the  other  lying  on  the  ground  rolling  and 
twisting  in  agony,  and  with  the  lower  part  of  his  body  already  changed 
to  the  body  ami  tail  of  a  large  water  snake.  The  man  was  still  aide  to 
speak  and  called  loudly  for  help,  hut  his  companion  could  do  nothing, 
hut  only  sit  by  and  try  to  comfort  him  while  he  watched  the  arms  sink 
into  the  body  and  the  skin  take  on  a  scaly  change  that  mounted  grad- 
ually toward  the  neck,  until  at  last  even  the  head  was  a  serpent's  head 
and  the  great  snake  crawled  away  from  the  tire  and  down  the  hank 
into  the  river. 

58.  THE  RATTLESNAKE'S  VENGEANCE 

One  day  in  the  old  times  when  we  could  still  talk  with  other  crea- 
tures, while  some  children  were  playing  about  the  house,  their  mother 
inside  heard  them  scream.  Running  out  she  found  that  a  rattlesnake 
had  crawled  from  the  grass,  and  taking  up  a  stick  she  killed  it.  The 
father  was  out  hunting-  in  the  mountains,  and  that  evening  when  com- 
ing home  after  dark  through  the  gap  lie  heard  a  strange  wailing  sound. 
Looking  about  he  found  that  he  had  come  into  the  midst  of  a  whole 
company  of  rattlesnakes,  which  all  had  their  mouths  open  and  seemed 
to  he  crying.  He  asked  them  the  reason  of  their  trouble,  and  they 
told  him  that  his  own  wife  had  that  day  killed  their  chief,  the  Yellow 
Rattlesnake,  and  they  were  just  now  about  to  send  the  Black  Rattle- 
snake to  take  revenge. 

The  hunter  said  he  was  very  sorry,  hut  they  told  him  that  if  he 
spoke  the  truth  he  must  be  ready  to  make  satisfaction  and  give  his 
wife  as  a  sacrifice  for  the  life  of  their  chief.  Not  knowing  what  might 
happen  otherwise,  he  consented.  They  then  told  him  that  the  Black 
Rattlesnake  would  go  home  with  him  and  coil  up  just  outside  the 
door  in  the  dark.  He  must  go  inside,  where  he  would  rind  his  wife 
awaiting  him,  and  ask  her  to  get  him  a  drink  of  fresh  water  from  the 
spring.     That  was  all. 

He  went  home  and  knew  that  the  Black  Rattlesnake  was  following. 
It  was  night  when  he  arrived  and  very  dark,  hut  he  found  his  wife 
waiting  with  his  supper  ready.  He  sat  down  and  asked  for  a  drink  of 
water.  She  handed  him  a  gourd  full  from  the  jar.  hut  he  said  he 
wanted  it  fresh  from  the  spring,  so  she  took  a  bowl  and  went  out  of  the 
door.  The  next  moment  he  heard  a  cry,  and  going  out  he  found  that 
the  Black  Rattlesnake  had  bitten  her  and  that  she  was  already  dying. 
He  stayed  with  her  until  she  was  dead,  when  the  Black  Rattlesnake 
came  out  from  the  grass  again  and  said  his  tribe  was  now  satisfied. 
lft  eth— 01 20 


306  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

He  then  taught  the  hunter  a  prayer  song,  and  said.  "When  you  meet 
any  of  us  hereafter  sing  this  song  and  we  will  not  hurt  you;  but  if  by 
accident  one  of  us  should  bite  one  of  your  people  then  sing  this  song 
over  him  and  he  will  recover."  And  the  Cherokee  have  kept  the  song 
to  this  day. 

59.   THE    SMALLER    REPTILES— FISHES    AND    INSECTS 

There  are  several  varieties  of  frogs  and  toads,  each  with  a  different 
name,  but  there  is  very  little  folklore  in  connection  with  them.  The 
common  green  frog  is  called  wald'si,  and  among  the  Cherokee,  as  among 
uneducated  whites,  the  handling  of  it  is  thought  to  cause  warts,  which 
for  this  reason  are  called  by  the  same  name,  wald'si.  A  solar  eclipse 
is  believed  to  be  caused  bjr  the  attempt  of  a  great  frog  to  swallow 
the  sun,  and  in  former  times  it  was  customary  on  such  occasions  to 
fire  guns  and  make  other  loud  noises  to  frighten  away  the  frog.  The 
smaller  varieties  are  sometimes  eaten,  and  on  rare  occasions  the  bull- 
frog also,  but  the  meat  is  tabued  to  ball  players  while  in  training,  for 
fear  that  the  brittleness  of  the  frog's  bones  would  be  imparted  to 
those  of  the  player. 

The  land  tortoise  (tufat')  is  prominent  in  the  animal  myths,  and  is 
reputed  to  have  been  a  great  warrior  in  the  old  times.  On  account  of 
the  stoutness  of  its  legs  ball  players  rub  their  limbs  with  them  before 
going  into  the  contest.  The  common  water  turtle  (sdligu'ffi),  which  occu- 
pies so  important  a  place  in  the  mythology  of  the  northern  tribes, 
is  not  mentioned  in  Cherokee  myth  or  folklore,  and  the  same  is  true 
of  the  soft-shelled  turtle  {u'lana'wa),  perhaps  for  the  reason  that 
both  are  rare  in  the  cold  mountain  streams  of  the  Cherokee  country. 

There  are  perhaps  half  a  dozen  varieties  of  lizard,  each  with  a  dif- 
ferent name.  The  gray  road  lizard,  or  dAy&MJA  (alligator  lizard.  Sa  I- 
oporti*  viiiluhrtm),  is  the  most  common.  On  account  of  its  habit  of 
alternately  puffing  out  and  drawing  in  its  throat  as  though  sucking, 
when  basking  in  the  sun,  it  is  invoked  in  the  formulas  for  drawing 
out  the  poison  from  snake  bites.  If  one  catches  the  first  diva/hall 
seen  in  the  spring,  and,  holding  it  between  his  fingers,  scratches  his 
legs  downward  with  its  claws,  he  will  see  no  dangerous  snakes  all  sum- 
mer. Also,  if  one  be  caught  alive  at  any  time  and  rubbed  over  the 
head  and  throat  of  an  infant,  scratching  the  skin  very  slightly  at  the 
same  time  with  the  claws,  the  child  will  never  be  fretful,  but  will  sleep 
quietly  without  complaining,  even  when  sick  or  exposed  to  the  rain. 
This  is  a  somewhat  risky  experiment,  however,  as  the  child  is  liable 
thereafter  to  go  to  sleep  wherever  it  may  be  laid  down  for  a  moment, 
so  that  the  mother  is  in  constant  danger  of  losing  it.  According  to 
some  authorities  this  sleep  lizard  is  not  the  diya'hali,  but  a  larger 
variety  akin  to  the  next  described. 

The  gi<jd-tstilii/Il  ("bloody  mouth,"  Pleistodonl)  is  described  as  a 


i sey]  LIZARDS    AND    FISHES  307 

very  large  lizard,  Dearly  as  large  as  a  water  dog,  with  the  throat  and 
corners  of  the  mouth  red,  as  though  from  drinking  blood.  It  is 
believed  to  be  not  a  time  lizard  but  a  transformed  ugUnste'U  fish 
(described  below)  on  account  of  the  similarity  of  coloring  and  the  fact 
that  the  fish  disappears  about  the  time  the  giga^tsuha''!!  begins  to 
come  out.  It  is  ferocious  and  a  hard  biter,  and  pursues  other  lizards. 
In  dr\  weather  it  cries  or  makes  a  noise  like  a  cicada,  raising  itself 
up  as  it  cries.  It  has  a  habit  of  approaching  near  to  where  some  per- 
son is  sitting  or  standing,  then  halting  and  looking  fixedly  at  him,  and 
constantly  puffing  out  its  throat  until  its  head  assumes  a  bright  fed 
color.  It  is  thought  then  to  he  sucking  the  Mood  of  its  victim,  ami  is 
dreaded  and  shunned  accordingly.  The  small  scorpion  lizard  (i*<hi, ' m) 
is  sometimes  called  also  gigd-danegi'ski,  "blood  taker."  It  is  a  striped 
lizard  which  frequents  sandy  beaches  and  resemble  the  diva'hali.  hut  is 
of  a  brown  color.  It  is  believed  also  to  he  sucking  blood  in  some  mys- 
terious way  whenever  it  nods  its  head,  and  if  its  heart  he  eaten  by  a 
doe- that  animal  will  he  able  to  extract  all  the  nutrient  properties  from 
food  by  simply  looking  at  those  who  are  eating. 

The  small  spring  lizard  (dv/w&'gd),  which  lives  in  springs,  is  supposed 
to  cause  rain  whenever  it  crawls  out  of  the  spring.  It  is  frequently 
invoked  in  the  formulas.  Another  spring  (?)  lizard,  red.  with  black 
spots,  is  called  ddgan'  tiV  or  aniganti'ski  '''the  rain  maker."  because  its 
cry  is  said  to  brine-  rain.  The  water  dog  (tsuwd',  mud  puppy,  Meno- 
poma  or  Protonopsis)  is  a  very  large  lizard,  or  rather  salamander, 
frequenting  muddy  water.  It  is  rarely  eaten,  from  an  unexplained 
belief  that  if  one  who  has  eaten  its  meat  goes  into  the  field  immediately 
afterward  the  crop  will  be  ruined.  There  are  names  for  one  or  two 
other  varieties  of  lizard  as  well  as  for  the  alligator  (tsula'ski),  but  no 
folklore  in  connection  with  them. 

Although  the  Cherokee  country  abounds  in  swift-flowing  streams 
well  stocked  with  fish,  of  which  the  Indians  make  free  use,  there  is  but 
little  fish  lore.  A  number  of  "  dream  "  diseases,  really  due  to  indiges- 
tion, are  ascribed  to  revengeful  fish  ghosts,  and  the  doctor  usually 
tries  to  effect  the  cure  by  invoking  some  larger  fish  or  fish-eating  bird 
to  drive  out  the  ghost. 

Toeo  creek,  in  Monroe  county.  Tennessee,  derives  its  name  from  a 
mythic  monster  fish,  the  Dakwa',  considered  the  father  of  all  the  fish 
tribe,  which  is  said  to  have  lived  formerly  in  Little  Tennessee  river  at 
that  point  (see  story,  "The  Hunter  and  the  Dakwa'").  A  fish  called 
1/,/i'n/sf, '//,  ■■  having  horns."  which  appears  only  in  spring,  is  believed  to 
lie  transformed  later  into  the  giga-tsuha'li  lizard,  already  mentioned. 
The  fish  is  described  as  having  horns  or  projections  upon  its  nose  and 
beautiful  red  spots  upon  its  head,  and  as  being  attended  or  accompanied 
by  many  smaller  red  fish,  all  of  which,  including  the  ugunste'li,  are 
accustomed    to    pile    up   small    stones    in    the    water.      As    the    season 


308  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.  ann.  ui 

advances  it  disappears  and  is  believed  then  to  have  turned  into  a  giga- 
tsuha'  11  lizard,  the  change  beginning  at  the  head  and  finishing  with  the 
tail.  It  is  probably  the  Cam/postoma  or  stone  roller,  which  is  con- 
spicuous for  its  bright  coloring  in  early  spring,  but  loses  its  tints  after 
spawning.  The  meat  of  the  sluggish  hog-sucker  is  tabued  to  the  ball 
player,  who  must  necessarily  be  active  in  movement.  The  fresh-water 
mussel  is  called  ddgH'nd,  and  the  same  name  is  applied  to  certain  pim- 
ples upon  the  face,  on  account  of  a  fancied  resemblance.  The  ball 
player  rubs  himself  with  an  eel  skin  to  make  himself  slippery  and  hard 
to  hold.  and.  according  to  the  Wahnenauhi  manuscript,  women 
formerly  tied  up  their  hair  with  the  dried  skin  of  an  eel  to  make  it 
grow  long.  A  large  red  crawfish  called  tsiska' gili,  much  resembling 
a  lobster,  is  used  to  scratch  young  children  in  order  to  give  them  a 
strong  grip,  each  hand  of  the  child  being  lightly  scratched  once  with 
the  pincer  of  the  living  animal.  A  mother  whose  grown  son  had 
been  thus  treated  when  an  infant  claimed  that  he  could  hold  anything 
with  his  thumb  and  ringer.  It  is  said,  however,  to  render  the  child 
quarrelsome  and  disposed  to  bite. 

Of  insects  there  is  more  to  be  said.  The  generic  name  for  all  sorts 
of  small  insects  and  worms  is  tsgdya,  and  according  to  the  doctors,  who 
had  anticipated  the  microbe  theory  by  several  centuries,  these  tsgaya 
are  to  blame  for  nearly  every  human  ailment  not  directly  traceable  to 
the  asgina.  of  the  larger  animals  or  to  witchcraft.  The  reason  is  plain. 
There  are  such  myriads  of  them  everywhere  on  the  earth  and  in  the 
air  that  mankind  is  constantly  destroying  them  by  wholesale,  without 
mercy  and  almost  without  knowledge,  and  this  is  their  method  of 
taking  revenge. 

Beetles  are  classed  together  under  a  name  which  signifies  ''insects 
with  shells."  The  little  water-beetle  or  mellow-bug  {Dint  utes  discolor) 
is  called  ddyuni'si,  "  beaver's  grandmother,"  and  according  to  the 
genesis  tradition  it  brought  up  the.  first  earth  from  under  the  water. 
A  certain  green-headed  beetle  with  horns  ( I'limni  us  carnifex)  is  spoken 
of  as  the  dog  of  the  Thunder  boys,  and  the  metallic -green  luster  upon 
its  forehead  is  said  to  have  been  caused  by  striking  at  the  celebrated 
mythic  gambler,  Untsaiyi',  "  Brass"  (see  the  story).  The  June-bug 
(Allorhina  niUda),  another  green  beetle,  is  tagii,  but  is  frequently 
called  by  the  curious  name  of  tu'ya-di'skalaw  sti'sM,  "'one  who  keeps 
fire  under  the  beans."  Its  larva  is  the  grubworm  which  presided 
at  the  meeting  held  by  the  insects  to  compass  the  destruction  of  the 
human  race  (see  the  story,  "Origin  of  Disease  and  Medicine").  The 
large  horned  beetle  (Dynaste*  tityux'.)  is  called  fxixtu'na,  ••crawfish,"' 
a  wi',  "deer,"  or  gdldg/.'na,  "  buck,"  on  account  of  its  branching  horns. 
The  snapping  beetle  (A?  at  in  ni-nliitiiNi)  is  called  tfilsku'wa,  '"one  that 
snaps  with  his  head." 

When  the  Idlu  or  jar-fly  {Cicada  avletes)  begins  to  sing  in  midsum, 


KOONEY]  INSECTS  309 

mer  they  say:  "The  jar-fly  has  brought  the  beans,"  his  song  being 
taken  as  tin-  signal  that  beans  are  ripe  and  that  green  corn  is  not  far 
behind.  When  the  katydid  (fslMW)  is  heard  a  little  later  thej  say, 
"Katydid  bas  brought  the  roasting-ear  bread."  The  cricket  (tdla'tH') 
is  often  called  "the  barber"  (nMtasta/yelsM),  on  account  of  its  habit  of 
gnawing  hair  from  furs,  and  when  the  Cherokee  meet  a  man  with  his 
hair  (dipped  unevenly  they  sometimes  ask  playfully,  "Did  the  cricket 
cut  your  hair?"  (see  story,  "Why  the  Possum's  Tail  is  Bare").  Cer- 
tain persons  are  said  to  drink  tea  made  of  crickets  in  order  to  become 
good  singers. 

The  mole  cricket  i  Crri/llotalpa),  so  called  because  it  tunnels  in  the  earth 
and  has  hand-like  (daws  fitted  for  digging,  is  known  to  the  Cherokee 
a-  gtiThw&gi,  a  word  which  literally  means  ••seven."  hut  is  probably 
an  onomatope.  It  is  reputed  among  them  to  he  alert,  hard  to  catch, 
and   an   excellent   singer,   who   "never  makes  mistakes."     Like   the 

crawfish  and  the  cricket,  it  plays  an  important  part  in  preparing  ) pie 

for  the  duties  of  life.  Infants  slow  in  learning  to  speak  have  their 
tongues  scratched  with  the  (daw  of  a  guTkw&gi,  the  living  insect  being 
held  in  the  hand  during  the  operation,  in  order  that  they  may  soon 
learn  to  speak  distinctly  and  he  eloquent,  wise,  and  shrewd  of  speech 
as  they  grow-  older,  and  of  such  quick  intelligence  as  to  remember 
without  effort  anything  once  heard.  The  same  desirable  result  may 
he  accomplished  with  a  grown  person,  hut  with  much  more  difficulty, 
as  in  that  ease  it  is  necessary  to  scratch  the  inside  of  the  throat  for 
four  successive  mornings,  the  insect  being  pushed  down  with  the  fin- 
gers and  again  withdrawn,  while  the  regular  tabus  must  he  strictly 
observed  for  the  same  period,  or  the  operation  will  he  without  effect. 
In  some  eases  the  insect  is  put  into  a  small  bowd  of  water  overnight, 
and  if  —t: ill  alive  in  the  morning  it  is  taken  out  and  the  water  given  to 
the  patient  to  drink,  after  which  the  gul  kwagi  is  set  at  liberty. 

Bees  are  kept  by  many  of  the  Cherokee,  in  addition  to  the  wild  bees 
which  are  hunted  in  the  woods.  Although  they  are  said  to  have 
come  originally  from  the  whites,  the  Cherokee  have  no  tradition  id'  a 
time  when  they  did  not  know  them;  there  seems,  however,  to  he  no 
folklore  connected  with  them.  The  cow-ant  (MyrmicaV),  a  large,  red. 
stinging  ant.  is  called  properly  dastin't&U  atatsHn'sM,  "  stinging  ant," 
hut.  on  account  of  its  hard  body-case,  is  frequently  called  iv&n'yunu'wl, 
•■stone-dress."  after  a  celebrated  mythic  monster.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  there  appears  to  he  no  folklore  connected  with  either  the  firefly 
or  the  glowworm,  while  the  spider,  so  prominent  in  other  tribal 
mythologies,  appears  in  hut  a  single  Cherokee  myth,  where  it  brings 
hack  the  tire  from  across  the  water.  In  the  formulas  it  is  frequently 
invoked  to  entangle  in  its  threads  the  soul  of  a  victim  whom  the  con- 
jurer desires  to  bring  under  his  evil  spells.  From  a  fancied  resem- 
blance in  appearance  the  name  for  spider,  led' nd net 'sh  > .  is  applied  also 


310  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

to  ;i  watch  or  clock.  A  small  yellowish  moth  which  flies  about  the 
fire  at  night  is  called  b&n'tdwQ,,  a  name  implying  that  it  goes  into  and 
out  of  the  tire,  and  when  at  last  it  flits  too  near  and  falls  into  the  blaze 
the  Cherokee  say,  "Tufi'tawu  is  going  to  bed."  On  account  of  its 
affinity  for  the  fire  it  is  invoked  by  the  doctor  in  all  "fire  diseases," 
including  sore  eyes  and  frostbite. 

60.   WHY  THE   BULLFROGS   HEAD   IS   STRIPED 

According  to  one  version  the  Bullfrog  was  always  ridiculing  the 
great  gambler  Untsai'yi,  "Brass,"  (see  the  story)  until  the  latter  at  last 
got  angry  and  dared  the  Bullfrog  to  play  the  gatayWsti  (wheel-and- 
stick)  game  with  him.  whichever  lost  to  be  scratched  on  his  forehead. 
Brass  won,  as  he  always  did,  and  the  yellow  stripes  on  the  Bullfrog's 
head  show  where  the  gambler's  fingers  scratched  him. 

Another  story  is  that  the  Bullfrog  had  a  conjurer  to  paint  his  head 
with  yellow  stripes  (brass)  to  make  him  appear  more  handsome  to  a 
pretty  woman  he  was  courting. 

61.   THE   BULLFROG   LOVER 

A  young  man  courted  a  girl,  who  liked  him  well  enough,  but  her 
mother  was  so  much  opposed  to  him  that  she  would  not  let  him  come 
near  the  house.  At  last  he  made  a  trumpet  from  the  handle  of  a 
gourd  and  hid  himself  after  night  near  the  spring  until  the  old  woman 
came  down  for  water.  While  she  was  dipping  up  the  water  he 
put  the  trumpet  to  his  lips  and  grumbled  out  in  a  deep  voice  like  a 
bullfrog's: 

Yafldaska'gS  hd.flyahu/8k&, 

)'(in<I(iska/!/<1  liihlii<i!iii'sl:a. 
The  faultfinder  will  die, 
The  faultfinder  will  die. 

The  woman  thought  it  a  witch  bullfrog,  and  was  so  frightened  that 
she  dropped  her  dipper  and  ran  back  to  the  house  to  tell  the  people 
They  all  agreed  that  it  was  a  warning  to  her  to  stop  interfering  with 
her  daughter's  aflairs,  so  she  gave  her  consent,  and  thus  the  young 
man  won  his  wife. 

There  is  another  story  of  a  girl  who,  every  day  when  she  went  down 
to  the  spring  for  water,  heard  a  voice  singing,  Knuu'in'i  tti'tsahyesi', 
Kilim' m'l  tti'tsahyesi' ,  "A  bullfrog  will  marry  you,  A  bullfrog  will 
marry  you."  She  wondered  much  until  one  day  when  she  came  down 
she  saw  sitting  on  a  stone  by  the  spring  a  bullfrog,  which  suddenly 
took  the  form  of  a  young  man  and  asked  her  to  marry  him.  She 
consented  and  took  him  back  with  her  to  the  house.  But  although  he 
had  the  shape  of  a  man  there  was  a  queer  bullfrog  look  about  his  face, 
so  that  the  girl's  family  hated  him  and  at  last  persuaded  her  to  send 
him  awav.     She  told  him  and  he  went  away,  but  when  they  next  wTent 


m.h.nky]  tiSTSAIYf,  THE   GAMBLER  31] 

down  to  the  spring  they  heard  a  voice:  Stdtsl  tHya'kusi,  Stdt&l  tH'ya- 
husi',  '-Your  daughter  will  die,  Your  daughter  will  die,"  and  so  it 
happened  spon  after. 

A.s  some  tell  it.  the  lover  was  a  tadpole,  who  took  on  human  shape, 
retaining  only  his  tadpole  mouth.  Toconceal  it  he  constantly  refused 
to  eat  with  the  family,  but  stood  with  his  back  to  the  tire  and  his  lace 
screwed  up,  pretending  that  he  had  a  toothache.  At  last  his  wife  grew 
suspicious  and  turning  him  suddenly  around  to  the  firelight,  exposed 
the  tadpole  mouth,  at  which  they  all  ridiculed  him  so  much  that  he 
left  the  house  forever. 

62.  THE   KATYDID'S  WARNING 

Two  hunters  camping  in  the  woods  were  preparing  supper  one  night 
when  a  Katydid  began  singing  near  them.  One  of  them  said  sneer 
ingly,  " Ku!  It  sines  and  don't  know  that  it  will  die  before  the  season 
end.-."  The  Katydid  answered:  "  h'1'1 .'  nvwi  (onomatope);  O,  so  you 
say:  but  you  need  not  boast.  You  will  die  before  to-morrow  night." 
The  next  day  they  were  surprised  by  the  enemy  and  the  hunter  who 
had  sneered  at  the  Katydid  was  killed. 

Wonder  Stories 

63.  UNTSAIYl',  THE  GAMBLER 

Thunder  lives  in  the  west,  or  a  little  to  the  south  of  west,  near  the 
place  where  the  sun  goes  down  behind  the  water,  in  the  old  times  he 
sometimes  made  a  journey  to  the  east,  and  once  after  he  had  come  hack 
'from  one  of  these  journeys  a  child  was  horn  in  the  east  who.  the  people 
-aid.  was  his  son.  As  the  hoy  grew  up  it  was  found  that  he  had  scrofula 
-ores  all  over  his  body. -0  one  day  his  mother  said  to  him.  "Your  father, 
Thunder,  is  a  great  doctor.  He  lives  far  in  the  west,  hut  if  you  can 
find  him  he  can  cure  you.*'' 

So  the  boy  set  out  to  find  his  father  and  lie  cured.  He  traveled  long 
toward  the  west,  asking  of  every  one  he  met  where  Thunder  lived,  until 
at  last  they  began  to  tell  him  that  it  was  only  a  little  way  ahead.  He 
went  on  and  came  to  Untiguhl',  on  Tennessee,  where  lived  Untsaiyi' 
■'  Brass."  Now  UStsaij  ['was a  great  gambler,  and  made  his  living  that 
way.  It  was  he  who  invented  the  gatayHsti  game  that  we  play  with  a 
stone  wheel  and  a  stick.  He  lived  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and 
everybody  who  came  that  way  he  challenged  to  play  against  him.  The 
large  Hat  rock,  with  the  line-  and  grooves  where  they  used  to  roll  the 
wheel,  is  still  there,  with  the  wheels  themselves  and  the  stick  turned 
to  stone.  He  won  almost  every  time,  because  he  was  SO  tricky,  so  thai 
he  had  his  house  filled  with  all  kinds  of  tine  things.  Sometimes  he 
would  lose,  and  then  he  would  bet  all  that  he  had,  even  to  hi-  own 
life,  hut  the  winner  got  nothing  for  his  trouble,  for  Untsaiyi'  knew 
how  to  take  on  different  shapes,  so  that  he  always  got  away. 


312  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


As  soon  as  Untsaiyi'  saw  him  he  asked  him  to  stop  and  play  a  while, 
but  the  boy  said  he  was  looking  for  his  father.  Thunder,  and  had  no 
time  to  wait.  ""Well.*'  said  Untsaiyi',  "he  lives  in  the  next  house; 
you  can  hear  him  grumbling  over  there  all  the  time"— he  meant  the 
Thunder  -"so  we  may  as  well  have  a  game  or  two  before  you  go  on." 
Tlir  boy  said  he  had  nothing  to  bet.  "That's  all  right."  said  the 
gambler,  "we'll  play  for  your  pretty  spots."  He  said  this  to  make 
the  boy  angry  so  that  he  would  play,  but  still  the  boy  said  he  must  go 
first  and  find  his  father,  and  would  come  back  afterwards. 

He  went  on,  and  soon  the  news  came  to  Thunder  that  a  boy  was 
looking  for  him  who  claimed  to  be  his  son.  Said  Thunder,  ''I  have 
traveled  in  many  lands  and  have  many  children.  Bring  him  here  and 
we  shall  soon  know."  So  they  brought  in  the  boy,  and  Thunder  showed 
him  a  seat  and  told  him  to  sit  down.  Under  the  blanket  on  the  seat 
were  long,  sharp  thorns  of  the  honey  locust,  with  the  points  all  stick- 
ing up.  but  when  the  boy  sat  down  they  did  not  hurt  him.  and  then 
Thunder  knew  that  it  was  his  son.  He  asked  the  boy  why  he  had  come. 
"1  have  sores  all  over  my  body,  and  my  mother  told  me  you  were  my 
father  and  a  great  doctor,  and  if  I  came  here  you  would  cure  me." 
"Yes,"  said  his  father.  "I  am  a  great  doctor,  and  I'll  soon  fix  you." 

There  was  a  large  pot  in  the  corner  and  he  told  his  wife  to  fill  it 
with  water  and  put  it  over  the  fire.  When  it  was  boiling,  he  put  in  some 
roots,  then  took  the  boy  and  put  him  in  with  them.  He  let  it  boil  a 
long  time  until  one  would  have  thought  that  the  flesh  was  boiled  from 
the  poor  boy's  bones,  and  then  told  his  wife  to  take  the  pot  and  throw 
it  into  the  river,  boy  and  all.  She  did  as  she  was  told,  and  threw  it  into 
the .water,  and  ever  since  there  is  an  eddy  there  that  we  call  Un'tiguhl', 
"Pot-in-the-water."  A  service  tree  and  a  calico  bush  grew  on  the 
bank  above.  A  great  cloud  of  steam  came  up  and  made  streaks  and 
blotches  on  their  bark,  and  it  has  been  so  to  this  day.  When  the 
steam  cleared  away  she  looked  over  and  saw  the  boy  clinging  to  the 
roots  of  the  service  tree  where  they  hung  down  into  the  water,  but 
now  his  skin  was  all  clean.  She  helped  him  up  the  bank,  and  they 
went  back  to  the  house.  On  the  way  she  told  him.  "When  we  go  in, 
your  father  will  put  a  new  dress  on  you.  but  when  he  opens  his  box 
and  tells  you  to  pick  out  your  ornaments  be  sure  to  take  them  from 
the  bottom.  Then  he  will  send  for  his  other  sons  to  play  ball  against 
you.  There  is  a  honey-locust  tree  in  front  of  the  house,  and  as  soon 
as  you  begin  to  get  tired  strike  at  that  and  your  father  will  stop  the 
play,  because  he  does  not  want  to  lose  the  tree." 

When  they  went  into  the  house,  the  old  man  was  pleased  to  see  the 
boy  looking  so  clean,  and  said.  "I  knew  I  could  soon  cure  those  spots. 
Now  we  must  dress  you."  He  brought  out  a  tine  suit  of  buckskin. 
with  belt  and  headdress,  and  had  the  boy  put  them  on.  Then  he 
opened  a  box  and  said.  "Now  pick  out  your  necklace  and  bracelets." 


koonei  rvrs.viYi'.   THE    GAMBLER  313 

The  hoy  looked,  and  the  box  was  full  of  all  kinds  of  snakes  gliding 
over  each  other  with  their  heads  up.  He  was  nut  afraid,  but  remem- 
bered what  tin'  woman  had  told  him,  and  plunged  his  hand  to  the  bot- 
tom and  drew  out  a  greal  rattlesnake  and  put  it  around  his  neck  for  a 
necklace.  He  put  down  his  hand  again  four  times  and  drew  up  four 
copperhead-  and  twisted  them  around  his  wrists  and  ankles.  Then 
his  father  gave  him  a  war  club  and  said.  "Now  you  must  play  a  ball 
game  with  your  two  elder  brothers.  They  live  beyond  here  in  the 
Darkening  land,  and  [have  sent  for  them."  He  said  a  ball  game,  but  he 
meant  that  the  hoy  must  fight  for  Ins  life.  The  young  men  came,  and 
the\  were  both  older  and  stronger  than  the  hoy.  but  he  was  not  afraid 
and  fought  against  them.  The  thunder  rolled  and  the  lightning  flashed 
at  everj  stroke,  for  they  were  the  young  Thunders,  and  the  hoy  him- 
self was  Lightning.  At  last  he  was  tired  from  defending  himself 
alone  against  two.  and  pretended  to  aim  a  blow  at  the  honey-locust 
tree.  Then  his  father  stopped  the  tight,  because  he  was  afraid  the 
lightning  would  split  the  tree,  and  he  saw  that  the  hoy  was  brave  and 
strong. 

The  hoy  told  his  father  how  Untsaiyi'  had  dared  him  to  play,  and 
had  even  ottered  to  play  for  the  spots  on  his  skin.  "  Yes."  said  Thun- 
der, "he  is  a  great  gambler  and  makes  his  living  that  way.  hut  T  will 
see  that  you  win.**  He  brought  a  small  cymling  gourd  with  a  hole 
bored  through  the  neck,  and  tied  it  on  the  boy's  wrist.  Inside  the  gourd 
there  was  a  string  of  heads,  and  one  end  hung  out  from  a  hole  in  the 
top,  hut  there  was  no  end  to  the  string  inside.  "  Now,'"  said  his  father, 
"go  back  the  way  you  came,  and  as  soon  as  he  sees  you  lie  will  want 
to  play  for  the  heads.  He  is  very  hard  to  beat,  but  this  time  he  will 
lose  every  game.  When  he  eric-  out  for  a  drink,  you  will  know  he  is 
getting  discouraged,  and  then  strike  the  rock  with  your  war  club  and 
water  will  come,  so  that  you  can  play  on  without  stopping.  At  last 
he  will  bet  his  life,  and  lose.  Then  send  at  once  for  your  brothers  to 
kill  him,  or  he  will  get  away,  he  is  so  tricky." 

The  hoy  took  the  gourd  and  his  war  (dub  and  started  east  along  the 
road  by  which  he  had  come.  As  soon  as  Untsaiyi'  saw  him  he  called 
to  him.  and  when  he  saw  the  gourd  with  the  head  string  hanging  out 
he  wanted  to  play  for  it.  The  boy  drew  out  the  string,  but  there 
seemed  to  be  no  end  to  it.  and  he  kept  o.n  pulling  until  enough  had  come 
out  to  make  a  circle  all  around  the  playground.  "I  will  play  one 
game  for  this  much  against  your  stake.""  said  the  boy,  ■'and  when  that 
i-  over  we  can  have  another  game." 

They  began  the  game  with  the  wheel  and  stick  and  tile  hoy  won. 
I  Btsaiyi'  did  not  know  what  to  think  of  it.  but  he  put  up  another 
-take  and  called  for  a  second  game.  The  hoy  won  again,  and  so  they 
played  on  until  noon,  when  Untsaiyi'  bad  lost  nearly  everything  he 
had  and  was  about  discouraged.      It  was  very  hot.  ami  he  said,  "  I  am 


314  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  Letii.  ann.  l'j 

thirsty,"  and  wanted  to  stop  long  enough  to  get  a  drink.  "No."  said 
the  boy.  and  struck  the  rock  with  his  club  so  that  water  came  out.  and 
they  had  a  drink.  They  played  on  until  Untsaiyi'  had  lost  all  his  buck- 
skins and  beaded  work,  his  eagle  feathers  and  ornaments,  and  at  last 
offered  to  bet  his  wife.  They  played  and  the  boy  won  her.  Then 
Untsaiyi'  was  desperate  and  offered  to  stake  his  life.  "If  I  win  I  kill 
you,  but  if  you  win  you  may  kill  me."     They  played  and  the  boy  won. 

"Let  me  go  and  tell  my  wife,"  said  Untsaiyi',  "so  that  she  will 
receive  her  new  husband,  and  then  you  may  kill  me."  He  went  into 
the  house,  hut  it  had  two  doors,  and  although  the  boy  waited  long 
Untsaiyi'  did  not  come  back.  When  at  last  he  went  to  look  for  him 
he  found  that  the  gambler  had  gone  out  the  back  way  and  was  nearly 
out  of  sight  going  east. 

The  boy  ran  to  his  father's  house  and  got  his  brothers  to  help  him. 
They  brought  their  dog — the  Horned  Green  Beetle — and  hurried  after 
the  gambler.  He  ran  fast  and  was  soon  out  of  sight,  and  they  fol- 
lowed as  fast  as  they  could.  After  a  while  they  met  an  old  woman 
making  pottery  and  asked  her  if  she  had  seen  Untsaiyi'  and  she  said 
she  had  not.  "He  came  this  way."  said  the  brothers.  "Then  he 
must  have  passed  in  the  night,"  said  the  old  woman,  "for  I  have  been 
here  all  day."  They  were  about  to  take  another  road  when  the  Beetle, 
which  had  been  circling  about  in  the  air  above  the  old  woman,  made 
a  dart  at  her  and  struck  her  on  the  forehead,  and  it  rang  like  brass — 
untsaiyi' !  Then  they  knew  it  was  Brass  and  sprang  at  him,  but  he 
jumped  up  in  his  right  shape  and  was  off,  running  so  fast  that  he  was 
soon  out  of  sight  again.  The  Beetle  had  struck  so  hard  that  some  of 
the  brass  rubbed  off,  and  we  can  see  it  on  the  beetle's  forehead  yet. 

They  followed  and  came  to  an  old  man  sitting  by  the  trail,  carving 
a  stone  pipe.  They  asked  him  if  he  had  seen  Brass  pass  that  way  and 
he  said  no,  but  again  the  Beetle — which  could  know  Brass  under  any 
shape — struck  him  on  the  forehead  so  that  it  rang  like  metal,  and  the 
gambler  jumped  up  in  hi.s  right  form  and  was  off  again  before  they 
could  hold  him.  He  ran  east  until  he  came  to  the  great  water;  then 
he  ran  north  until  he  came  to  the  edge  of  the  world,  and  had  to  turn 
again  to  the  west.  He  took  every  shape  to  throw  them  off  the  track, 
but  the  Green  Beetle  always  knew  him,  and  the  brothers  pressed  him 
so  hard  that  at  last  he  could  go  no  more  and  they  caught  him  just  as 
he  reached  the  edge  of 'the  great  water  where  the  sun  goes  down. 

They  tied  his  hands  and  feet  with  a  grapevine  and  drove  a  long 
stake  through  his  breast,  and  planted  it  far  out  in  the  deep  water. 
They  set  two  crows  on  the  end  of  the  pole  to  guard  it  and  called 
the  place  K&giln'yi,  "Crow  place."  But  Brass  never  died,  and  can  not 
die  until  the  end  of  the  world,  but  lies  there  always  with  his  face  up. 
Sometimes  lie  struggles  under  the  water  to  get  free,  and  sometimes 
the  beavers,  who  are  his  friends,  come  and  gnaw  at  the  grapevine  to 


■oonei  THE    TLA'Nl'WA  315 

release  him.     Then  the  pole  shakes  and  the  crows  at  the  top  cry  /f<>.' 
Ka!  Ka!  and  scare  the  beavers  away. 

64.   THE   NEST  OK  THE   TLA'NUWA 

On  the  north  bank  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  in  a  bend  Inlim  the 
mouth  of  ( litico  creek,  in  Blount  county,  Tennessee,  is  a  high  cliff  hang- 
ing over  the  water,  and  about  halfway  up  the  lace  of  the  rock  is  a  cave 
with  two  openings.  The  rock  projects  outward  above  the  cave,  so  that 
the  mouth  can  not  lie  seen  from  above,  and  it  seems  impossible  to 
reach  the  cave  either  from  above  or  below.  There  are  white  streaks 
in  the  rock  from  the  cave  down  to  the  water.  The  Cherokee  call  it 
Tla  nuwa'i.  "the  place  of  the  Tla'nuwa,"  or  great  mythic  hawk. 

In  the  old  time,  away  hack  soon  after  the  creation,  a  pair  of  Tla'nuwas 
had  their  nest  in  this  cave.  The  streaks  in  the  rock  were  made  by  the 
droppings  from  the  nest.  They  were  immense  birds,  larger  than  any 
that  live  now.  and  very  strong  and  savage.  They  were  forever  flying 
up  and  .low  11  the  river,  and  used  to  come  into  the  settlements  and  carry 
off  dogs  and  even  young  children  playing  near  the  houses.  No  one 
could  reach  the  nest  to  kill  them,  and  when  the  people  tried  to  shoot 
them  the  arrows  only  glanced  off  and  were  seized  and  carried  away  in 
the  talons  of  the  Tla'nuwas. 

At  last  the  people  went  to  a  great  medicine  man.  who  promised  to 
help  them.  Some  were  afraid  that  if  he  failed  to  kill  the  Tla'nuwas 
they  would  take  revenge  on  the  people,  but  the  medicine  man  said  he 
could  tix  that.  He  made  a  long  rope  of  linn  bark,  just  as  the  ( Iherokee 
still  do.  with  loops  in  it  for  his  feet,  and  had  the  people  let  him  down 
from  the  top  of  the  cliff  at  a  time  when  he  knew  that  the  old  birds  were 
away.  When  he  came  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  cave  he  still  could 
not  reach  it.  because  the  rock  above  hung  over,  so  he  swung  himself 
backward  and  forward  several  times  until  the  rope  swung  near  enough 
for  him  to  pull  himself  into  the  cave  with  a  hooked  stick  that  he  car- 
ried, which  he  managed  to  fasten  in  some  bushes  growing  at  the 
entrance.  In  the  nest  lie  found  four  young  ones,  and  on  the  floor  of 
the  cave  were  the  hones  of  all  sorts  of  animals  that  had  been  carried 
there  by  the  hawks.  He  pulled  the  young  ones  out  of  the  nest  and 
threw  them  over  the  cliff  into  tin'  deep  water  below,  where  a  greal 
I'ktena  serpent  that  lived  there  finished  them.  Just  then  he  saw  the 
two  old  ones  coining,  and  had  hardly  time  to  climb  up  again  to  the  top 
of  the  rock  before  they  reached  the  uest. 

When  they  found  the  nest  empty  they  were  furious,  ami  circled 
round  and  round  in  the  air  until  they  saw  the  snake  put  up  its  head 
from  the  water.  Then  thej  darted  straight  downward,  and  while  one 
seized  the  snake  in  his  talon-  and  Hew  far  up  in  the  sky  with  it.  In- 
mate struck  at  it  and  bit  off  piece  after  piece  until  nothing  was  left. 
They  were  -o  high  up  that  when  the  pieces  tell  they  made  hole-  in  the 


316  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  Leth.ann.19 

rock,  which  are  still  to  he  seen  there,  at  the  place  which  we  call  "  Where 
the  Tla'nuwa  cut  it  up,"  opposite  the  mouth  of  Citico.  Then  the  two 
Tla'nuwas  circled  up  and  up  until  they  went  out  of  sight,  and  they  have 
never  been  seen  since. 

65.  THE    HUNTER    AND   THE   TLA'NUWA 

A  hunter  out  in  the  woods  one  day  saw  a  Tla'nuwa  overhead  and 
tried  to  hide  from  it,  but  the  great  bird  had  already  seen  him,  and  sweep- 
ing down  struck  its  claws  into  his  hunting  pack  and  carried  him  far  up 
into  the  air.  As  it  flew,  the  Tla'nuwa,  which  was  a  mother  bird,  spoke 
and  told  the  hunter  that  he  need  not  be  afraid,  as  she  would  not  hurt 
him.  but  only  wanted  him  to  stay  for  a  while  with  her  3roung  ones  to 
guard  them  until  they  were  old  enough  to  leave  the  nest.  At  last 
they  alighted  at  the  mouth  of  a  cave  in  the  face  of  a  steep  cliff.  Inside 
the  water  was  dripping  from,  the  roof,  and  at  the  farther  end  was  a 
nest  of  sticks  in  which  were  two  young  birds.  The  old  Tla'nuwa  set 
the  hunter  down  and  then  flew  away,  returning  soon  with  a  fresh- 
killed  deer,  which  it  tore  in  pieces,  giving  the  first  piece  to  the  hunter 
and  then  feeding  the  two  young  hawks. 

The  hunter  stayed  in  the  cave  many  days  until  the  young  birds  were 
nearly  grown,  and  every  day  the  old  mother  hawk  would  fly  away  from 
the  nest  and  return  in  the  evening  with  a  deer  or  a  bear,  of  which  she 
always  gave  the  first  piece  to  the  hunter.  He  grew  very  anxious  to 
see  his  home  again,  but  the  Tla'nuwa  kept  telling  him  not  to  be  uneasy, 
but  to  wait  a  little  while  longer.  At  last  he  made  up  his  mind  to 
escape  from  the  cave  and  finally  studied  out  a  plan.  The  next  morn- 
ing, after  the  old  bird  had  gone,  he  dragged  one  of  the  young  birds  to 
the  mouth  of  the  cave  and  tied  himself  to  one  of  its  legs  with  a  strap 
from  his  hunting  pack.  Then  with  the  fiat  side  of  his  tomahawk  he 
struck  it  several  times  in  the  head  until  it  was  dazed  and  helpless,  and 
pushed  the  bird  and  himself  together  off  the  shelf  of  rock  into  the  air. 

They  fell  far,  far  down  toward  the  earth,  but  the  air  from  below 
held  up  the  bird's  wings,  so  that  it  was  almost  as  if  they  were  flying. 
As  the  Tla'nuwa  revived  it  tried  to  fly  upward  toward  the  nest,  but  the 
hunter  struck  it  again  with  his  hatchet  until  it  was  dazed  and  dropped 
again.  At  last  they  came  down  in  the  top  of  a  poplar  tree,  when  the 
hunter  untied  the  strap  from  the  leg  of  the  young  bird  and  let  it  fly- 
away, first  pulling  out  a  feather  from  its  wing.  He  climbed  down 
from  the  tree  and  went  to  his  home  in  the  settlement,  but  when  he 
looked  in  his  pack  for  the  feather  he  found  a  stone  instead. 

66.   U'TLUN'TA,  THE   SPEAR-FINGER 

Long,  long  ago — httahi'yu — there  dwelt  in  the  mountains  a  terrible 
ogress,  a  woman  monster,  whose  food  was  human  livers.  She  could 
take  on  any  shape  or  appearance  to  suit  her  purpose,  but  in  her  right 


"1 


i'tUN'TA,    THE    Sl'KAK-FlNCKU  .'U  7 


form  she  looked  very  much  like  an  * > I « 1  woman,  excepting  that  her 
whole  body  was  covered  with  a  skin  as  hard  as  a  rock  that  qo  weapon 
could  wound  or  penetrate,  and  thai  on  her  right  hand  she  had  a  long, 
stony  forefinger  of  bone,  like  an  awl  or  spearhead,  with  which  she 
stabbed  everyone  to  whom  she  could  gel  Dear  enough.  On  account  of 
this  fact  she  was  called  U'tlUfl'td,  " Spear-finger,"  and  on  account  of 
her  stony  >kin  she  was  sometimes  called  Nufl'yunu'wi,  "Stone  dress." 
There  was  another  stone-clothed  monster  that  killed  people,  but  that  is 
a  different  story. 

Spear-finger  had  such  powers  over  stone  that  she  could  easily  lift 
and  carry  immense  rocks,  ami  could  cement  them  toe-ether  by  merely 
striking  one  against  another.  To  get  over  the  rough  country  more 
easily  she  undertook  to  build  a  great  rock  bridge  through  the  air  from 
Nunyu'-tlu'gun'yi,  the  ••Tree  rock,"  on  Hiwassee,  over  to  Sanigil&'gi 
(Whiteside  mountain),  on  the  Blue  ridga,  and  had  it  well  started  from 
the  top  of  the  ••Tree  rock"  when  the  lightning  struck  it  and  scattered 
the  fragments  alone-  the  whole  ridge,  where  the  pieces  can  still  he  -ecu 
by  those  who  go  there.  She  used  to  range  all  over  the  mountains 
about  the  heads  of  the  streams  and  in  the  dark  passes  of  Nantahala, 
always  hungry  and  looking  for  victims.  Her  favorite  haunt  on  the 
Tennessee  side  was  about  the  gap  on  the  trail  where  Chilhowee  moun- 
tain comes  down  to  the  river. 

Sometimes  an  old  woman  would  approach  along-  the  trail  where  the 
children  were  picking-  strawberries  or  playing  near  the  village,  and 
would  say  to  them  coaxingly.  ••Come,  my  grandchildren,  come  to  your 
granny  and  let  granny  dress  your  hair."  When  some  little  girl  ran 
up  and  laid  her  head  in  the  old  woman's  lap  to  he  petted  and  combed 
the  old  witch  would  gently  run  her  fingers  through  the  child's  hair 
until  it  went  to  sleep,  when  she  would  stab  the  little  one  through  the 
heart  or  hack  of  the  neck  with  the  long  awl  finger,  which  she  had  kept 
hidden  under  her  robe.     Then  she  would  take  out  the  liver  ami  eat  it. 

She  would  enter  a  house  by  taking  the  appearance  of  one  of  the 
family  who  happened  to  have  gone  out  for  a  short  time,  and  would 
watch  her  chance  to  stab  some  one  with  her  long  finger  and  take 
out  his  liver.  She  could  stab  him  without  being  noticed. and  often  the 
victim  did  not  even  know  it  himself  at  the  time  — for  it  left  no  wound 
and  caused  no  pain — hut  went  on  about  his  own  affairs,  until  all  at 
once  he  felt  weak  and  began  gradually  to  pine  away,  and  was  always 
sure  to  die.  because  Spear-finger  had  taken  his  liver. 

When  the  Cherokee  went  out  in  the  fall,  according  to  their  custom, 
to  hum  tin'  leaves  off  from  the  mountains  in  order  to  get  the  chestnuts 
on  the  ground,  they  were  never  safe,  for  the  old  witch  was  always  on 
the  lookout,  and  as  soon  as  she  saw  the  smoke  rise  she  knew  there 
were  Indians  there  and  sneaked  up  to  try  to  surprise  one  alone.  So 
as  well   a-  they   could   they   tried   to    keep   together,   and    were  very 


318  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


cautious  of  allowing  any  stranger  to  approach  the  camp.  But  if  one 
went  down  to  the  spring  for  a  drink  they  never  knew  but  it  might  be 
the  liver  eater  that  came  back  and  sat  with  them. 

Sometimes  she  took  her  proper  form,  and  once  or  twice,  when  far 
out  from  the  settlements,  a  solitary  hunter  had  seen  an  old  woman,  with 
a  queer-looking  hand,  going  through  the  woods  singing  low  to  herself: 

I'ii, 'hi  im'ts'iki'l' .       Su'  si'l'  sili' . 

Liver,  I  eat  it.     Su'  sa'  sai'. 

It  was  rather  a  pretty  song,  but  it  chilled  his  blood,  for  he  knew  it 
was  the  liver  eater,  and  he  hurried  away,  silently,  before  she  might  see 
him. 

At  last  a  great  council  was  held  to  devise  some  means  to  get  rid  of 
U'tlun'ta  before  she  should  destroy  everybody.  The  people  came  from 
all  around,  and  after  much  talk  it  was  decided  that  the  best  way  would 
be  to  trap  her  in  a  pitfall  where  all  the  warriors  could  attack  her  at 
once.  So  they  dug  a  deep  pitfall  across  the  trail  and  covered  it  over 
with  earth  and  grass  as  if  the  ground  had  never  been  disturbed.  Then 
they  kindled  a  large  tire  of  brush  near  the  trail  and  hid  themselves  in 
the  laurels,  because  they  knew  she  would  come  as  soon  as  she  saw  the 
smoke. 

Sure  enough  they  soon  saw  an  old  woman  coming  along  the  trail. 
She  looked  like  an  old  woman  whom  they  knew  well  in  the  village,  and 
although  several  of  the  wiser  men  wanted  to  shoot  at  her,  the  others 
interfered,  because  they  did  not  want  to  hurt  one  of  their  own  people. 
The  old  woman  came  slowly  along  the  trail,  with  one  hand  under  her 
blanket,  until  she  stepped  upon  the  pitfall  and  tumbled  through  the 
brush  to])  into  the  deep  hole  below.  Then,  at  once,  she  showed  her 
true  nature,  and  instead  of  the  feeble  old  woman  there  was  the  terrible 
U'tlun'ta  with  her  stony  skin,  and  her  sharp  awl  linger  reaching  out  in 
every  direction  for  some  one  to  stab. 

The  hunters  rushed  out  from  the  thicket  and  surrounded  the  pit,  but 
shoot  as  true  and  as  often  as  they  could,  their  arrows  struck  the  stony 
mail  of  the  witch  only  to  be  broken  and  fall  useless  at  her  feet,  while 
she  taunted  them  and  tried  to  climb  out  of  the  pit  to  get  at  them.  They 
kept  out  of  her  way,  but  were  only  wasting  their  arrows  when  a  small 
bird,  Utsu'gi,  the  titmouse,  perched  on  a  tree  overhead  and  began  to 
sing  "  nil,  mi,  mi."  They  thought  it  was  saying  u'nultu',  heart,  mean- 
ing that  they  should  aim  at  the  heart  of  the  stone  witch.  They  directed 
their  arrows  where  the  heart  should  be,  but  the  arrows  only  glanced 
off  with  the  Hint  heads  broken. 

Then  they  caught  the  Utsu'gi  and  cut  off  its  tongue,  so  that  ever  since 
its  tongue  is  short  and  everybody  knows  it  is  a  liar.  When  the  hunters 
let  it  go  it  flew  straight  up  into  the  sky  until  it  was  out  of  sight  and 
never  came  back  again.  The  titmouse  that  we  know  now  is  only  an 
image  of  the  other. 


m -ii  NTS'  stunu'w!  319 

They  kept  up  the  fight  without  result  until  another  bird,  little  Tsi'- 

kililf.  the  chickadee.  Hew  down  from  a  tree  and  alighted  upon  the 
witch's  right  hand.  Tin'  warriors  took  this  as  a  sign  thai  they  must 
aim  there,  and  they  were  right,  for  her  heart  was  on  the  inside  of  her 
hand,  which  she  kept  doubled  into  a  ti-t.  tlii-  same  awl  hand  with 
which  she  had  stabbed  so  many  people.  Now  she  was  frightened  in 
earnest,  and  began  to  rush  furiously  at  them  with  her  lone- awl  finger 
and  to  jump  about  in  the  pit  to  dodge  the  arrows,  until  at  last  a  lucky 
arrow  struck  just  where  the  awl  joined  her  wrist  and  she  fell  down 
dead. 

Ever  since  the  tsi'kilili'  is  known  as  a  truth  tidier,  and  when  a  man 
is  away  on  a  journey,  if  this  bird  comes  and  perches  near  the  house 
and  chirps  its  song,  his  friends  know  he  will  soon  he  safe  home. 

67.  NUN'YUNU'WI,  THE    STONE    MAN 

This  is  what  the  old  men  told  me  when  1  was  a  hoy. 

Once  when  all  the  people  of  the  settlement  were  out  in  the  moun- 
tains on  a  great  hunt  one  man  who  had  gone  on  ahead  climbed  to  the 
top  of  a  high  ridge  and  found  a  large  river  011  the  other  side.  While 
he  was  looking-  across  he  saw  an  old  man  walking-  about  on  the  oppo- 
site ridge,  with  a  cane  that  seemed  to  be  made  of  some  bright,  shining- 
rock.  The  hunter  watched  and  saw  that  every  little  while  the  old 
man  would  point  his  cane  in  a  certain  direction,  then  draw  it  back  and 
smell  the  end  of  it.  At  last  he  pointed  it  in  the  direction  of  the  hunt- 
ing camp  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain,  and  this  time  when  he 
drew  back  the  staff  he  sniffed  it  several  times  as  if  it  smelled  very  good, 
and  then  started  along  the  ridge  straight  for  the  camp.  He  moved 
very  slowly,  with  the  help  of  the  cane,  until  he  reached  the  end  of  the 
ridge,  when  he  threw  the  cane  out  into  the  air  and  it  became  a  bridge 
of  shining  rock  stretching  across  the  river.  After  he  had  crossed 
over  upon  the  bridge  it  became  a  cane  again,  and  the  old  man  picked 
it  up  and  started  over  the  mountain  toward  the  camp. 

The  hunter  was  frightened,  and  felt  sure  that  it  meant  mischief,  30 
he  hurried  on  down  the  mountain  and  took  the  shortest  trail  back  to  the 
camp  to  get  there  before  the  old  man.  When  he  got  there  and  told 
his  story  the  medicine-man  said  the  old  man  was  a  wicked  cannibal 
monster  called  Nun'yunu'wi,  ■■Dressed  in  Stone,"  who  lived  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  was  always  going  about  the  mountains  look- 
ing for  some  hunter  to  kill  and  eat.  It  was  very  hard  to  escape  from 
him.  because  his  stick  guided  him  like  a  dog.  and  it  was  nearly  as  hard 
to  kill  him,  because  his  whole  body  was  covered  with  a  skin  of  solid 
rock.  If  he  came  he  would  kill  and  eat  them  all,  and  there  was  only 
one  way  to  save  themselves.  He  could  not  bear  to  look  upon  a  men- 
strual woman,  and  if  they  could  find  seven  menstrual  women  to  stand 
in  the  path  as  he  came  along  the  sight  would  kill  him. 


320  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE  [eth.ann.19 

So  they  asked  among  all  the  women,  and  found  seven  who  were  sick 
in  that  way.  and  with  one  of  them  it  had  just  begun.  By  the  order  of 
the  medicine-man  they  stripped  themselves  and  stood  along  the  path 
where  the  old  man  would  come.  Soon  they  heard  Nuii'yunu'wi 
coming  through  the  woods,  feeling  his  way  with  his  stone  cane.  He 
came  along  the  trail  to  where  the  first  woman  was  standing,  and  as 
soon  as  he  saw  her  he  started  and  cried  out:  uYu!  my  grandchild; 
you  are  in  a  very  bad  state! "  He  hurried  past  her,  but  in  a  moment 
he  met  the  next  woman,  and  cried  out  again:  "TW  my  child;  you 
are  in  a  terrible  way,"  and  hurried  past  her,  but  now  he  was  vomiting 
blood.  He  hurried  on  and  met  the  third  and  the  fourth  and  the  fifth 
woman,  but  with  each  one  that  he  saw  his  step  grew  weaker  until 
when  he  came  to  the  last  one,  with  whom  the  sickness  had  just  begun, 
the  blood  poured  from  his  mouth  and  he  fell  down  on  the  trail. 

Then  the  medicine-man  drove  seven  sourwood  stakes  through  his 
body  and  pinned  him  to  the  ground,  and  when  night  came  they  piled 
great  logs  over  him  and  set  tire  to  them,  and  all  the  people  gathered 
around  to  see.  Nuii'yunu'wi  was  a  great  ada'wehi  and  knew  many 
secrets,  and  now  as  the  tire  came  close  to  him  he  began  to  talk,  and 
told  them  the  medicine  for  all  kinds  of  sickness.  At  midnight  he 
began  to  sing,  and  sang  the  hunting  songs  for  calling  up  the  bear  and 
the  deer  and  all  the  animals  of  the  woods  and  mountains.  As  the 
blaze  grew  hotter  his  voice  sank  low  and  lower,  until  at  last  when 
daylight  came,  the  logs  were  a  heap  of  white  ashes  and  the  voice 
was  still. 

Then  the  medicine-man  told  them  to  rake  off  the  ashes,  and  where 
the  body  had  lain  they  found  only  a  large  lump  of  red  wa'di  paint  and 
a  magic  u'lunsu'ti  stone.  He  kept  the  stone  for  himself,  and  calling 
the  people  around  him  he  painted  them,  on  face  and  breast,  with 
the  red  wa'di,  and  whatever  each  person  prayed  for  while  the  painting 
was  being  done — whether  for  hunting  success,  for  working  skill,  or 
for  a  long  life — that  gift  was  his. 

68.  THE  HUNTER  IN  THE  DAKWA' 

In  the  old  days  there  was  a  great  fish  called  the  Dakwa',  which 
lived  in  Tennessee  river  where  Toco  creek  comes  in  at  Dakwa'i,  the 
"Dakwa' place,"  above  the  mouth  of  Tellico,  and  which  was  so  large  that 
it  could  easily  swallow  a  man.  Once  a  canoe  tilled  with  warriors  was 
crossing  over  from  the  town  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  when  the 
Dakwa'  suddenly  rose  up  under  the  boat  and  threw  them  all  into  the 
air.  As  they  came  down  it  swallowed  one  with  a  single  snap  of  its 
jaws  and  dived  with  him  to  the  bottom  of  the  river.  As  soon  as  the 
hunter  came  to  his  senses  he  found  that  he  had  not  been  hurt,  but  it 
was  so  hot  and  close  inside  the.  Dakwa'  that  he  was  nearly  smothered. 
As  he  groped  around  in  the  dark  his  hand  struck  a  lot  of  mussel  shells 


mooney]  THE    BUNTEB    IN'    THE    DAKW.V  .'!■_' 1 

which  the  tish  had  swallowed,  and  taking  one  of  these  \'<>v -a  knife  lie 
began  to  out  bis  way  out,  until  soon  the  t i — 1 1  grew  uneasy  at  the 
scraping  inside  his  stomach  and  came  up  to  the  top  of  the  water  for 
air.  llf  kept  on  cutting  until  the  lish  was  in  such  pain  thai  it  -warn 
this  way  and  that  across  the  stream  and  thrashed  the  water  into  foam 
with  its  tail.  Finally  the  huh'  was  so  large  that  he  could  look  out  and 
>aw  that  the  Dakwa'  was  now  resting  in  shallow  water  near  the  shore. 
Reaching  up  he  climbed  out  from  the  side  of  the  tish,  moving  very 
carefully  so  that  the  Dakwa'  would  not  know  it,  and  then  waded  to 
shore  and  got  back  to  the  settlement,  hut  the  juices  in  the  stomach  of 
the  great  tish  had  scalded  all  the  hair  from  his  head  and  he  was  bald 
ever  after. 

W.MINKNAI   III     VERSION 

A  boy  was  sent  on  an  errand  by  his  father,  and  not  wishing  to  go  ne 
ran  away  to  the  river.  After  playing  in  the  sand  for  a  short  time 
some  boys  of  his  acquaintance  came  by  in  a  canoe  and  invited  him  to 
join  them.  Glad  of  the  opportunity  to  get  away  he  went  with  them, 
but  had  no  sooner  got  in  than  the  canoe  began  to  tip  and  rock  most 
unaccountably.  The  hoys  became  very  much  frightened,  and  in  the 
confusion  the  had  hoy  fell  into  the  water  and  was  immediateh  swal- 
lowed by  a  large  fish.  After  lying  in  its  stomach  for  some  time  he 
became  very  hungry,  and  on  looking  around  he  saw  the  fish's  liver 
hanging  over  his  head.  Thinking  it  dried  meat,  he  tided  to  cut  off  a 
piece  with  a  mussel  shell  he  had  been  playing  with  and  still  held  in 
his  hand.     The  operation  sickened  the  fish  and  it  vomited  the  boy. 

69.  ATAGA'Hl,  the  enchanted  lake 

Westward  from  the  headwaters  of  Oconaluftee  river,  in  the  wildest 
depth- id'  the  Greal  Smoky  mountains,  which  form  the  line  between 
North  Carolinaand  Tennessee,  is  the  enchanted  lake  of  Ataga'hi.  "Gall 
place."  Although  all  the  Cherokee  know  that  it  is  there,  no  one  has 
ever  seen  it.  for  the  way  is  so  difficult  that  only  the  animals  know  how 
to  reach  it.  Should  a  stray  hunter  come  near  the  place  he  would  know 
of  it  by  the  whirring  sound  of  the  thousands  of  wild  ducks  flying  about 
the  lake,  but  on  reaching  the  spot  he  would  find  only  a  dry  fiat,  with- 
out bird  or  animal  or  blade  of  grass,  unless  he  had  first  sharpened  his 
spiritual  vision  by  prayer  and  fasting  and  an  all-night  vigil. 

Because  it  is  not  -ecu.  some  people  think  the  lake  has  dried  up  long 
ago.  hut  this  is  not  true.  To  one  who  had  kept  watch  and  fast 
through  the  night  it  would  appear  at  daybreak  as  a  wide-extending 
but  shallow  sheet  of  purple  water,  fed  by  springs  spouting  from  the 
high  cliffs  around.  In  the  water  are  all  kinds  of  tish  and  reptiles, 
and  swimming  upon  the  surface  or  flying  overhead  are  great  flocks 
of  ducks  and  pigeons,  while  all  about  the  shores  are  bear  tracks  cross- 

L9  kth— 01 L'l 


322  MYTH*    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

ing  in  every  direction.  It  is  the  medicine  lake  of  the  birds  and  ani- 
mals, and  whenever  a  bear  is  wounded  by  the  hunters  he  makes  his 
way  through  the  woods  to  this  lake  and  plunges  into  the  water,  and 
when  lie  comes  out  upon  the  other  side  his  wounds  are  healed.  For 
this  reason  the  animals  keep  the  lake  invisible  to  the  hunter. 

70.  THE  BRIDE  FROM  THE  SOUTH 

The  North  went  traveling,  and  after  going  far  and  meeting  many 
different  tribes  he  finally  fell  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  the  South 
and  wanted  to  marry  her.  The  girl  was  willing,  but  her  parents 
objected  and  said,  "Ever  since  you  came  the  weather  has  been  cold, 
and  if  you  stay  here  we  may  all  freeze  to  death."  The  North  pleaded 
hard,  and  said  that  if  they  would  let  him  have  their  daughter  he 
would  take  her  back  to  his  own  country,  so  at  last  they  consented. 
They  were  married  and  he  took  his  bride  to  his  own  country,  and 
when  she  arrived  there  she  found  the  people  all  living  in  ice  houses. 

The  next  day,  when  the  sun  rose,  the  houses  began  to  leak,  and  as 
it  climbed  higher  they  began  to  melt,  and  it  grew  warmer  and 
warmer,  until  finally  the  people  came  t<>  the  young  husband  and  told 
him  he  must  send  his  wife  home  again,  or  the  weather  would  get  so 
warm  that  the  whole  settlement  would  be  melted.  He  loved  his  wife 
and  so  held  out  as  long  as  he  could,  but  as  the  sun  grew  hotter  the 
people  were  more  urgent,  and  at  last  he  had  to  send  her  home  to  her 
parents. 

The  people  said  that  as  she  had  been  born  in  the  South,  and  nour- 
ished all  her  life  upon  food  that  grew  in  the  same  climate,  her  whole 
nature  was  warm  and  unfit  for  the  North. 

71.   THE   ICE   MAN 

Once  when  the  people  were  burning  the  woods  in  the  fall  the  blaze 
set  tire  to  a  poplar  tree,  which  continued  to  burn  until  the  tire  went 
down  into  the  roots  and  burned  a  great  hole  in  the  ground.  It  burned 
and  burned,  and  the  hole  grew  constantly  larger,  until  the  people  became 
frightened  and  were  afraid  it  would  burn  the  whole  world.  They  tried 
to  put  out  the  tire,  but  it  had  gone  too  deep,  and  they  did  not  know 
what  to  do. 

At  last  some  one  said  there  was  a  man  living  in  a  house  of  ice  far  in 
the  north  who  could  put  out  the  tire,  so  messengers  were  sent,  and  after 
traveling  a  long  distance  they  came  to  the  ice  house  and  found  the  Ice 
Man  at  home.  He  was  a  little  fellow  with  long  hair  hanging  down  to 
the  ground  in  two  plaits.  The  messengers  told  him  their  errand  and 
he  at  once  said,  "O  yes.  I  can  help  you,"  and  began  to  unplait  his  hair. 
When  it  was  all  unbraided  he  took  it  up  in  one  hand  and  struck  it  once 
across  his  other  hand,  and  the  messengers  felt  a  wind  blow  against 


HOONBY]  THE     ICE      MAN  323 

their  cheeks.  A  second  time  he  struck  his  hair  across  his  hand,  and  a 
lighl  rain  began  to  fall.  The  third  time  ho  struck  his  hair  across  his 
open  hand  the i-e  was  sleet  mixed  with  t he  raindrops,  and  when  he  struck 
the  fourth  time  greal  hailstones  fell  upon  the  ground,  as  if  they  had 
come  out  from  the  ends  of  his  hair.  "Go  back  now."  said  the  lee  Man. 
■"and  I  shall  l>e  there  to-morrow."  So  the  messengers  returned  to 
their  people,  whom  they  Eound  >till  gathered  helplessly  about  the  great 
burning  pit. 

The  next  day  while  they  were  all  watching  about  the  lire  there  came  a 
wind  from  the  north,  and  they  were  afraid,  for  they  knew  that  it  came 
from  the  Ice  Man.  But  the  wind  only  made  the  tire  blaze  up  higher. 
Then  a  light  rain  began  to  tall,  hut  the  drops  seemed  only  to  make  the 
tire  hotter.  Then  the  shower  turned  to  a  heavy  rain,  with  sleet  and 
hail  that  killed  the  blaze  and  made  cloudsof  smoke  and  -team  rise  from 
the  red  coals.  The  people  tied  to  their  homes  for  shelter,  and  t  he  storm 
rose  to  a  w  birlwind  that  drove  the  rain  into  every  burning  crevice  ami 
piled  great  hailstones  over  the  embers,  until  the  fire  was  .lead  and  even 
the  smoke  ceased.  When  at  last  it  was  all  over  and  the  people  returned 
they  found  a  lake  where  the  burning  pit  had  been,  and  from  below  the 
water  came  a  sound  as  of  embers  still  crackling. 

72.   THE   HUNTER   AND   SELU 

A  hunter  had  been  tramping  over  the  mountains  all  day  lone-  with- 
out finding  any  game  and  when  the  sun  went  down,  he  built  a  tire  in 
a  hollow  stump,  swallowed  a  few  mouthfuls  of  corn  gruel  and  lay  down 
to  sleep,  tiled  out  and  completely  discouraged.  About  the  middle  of 
the  eight  he  dreamed  and  seemed  to  hear  the  sound  id'  beautiful  sing- 
ing, which  continued  until  near  daybreak  and  then  appeared  to  die 
away  into  the  upper  air. 

All  next  day  he  hunted  with  the  same  poor  success,  and  at  night  made 
his  lonely  camp  again  in  the  woods.  He  slept  and  the  strange  dream 
came  to  him  again,  but  so  vividly  that  it  seemed  to  him  like  an  actual 
happening.  Rousing  himself  before  daylight,  he  still  heard  the  song, 
and  feeling  sure  now  that  it  was  real,  he  went  in  the  direction  of  the 
sound  and  found  that  it  came  from  a  single  green  stalk  of  corn  (selu). 
The  plant  spoke  to  him.  and  told  him  to  cut  off  some  of  its  roots  and 
take  them  to  his  home  in  the  settlement,  and  the  next  morning  to  chew 
them  and  "go  to  water"  before  anyone  else  was  awake,  and  then  to 
goout  again  into  the  woods,  and  he  would  kill  many  deer  and  from  that 
time  on  would  always  he  successful  in  the  limit.  The  corn  plant 
continued  to  talk,  teaching  him  hunting  secrets  anil  telling  him  always 
to  be  generous  with  the  game  he  took,  until  it  was  noon  and  the  sun 
was  high,  when  it  suddenly  took  the  form  of  a  woman  and  rose  grace- 
fully into  the  air  and  was  gone  from  sight,  lea\  ing  the  hunter  alone  in 
the  woods. 

He  returned  home  and  told  his  story,  and  all  the  people   knew  that 


324  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ahn.19 

he  had  seen  Selu,  the  wife  of  Kana'tl.  He  did  a.s  the  spirit  had  directed, 
and  from  that  time  was  noted  as  the  most  successful  of  all  the  hunters 
in  the  settlement. 

73.    THE   UNDERGROUND   PANTHERS 

A  hunter  was  in  the  woods  one  day  in  winter  when  suddenly  he  saw 
a  panther  coming  toward  him  and  at  once  prepared  to  defend  himself. 
The  panther  continued  to  approach,  and  the  hunter  was  just  about  to 
shoot  when  the  animal  spoke,  and  at  once  it  seemed  to  the  man  as  if 
there  was  no  difference  between  them,  and  they  were  both  of  the  same 
nature.  The  panther  asked  him  where  he  was  going,  and  the  man 
said  that  he  was  looking  for  a  deer.  "Well,"  said  the  panther,  "we 
are  getting  ready  for  a  Green -corn  dance,  and  there  are  seven  of  us  out 
after  a  buck,  so  we  may  as  well  hunt  together." 

The  hunter  agreed  and  they  went  on  together.  They  started  up  one 
deer  and  another,  but  the  panther  made  no  sign,  and  said  only  "Those 
are  too  small;  we  want  something  better."  So  the  hunter  did  not 
shoot,  and  they  went  on.  They  started  up  another  deer,  a  larger  one, 
and  the  panther  sprang  upon  it  and  tore  its  throat,  and  finally  killed 
it  after  a  hard  struggle.  The  hunter  got  out  his  knife  to  skin  it,  but 
the  panther  said  the  skin  was  too  much  torn  to  be  used  and  they  must 
try  again.  They  started  up  another  large  deer,  and  this  the  panther 
killed  without  trouble,  and  then,  wrapping  his  tail  around  it,  threw 
it  across  his  back.  "Now,  come  to  our  townhouse,"  he  said  to  the 
hunter. 

The  panther  led  the  way,  carrying  the  captured  deer  upon  his  back, 
up  a  little  stream  branch  until  they  came  to  the  head  spring,  when  it 
seemed  as  if  a  door  opened  in  the  side  of  the  hill  and  they  went  in. 
Now  the  hunter  found  himself  in  front  of  a  large  townhouse,  with  the 
finest  detsanun'li  he  had  ever  seen,  and  the  trees  around  were  green, 
and  the  air  was  warm,  as  in  summer.  There  was  a  great  company 
there  getting  ready  for  the  dance,  and  they  were  all  panthers,  but 
somehow  it  all  seemed  natural  to  the  hunter.  After  a  while  the  others 
who  had  been  out  came  in  with  the  deer  they  had  taken,  and  the  dance 
began.  The  hunter  danced  several  rounds,  and  then  said  it  was  grow- 
ing late  and  he  must  be  getting  home.  So  the  panthers  opened  the 
door  and  he  went  out.  and  at  once  found  himself  alone  in  the  woods 
again,  and  it  was  winter  and  very  cold,  with  snow  on  the  ground  and 
on  all  the  trees.  When  he  reached  the  settlement  he  found  a  party 
just  starting  out  to  search  for  him.  They  asked  him  where  he  had 
been  so  long,  and  he  told  them  the  story,  and  then  he  found  that  he 
had  been  in  the  panther  townhouse  several  days  instead  of  only  a  very 
short  time,  as  he  had  thought. 

He  died  within  seven  days  after  his  return,  because  he  had  already 
begun  to  take  on  the  panther  nature,  and  so  could  not  live  again  with 
men.     If  he  had  stayed  with  the  panthers  he  would  have  lived. 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    BEAE  325 

74.  THE    TSUNDIGE'Wl 

Once  some  young  men  <>f  the  Cherokee  set  out  to  see  what   was  in 

the  world  and  traveled  south  until  they  came  to  a  tril I'  little  people 

called  I'siiniliii,  '//•/,  with  very  queer  shaped. bodies,  hardly  tall  enough 
to  reach  up  to  :i  man's  knee,  who  had  no  houses,  but  Lived  in  nests 
scooped  in  the  sand  and  covered  over  with  dried  grass.  The  little 
fellows  werfe  so  weak  and  puny  that  they  could  not  fight  at  all.  and 
were  iii  (-(instant  terror  from  the  wild  geese  and  other  birds  thai  used 
to  come  in  great  flocks  from  the  south  to  make  war  upon  them. 

.lust  at  the  time  that  the  travelers  got  there  they  found  the  little 
men  in  great  fear,  because  there  was  a  strong  wind  blowing  from  the 
south  and  it  blew  white  feathers  and  down  along  the  sand,  so  that  the 
Tsundige'w]  knew  their  enemies  were  coming  not  far  behind.  The 
Cherokee  asked  them  why  they  did  not  defend  themselves,  hut  they 
said  they  could  not.  because  they  did  not  know  how.  There  was  no 
time  to  make  bows  and  arrows,  but  the  travelers  told  them  to  take 
sticks  for  cluhs.  and  showed  them  where  to  strike  the  birds  on  the 
necks  to  kill  them. 

The  wind  blew  for  several  days,  and  at  last  the  birds  came,  so  many 
that  they  were  like  a  great  cloud  in  the  air.  and  alighted  on  the  sands. 
The  little  men  ran  to  their  nests,  and  the  birds  followed  and  stuck  in 
their  long  bills  to  pull  them  out  and  eat  them.  This  time,  though,  the 
Tsundige'w!  had  their  cluhs.  and  they  struck  the  birds  on  the  neck,  as 
the  Cherokee  had  shown  them,  and  killed  so  many  that  at  last  the 
others  were  glad  to  spread  their  wings  and  fly  away  again  to  the  south. 

The  little  men  thanked  the  Cherokee  for  their  help  and  gave  them 
the  best  they  had  until  the  travelers  went  on  to  see  the  other  tribes. 
They  heard  afterwards  that  the  birds  came  again  several  times,  but  that 
the  Tsundige'wi  always  drove  them  off  with  their  clubs,  until  a  dock  of 
sandhill  cranes  came.  They  were  so  tall  that  the  little  men  could  not 
reach  up  to  strike  them  on  the  neck,  and  so  at  last  the  cranes  killed 
them  all. 

75.   ORIGIN    OF   THE   BEAR:   THE   BEAR   SONGS 

Long  ago  there  was  a  Cherokee  clan  called  the  Ani'-TsS'guhi,  and  in 
one  family  of  this  clan  was  a  hoy  who  used  to  leave  home  and  be  gone 
all  day  in  the  mountains.  After  a  while  he  went  oftener  and  stayed 
longer,  until  at  last  he  would  not  eat  in  the  house  at  all.  1ml  started 
off  at  daybreak  and  did  not  come  hack  until  night.  His  parents 
scolded,  hut  that  did  no  good,  and  the  hoy  still  went  every  day  until 
they  noticed  that  long  brown  hair  was  beginning  to  grow  out  all  over 
his  body.     Then  they  wondered  and  asked  him  whv  it  was  thai  he 


326  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

wanted  to  be  so  much  in  the  woods  that  he  would  not  even  eat  at  home. 
Said  the  hoy.  "I  rind  plenty  to  eat  there,  and  it  is  better  than  the 
corn  and  beans  we  have  in  the  settlements,  and  pretty  soon  I  am  going 
into  the  woods  to  stay  all  the  time."  His  parents  were  worried  and 
begged  him  not  to  leave  them,  but  he  said,  "It  is  better  there  than 
here,  and  you  see  ]  am  beginning  to  he  different  already,  so  that  I  can 
not  live  here  any  longer.  If  you  will  come  with  me,  there  is  plenty 
for  all  of  us  and  you  will  never  have  to  work  for  it;  but  if  you  want 
to  mme  you  must  first  fast  seven  days." 

The  father  and  mother  talked  it  over  and  then  told  the  headmen  of 
the  clan.  They  held  a  council  about  the  matter  and  after  everything 
had  been  said  they  decided:  •"Here  we  must  work  hard  and  have  not 
always  enough.  There  he  says  there  is  always  plenty  without  work. 
We  will  go  with  him.'1  So  they  fasted  seven  days,  and  on  the  seventh 
morning  all  the  Ani'-Tsa'guhi  left  the  settlement  and  started  for  the 
mountains  as  the  boy  led  the  way. 

When  the  people  of  the  other  towns  heard  of  it  they  were  very 
sorry  and  sent  their  headmen  to  persuade  the  Ani'-Tsa'guhi  to  stay  at 
home  and  not  go  into  the  woods  to  live.  The  messengers  found  them 
already  on  the  way,  and  were  surprised  to  notice  that  their  bodies  were 
beginning  to  be  covered  with  hair  like  that  of  animals,  because  for 
seven  days  they  had  not  taken  human  food  and  their  nature  was  chang- 
ing. The  Ani'-Tsa'guhi  would  not  come  back,  but  said,  "  We  are  going 
where  there  is  always  plenty  to  eat.  Hereafter  we  shall  be  called  y&n  a 
(bears),  and  when  you  yourselves  are  hungry  come  into  the  woods  and 
call  us  and  we  shall  come  to  give  you  our  own  Mesh.  You  need  not  be 
afraid  to  kill  us,  for  we  shall  live  always.1'  Then  they  taught  the  mes- 
sengers the  songs  with  which  to  call  them,  and  the  bear  hunters  have 
these  songs  still.  When  they  had  finished  the  songs  the  Ani'-Tsa'guhi 
started  on  again  and  the  messengers  turned  back  to  the  settlements, 
but  after  going  a  little  way  they  looked  back  and  saw  a  drove  of  bears 
going  into  the  woods. 

Firxt  11  wr  Song 

II:-:.'   Aui'-Tsti't/iilii,  Aiii'-Tsii'iji'ilii,  akwandv/li  e'lanffl  gin&n'ti, 

Ani'-Ts&'gtihi,  Ani'-Tsd'giihi,  akwandu'li  e'lanti'  gmCm'ti — Yd! 

He-e!   The  Ani'-Tsa'guhi,  the    Ani'-Tsa'guhi,   I   want    to   lay   them   low   mi   the 
ground, 
The   Ani'-Tsa'guhi,  the   Ani'-Tsa'guhi,   I    want    to   lay  them  low  on  the 
ground — Yfi! 

The  hear  hunter  starts  out  each  morning  fasting  and  does  not  eat 
until  near  evening.  He  sings  this  song  as  he  leaves  camp,  and  again 
the  next  morning,  but  never  twice  the  same  day. 


THE    BE  \\i    man  327 

St  cond  Bt  ar  Song 

This  song  also  is  sung  by  the  bear  hunter,  in  order  to  attracl  the 
bears,  while  on  his  way  from  the  camp  to  the  plan'  where  he  expects 
to  hunt  during  the  day.     The  melody  is  simple  and  plaintive. 

//.-..'  Hayuya'haniwd,' ,  lutyuya'haniwi.',  hayuya'haniwd',  liayuya'hm 

Tsistuyi'  nehandu'yanOf ,  Tsistuyi'  nehandu'yanu' —  Yoho-o! 
He-el  Hayuya'haniw&' ',  hayuya'haniicti,',  hayuya'haniwfl,',  hayuya'hm 

Kuwdhi'  nehandu'yanu,  Kuwdhi'  nehandu'yanu'—  Yoho-o! 
II,  -. .'  Hayuya'haniwa' ,  hayuya'haniwQ/ ,  hayuya'haniwQ,',  hayuya'haniwQ,', 

handu'yanti,  Uydhye1  >>' — Yoho-o.1 

II,-,:  Hayuya'haniwQ,',  hayuya'haniw&',  hayuya'haniwQ.' ',  hayuya'ha 

Gdtegwd'  nehundu'yanOf ,  Gdtegwd'  nehandu'yanu' —  Yoho-o! 

I  Recited  i   Uli-'nu'  aslM'  tadeyd'statakuhl'  gun'ndgt  asttif  teiiffl. 

He!   Hayuya'haniwa'  (four  times), 

In  Tsistu'yl  you  were  conceived  (two  times) — Yoho! 
He!  Hayuya'haniwa'  (four  times), 

In  Kuwa'hl  you  were  conceived  (two  times)-  Yoho! 
He!  Hayuya'haniwa'  (four  times), 

In  Uya'hye  you  were  conceived  (two  times) — Yoho! 
He!  Hayuya'haniwa'  (four  times), 

In  Gate'gwiS  you  were  conceived  (two  times) — Yoho! 
And  now  surely  we  and  the  Lr<»>il  Mack  things,  the  best  of  all,  shall  see  eai  ii 

..tiler. 

76.   THE   BEAR   MAN 

A  man  went  hunting  in  the  mountains  and  came  across  a  black  bear, 
which  he  wounded  with  an  arrow.    The  bear  turned  and  started  in  inn 

the  other  way.  and  the  hunter  followed,  shooting  one  arrow  after 
another  into  it  without  bringing  it  down.  Now.  this  was  a  medicine 
hear,  and  could  talk  or  read  the  thoughts  of  people  without  their  say- 
ing a  word.  At  last  he  stopped  and  pulled  the  arrows  out  of  his  side 
ami  gave  them  to  the  man.  saying,  "It  is  of  no  use  for  you  to  shoot 
at  me,  for  you  can  not  kill  me.  Come  to  my  house  and  let  us  live  to- 
gether." The  hunter  thought  to  himself.  "He  may  kill  me;'"  but  the 
bear  read  his  thoughts  and  said.  "No,  I  won't  hurt  you."  The  man 
thought  again,  "How  can  1  get  anything  to  eat;'*  but  the  hear  knew 
his  thoughts,  and  said.  "There  shall  he  plenty."  So  the  hunter  went 
with  the  hear. 

They  went  on  toe-ether  until  they  came  to  a  hole  in  the  side  of  the 
mountain,  and  the  hear  said.  "This  is  not  where  I  live,  hut  there  is 
going  to  he  a  council  here  and  we  will  see  what  they  do."  They 
went  in.  and  the  hole  widened  as  they  went,  until  they  came  to  a 
large  cave  like  a  townhouse.  It  was  full  of  hear-  —old  bears,  voung 
bears,  and  cubs,  white  bears,  black  hears,  and  brown  bears  and  a 
large  white  hear  was  the  chief.  They  sat  down  in  a  corner,  but  -0011 
the  hear-  scented  the  hunter  and  began  to  ask,  "  What  is  it  that  smells 


328  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.a.nn.w 

bad?"  The  chief  .said,  "Don't  talk  so;  it  is  only  a  stranger  come  to 
see  us.  Let  him  alone."  Food  was  getting  scarce  in  the  mountains, 
and  the  council  was  to  decide  what  to  do  about  it.  They  had  sent  out 
messengers  all  over,  and  while  they  were  talking  two  bears  came  in 
and  reported  that  they  had  found  a  country  in  the  low  grounds  where 
there  were  so  man}'  chestnuts  and  acorns  that  mast  was  knee  deep. 
Then  they  were  all  pleased,  and  got  ready  for  a  dance,  and  the  dance 
leader  was  the  one  the  Indians  call  Kalas'-giinahi'ta,  "Long  Hams,"  a 
great  black  bear  that  is  always  lean.  After  the  dance  the  bears  noticed 
the  hunter's  bow  and  arrows,  and  one  said,  "This  is  what  men  use  to 
kill  us.  Let  us  see  if  we  can  manage  them,  and  may  be  we  can  tight 
man  with  his  own  weapons."  80  they  took  the  bow  and  arrows  from 
the  hunter  to  try  them.  They  fitted  the  arrow  and  drew  back  the 
string,  but  when  they  let  go  it  caught  in  their  long  claws  and  the 
arrows  dropped  to  the  ground.  They  saw  that  they  could  not  use 
the  how  and  arrow's  and  gave  them  hack  to  the  man.  When  the  dance 
and  the  council  were  over,  they  began  to  go  home,  excepting  the  White 
Bear  chief,  who  lived  there,  and  at  last  the  hunter  and  the  bear  went 
out  together. 

They  went  on  until  the}7  came  to  another  hole  in  the  side  of  the 
mountain,  when  the  bear  said,  "This  is  where  I  live,"  and  they  went 
in.  By  this  time  the  hunter  was  very  hungry  and  was  wondering  how 
he  could  get  something  to  eat.  The  other  knew  his  thoughts,  and  sit- 
ting up  on  his  hind  legs  he  rubbed  his  stomach  with  his  forepaws — so — 
and  at  once  he  had  both  paws  full  of  chestnuts  and  gave  them  to  the 
man.  He  rubbed  his  stomach  again — so — and  had  his  paws  full  of 
huckleberries,  and  gave  them  to  the  man.  He  rubbed  again — so — and 
gave  the  man  both  paws  full  of  blackberries.  He  rubbed  again — so — 
and  had  his  paws  full  of  acorns,  but  the  man  said  that  he  could  not 
eat  them,  and  that  he  had  enough  already. 

The  hunter  lived  in  the  cave  with  the  bear  all  winter,  until  long 
hair  like  that  of  a  bear  began  to  grow  all  over  his  body  and  he  began 
to  act  like  a  bear;  but  he  still  walked  like  a  man.  One  day  in  early 
spring  the  hear  said  to  him,  "  Your  people  down  in  the  settlement  are 
getting  ready  for  a  grand  hunt  in  these  mountains,  and  they  will  come 
to  this  cave  and  kill  me  and  take  these  clothes  from  me" — he  meant 
his  skin — "but  they  will  not  hurt  you  and  will  take  you  home  with 
them."  The  hear  knew  what  the  people  were  doing  down  in  the  set- 
tlement just  as  he  always  knew  what  the  man  was  thinking  about. 
Some  days  passed  and  the  bear  said  again,  "This  is  the  day  when  the 
Topknots  will  come  to  kill  me.  hut  the  Split-noses  will  come  first  and 
find  us.  When  they  have  killed  me  they  will  drag  me  outside  the 
cave  and  take  off  my  clothes  and  cut  me  in  pieces.  You  must  cover 
the  blood  with  leaves,  and  when  they  are  taking  you  away  look  back 
after  you  have  gone  a  piece  and  you  will  see  something." 


THE     BEAK     MAN  329 

Soon  they  heard  the  hunters  coming  up  the  mountain,  and  then  the 
dogs  found  thecaveand  began  to  bark.  The  hunters  came  and  looked 
inside  and  -aw  the  bear  and  killed  him  with  their  arrows.  Then  they 
dragged  him  outside  the  cave  and  skinned  the  body  and  cut  it  in  quar- 
ters to  carry  home.  The  dogs  kepi  on  barking  until  the  hunters 
thought  there  must  be  another  hear  in  the  cave.  They  looked  in 
again  and  saw  the  man  away  at  the  farther  end.  At  first  they  thoughl 
it  was  another  bear  on  account  of  bis  lone-  hair,  but  they  soon  saw  it 
was  the  hunter  who  had  been  lost  the  year  before,  so  they  went  in  and 
brought  him  out.  Then  each  hunter  took  a  load  of  the  hear  meat  and 
they  started  home  again,  bringing  the  man  ami  the  skin  with  (hem. 
Before  they  left  the  man  piled  leaves  oxer  the  spot  where  they  had  cut 
up  the  hear,  and  when  they  had  gone  a  little  way  he  looked  behind 
and  saw  the  bear  rise  up  out  of  the  leaves,  shake  himself,  ami  go  back 
into  the  woods. 

When  they  came  near  the  settlement  the  man  told  the  hunters  that 
he  must  he  -hut  up  where  no  one  could  see  him.  without  anything  to 
eat  or  drink  for  seven  days  and  nights,  until  the  bear  nature  had  left 
him  and  he  became  like  a  man  again.  So  they  shut  him  up  alone  in  a 
house  and  tried  to  keep  very  still  about  it.  but  the  news  got  out  and 
his  wife  heard  of  it.  She  came  for  her  husband,  but  the  people  would 
not  let  her  near  him:  but  she  came  every  day  and  beggedso  hard  that 
at  last  after  four  or  five  days  they  let  her  have  him.  She  took  him 
home  with  her,  but  in  a  short  time  he  died,  because  he  still  had  a 
bear'-  nature  and  could  not  live  like  a  man.  If  they  had  kept  him 
shut  up  and  fasting  until  the  end  of  the  seven  days  he  would  have 
become  a  man  again  and  would  have  lived. 

77.  THE  GREAT  LEECH  OF  TLANUSI'Yl 

The  spot  where  Valley  river  joins  Hiwassee,  at  Murphy,  in  North 
Carolina,  is  known  among  the  Cherokees  as  Tlanusi'vi.  "The  Leech 
place."  and  this  is  the  story  they  tell  of  it: 

Just  above  the  junction  is  a  deep  hole  in  Valley  river,  and  above 
it  is  a  ledge  of  rock  running  across  the  stream,  over  w  Inch  people  used 
to  go  as  on  a  bridge.  On  the  south  side  the  trail  ascended  a  high  bank, 
from  which  they  could  look  down  into  the  water.  One  day  some  men 
going  along  the  trail  saw  a  great  red  object,  full  as  large  a-  a  house, 
lying  on  the  rock  ledge  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  below  them.  As 
thej  stood  wondering  what  it  could  be  they  -aw  it  unroll — and  then 
they  knew  it  was  alive-  and  stretch  itself  out  along  the  rock  until  it 
looked  like  a  great  leech  with  red  and  white  stripes  along  its  body. 
It  rolled  up  into  a  ball  and  again  stretched  out  at  full  length,  and  at 
last  crawled  down  the  rock  and  was  out  of  sight  in  the  deep  water. 
The  water  began  to  boil  and  foam,  and  a  great  column  of  white  spray 
wasthrown  high  in  the  air  and  came  down  like  a  water-pout    upon  the 


330  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Very  spot  where  the  men  had  been  standing,  and  would  have  swept 
them  all  into  the  water  but  that  they  saw  it  in  time  and  ran  from  the 
place. 

More  than  one  person  was  carried  down  in  this  way,  and  their 
friends  would  tind  the  body  afterwards  lying  upon  the  bank  with  the^ 
ears  and  nose  eaten  off,  until  at  last  the  people  were  afraid  to  go  across 
the  ledge  any  more,  on  account  of  the  great  leech,  or  even  to  go  along 
that  part  of  the  trail.  But  there  was  one  young  fellow  who  laughed 
at  the  whole  story,  and  said  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  anything  in 
Valley  river,  as  he  would  show  them.  So  one  day  he  painted  his  face 
and  put  on  his  finest  buckskin  and  started  off  toward  the  river,  while 
all  the  people  followed  at  a  distance  to  see  what  might  happen. 
Down  the  trail  he  went  and  out  upon  the  ledge  of  rock,  singing  in 
high  spirits: 

Tlmm'x}  giXne'ga  digVg&ge 

Dafooa'nitlaste'sti. 

I'll  tic  red  leech  skins 

On  my  legs  for  garters. 

But  before  he  was  half  way  across  the  water  began  to  boil  into  white 
foam  and  a  great  wave  rose  and  swept  over  the  rock  and  carried  him 
down,  and  he  was  never  seen  again. 

Just  before  the  Removal,  sixty  years  ago,  two  women  went  out  upon 
the  ledge  to  fish.  Their  friends  warned  them  of  the  danger,  but  one 
woman  who  had  her  baby  on  her  back  said,  "There  are  fish  there  and 
I'm  going  to  have  some;  I'm  tired  of  this  fat  meat."  She  laid  the 
child  down  on  the  rock  and  was  preparing  the  line  when  the  water- 
suddenly  rose  and  swept  over  the  ledge,  and  would  have  carried  off 
the  child  but  that  the  mother  ran  in  time  to  save  it.  The  great  leech 
is  still  there  in  the  deep  hole,  because  when  people  look  down  they  see 
something  alive  moving  about  on  the  bottom,  and  although  they  can 
not  distinguish  its  shape  on  account  of  the  ripples  on  the  water,  yet 
they  know  it  is  the  leech.  Some  say  there  is  an  underground  water- 
way across  to  Nottely  river,  not  far  above  the  mouth,  where  the  river 
bends  over  toward  Murphy,  and  sometimes  the  leech  goes  over  there 
and  makes  the  water  boil  as  it  used  to  at  the  rock  ledge.  They  call 
this  spot  on  Nottely  "The  Leech  place"  also. 

78.  THE   NUNNE'HI   AND   OTHER   SPIRIT   FOLK 

The  Nunne'hl  or  immortals,  the  "people  who  live  anywhere,1' were 
a  race  of  spirit  people  who  lived  in  the  highlands  of  the  old  Cherokee 
country  and  had  a  great  many  townhouses,  especially  in  the  bald 
mountains,  the  high  peaks  on  which  no  timber  ever  grows.  They  had 
large  townhouses  in  Pilot  knob  and  under  the  old  Xlkwasi'  mound  in 
North  Carolina,  and  another  under  Blood  mountain,  at  the  head  of 
Nottely  river,  in  Georgia.     They  were  invisible  excepting  when  they 


iii l-    m  \  ni;'hi  33  1 

wanted  to  be  seen,  and  then  thej  looked  and  -poke  just  like  other 
Indians.  The}  were  verj  fond  of  music  and  dancing,  and  hunter's  in 
the  mountains  would  often  bear  the  dance  songs  and  the  drum  beating 
in  some  invisible  townhouse.  but  when  they  weni  toward  the  sound 
it  would  shift  aboul  and  they  would  hear  ii  behind  them  or  awaj  in 
some  other  direction,  so  that  they  could  never  lin<l  the  place  where  the 
dance  mi-.  Thej  were  a  friendh  people,  too,  and  often  brought  lost 
wandersrs  to  their  i»«  nhouses  under  the  mountains  and  cared  for  them 
there  until  they  were  rested  and  then  guided  them  back  to  their  homes. 
More  than  once,  also,  when  the  Cherokee  were  hard  pressed  by  the 
i ■  1 1 < ■  1 1 1  \ .  the  Ni'inih 'In  w  arriors  have  <•<  >im'  out,  as  they  did  at  old  Nikwasi', 
and  have  saved  them  from  defeat.  Some  people  have  thought  that 
they  are  the  same  as  the  Yuiiwi  Tsunsdi',  the  "  Little  People";  but 
these  are  fairies,  no  larger  in  size  than  children. 

There  was  a  man  in  Nottely  town  who  had  been  with  tin'  Nuiine'hi 
when  he  was  a  boy,  and  he  toldWaflford  all  aboul  it.  lie  wasatruth- 
ful,  hard-h  saded  man.  and  Wafford  had  heard  the  story  so  often  from 
other  people  that  he  asked  this  man  to  tell  it.      It  was  in  this  way: 

When  he  was  about  LO  or  L2  years  old  he  was  playing  one  day  near 
the  river,  shooting  at  a  mark  with  his  bow  and  arrows,  until  he  became 
tired,  and  started  to  build  a  fish  trap  in  the  water.     While  he  was  piling 

up  the  stones  in  two  lone-  walls  a  man  came  and  si 1  on  the  bank  and 

asked  him  what  he  was  doing.  The  boy  told  him.  and  the  man  said. 
•■  Well,  that's  pretty  hard  work  ami  you  ought  to  rest  a.  while.  Comeand 
take  a  walk  up  the  river."  The  boy  said,  uNo";  that  he  was  going  home 
to  dinner  soon.  '"Come  right  up  to  my  house,"  said  the  st  ranger,  "and 
I'll  give  you  a  good  dinner  there  and  bring  you  home  again  in  the 
morning."  So  the  hoy  went  with  him  up  the  river  until  they  came  to 
a  house,  when  they  went  in.  and  the  man's  wife  and  the  other  people 
there  were  very  glad  to  see  him.  and  gave  him  a  tine  dinner,  and  were 
very  kind  to  him.  While  they  were  eating  a  man  that  the  boy  knew 
very  well  came  in  and  spoke  to  him.  so  that  he  felt  quite  at  home. 

After  dinner  he  played  with  the  other  children  and  slept  there  that 
night,  and  in  the  morning,  after  breakfast,  the  man  got  ready  to  take 
him  home.  They  went  down  a  path  that  had  a  cornfield  on  one  side 
and  a  peach  orchard  fenced  in  on  the  other,  until  they  came  to  another 
trail,  and  the  man  said,  "(in  alone-  this  trail  across  that  ridge  and  you 
will  come  to  the  river  road  that  will  bring  you  straighl  to  your  home, 
anil  now  I'll  go  hack  to  the  house."  So  the  man  went  hack  to  the 
house  and  the  hoy  went  on  alone-  the  trail,  but  when  he  had  gone  a 
little  way  he  looked  back,  and  there  was  no  cornfield  or  orchard  or 
fence  or  house;   nothing  but  trees  on  the  mountain  side. 

He  thought  it  very  queer,  but  somehow  he  was  not  frightened,  and 
went  on  until  he  came  to  the  river  trail  in  sight  of  his  home.  There 
were  a  great  many  people  standing  about  talking,  and  when  thej  saw 


332  MYTHS    OK    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.  ann.  is 

him  they  ran  toward  him  shouting,  "Here  he  is!  He  is  not  drowned 
or  killed  in  the  mountains!"  They  told  him  they  had  been  hunting  him 
ever  since  yesterday  noon,  and  asked  him  where  he  had  been.  "A 
man  took  me  over  to  his  house  just  across  the  ridge,  and  I  had  a  fine 
dinner  and  a  good  time  with  the  children."  said  the  boy.  "I  thought 
I'dsi'skala  here" — that  was  the  name  of  the  man  he  had  seen  at  dinner — 
"would  tell  you  where  I  was."  But  I'dsi'skala  said,  "  I  haven 'tseen  you. 
I  was  out  all  day  in  my  canoe  hunting  you.  It  was  one  of  the  Nunne'hi 
that  made  himself  look  like  me."  Then  his  mother  said,  "You  say 
you  had  dinner  there  '.  "Yes,  and  I  had  plenty,  too,"  said  the  boy;  but 
his  mother  answered,  "There  is  no  house  there — only  trees  and  rocks — 
but  we  hear  a  drum  sometimes  in  the  big  bald  above.  The  people 
you  saw  were  the  Nunne'hi." 

Once  four  Nunne'hi  women  came  to  a  dance  at  Nottelv  town,  and 
danced  half  the  night  with  the  young  men  there,  and  nobody  knew 
that,  they  were  Nunne'hi.  but  thought  them  visitors  from  another  set- 
tlement. About  midnight  they  left  to  go  home,  and  some  men  who 
hail  come  out  from  the  townhouse  to  cool  otf  watched  to  see  which  way 
they  went.  They  saw  the  women  go  down  the  trail  to  the  river  ford, 
but  just  as  they  came  to  the  water  they  disappeared,  although  it  was  a 
plain  trail,  with  no  place  where  they  could  hide.  Then  the  watchers 
knew  they  were  Nunne'hi  women.  Several  men  saw  this  happen,  and 
one  of  them  was  Wafford's  father-in-law,  who  was  known  for  an  honest 
man.  At  another  time  a  man  named  Burnt-tobacco  was  crossing  over 
the  ridge  from  Nottelv  to  Hemptown  in  Georgia  and  heard  a  drum  and 
the  songs  of  dancers  in  tin'  hills  on  one  side  of  the  trail.  He  rode  over 
to  see  who  could  be  dancing  in  such  a  place,  hut  when  he  reached  the 
spot  the  drum  and  the  songs  were  behind  him,  and  he  was  so  frightened 
that  he  hurried  back  to  the  trail  and  rode  all  the  way  to  Hemptown  as 
hard  as  he  could  to  tell  the  story.  He  was  a  truthful  man,  and  they 
believed  what  he  said. 

There  must  have  been  a  good  many  of  the  Nunne'hi  living  in  that 
neighborhood,  because  the  drumming  was  often  heard  in  the  high  balds 
almost  up  to  the  time  of  the  Removal. 

On  a  small  upper  branch  of  Nottelv.  running  nearly  due  north  from 
Blood  mountain,  there  was  also  a  hole,  like  a  small  well  or  chimney,  in 
in  the  ground,  from  which  there  came  up  a  warm  vapor  that  heated  all 
the  air  around.  People  said  that  this  was  because  the  Nunne'hi  bad  a 
townhouse  and  a  tire  under  the  mountain.  Sometimes  in  cold  weather 
hunters  would  stop  there  to  warm  themselves,  but  the}'  were  afraid  to 
stay  long.  This  was  more  than  sixty  years  ago.  hut  the  hole  is  probably 
there  yet. 

('lose  to  the  old  trading  path  from  South  Carolina  up  to  the  Chero- 
kee Nation,  somewhere  near  the  head  of  Tugaloo,  there  was  formerly 
a   noted  circular  depression  about  the  size  of  a  townhouse,  and  waist 


mookeyJ  THE    M'MVi    TSUNSDl'  333 

deep.  Lnside  it  was  always  clean  as  though  swept  by  unknown  hands. 
Passing  traders  would  throw  logs  and  rocks  into  it.  but  would  always, 
on  their  return,  6nd  them  thrown  far  out  from  the  hole.  The  Indians 
said  it  was  a  Nuiine'hi  townhouse.  and  never  Liked  to  go  near  the  place 
or  even  to  talk  aboul  it.  until  at  last  some  logs  thrown  in  by  the  trad- 
ers were  allowed  to  remain  there,  and  then  they  concluded  that  the 
Nfmne'hi.  annoyed  by  the  persecution  of  the  white  men.  had  abandoned 
their  townhouse  forever. 

There  is  another  race  of  spirits,  the  YQ/wwi  Tsunsdi',  or  "Little 
People."  who  live  in  rock  caves  on  the  mountain  side.  They  are  lit- 
tle fellows,  hardly  reaching  up  to  a  man's  knee,  hut  well  shaped  and 
handsome,  with  lone-  hair  falling  almost  to  the  ground.  They  are  great 
wonder  workers  and  are  very  fond  of  music,  spending  half  their  time 
drumming  and  dancing.  They  are  helpful  and  kind-hearted,  and  often 
when  people  have  been  lost  in  the  mountains,  especially  children  who 
have  strayed  away  from  their  parents,  the  Yitnwi  Tsunsdi'  have  found 
them  and  taken  care  of  them  and  brought  them  hack  to  their  homes. 
Sometimes  their  drum  is  heard  in  lonely  places  in  the  mountains,  hut  it 
is  not  safe  to  follow  it.  because  the  Little  People  do  not  like  to  he  dis- 
turbed at  home,  and  they  throw  a  spell  over  the  stranger  SO  that  he  is 
bewildered  and  loses  his  way,  and  even  if  he  does  at  last  yet  hack  to  the 
settlement  he  is  like  one  dazed  ever  after.  Sometimes,  also,  they  come 
near  a  house  at  night  and  the  people  inside  hear  them  talking,  hut  they 
must  not  go  out.  and  in  the  morning  they  find  the  corn  gathered  or  the 
field  cleared  as  if  a  whole  force  of  men  had  been  at  work.  If  anyone 
.should  go  out  to  watch,  he  would  die.  "When  a  hunter  finds  anything 
in  the  woods,  such  as  a  knife  or  a  trinket,  he  must  say.  "Little  People. 
I  want  to  take  this."  because  it  may  belong  to  them,  and  if  he  does  not 
ask  their  permission  they  will  throw  stones  at  him  as  he  goes  home. 

Once  a  hunter  in  winter  found  tracks  in  the  snow  like  the  tracks  of 
little  children.  He  wondered  how  they  could  have  come  there  and 
followed  them  until  they  led  him  to  a  cave,  which  was  full  of  Little 
People,  young  and  old.  men.  women,  and  children.  They  brought  him 
in  and  were  kind  to  him,  and  he  was  with  them  some  time:  hut  when 
he  left  they  warned  him  that  he  must  not  tell  or  he  would  die.  lie 
went  hack  to  the  settlement  and  his  friends  were  all  anxious  to  know 
where  he  had  been.  For  a  lone-  time  he  refused  to  say.  until  at  last 
he  could  not  hold  out  any  longer,  hut  told  the  story,  and  in  a  few 
days  he  died.  Only  a  few  years  ago  two  hunters  from  Raventown, 
e-oine-  behind  the  high  fall  near  the  head  of  Oconaluftee  on  the  Last 
Cherokee  reservation,  found  there  a  cave  with  fresh  footprints  of  the 
Little  People  all  over  the  Moor. 

During  the  smallpox  among  the  East  Cherokee  just  after  the  war 
one  sick  man  wandered  off,  and  his  friends  searched,  hut  could  not 
find  him.     After  several  weeks  he  came  hack  and  said  that  the  Little 


334  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

People  had  found  him  and  taken  him  to  one  of  their  eaves  and  tended 
him  until  he  was  cured. 

About  twenty-five  years  ago  a  man  named  Tsantawu'  was  lost  in  the 
mountains  on  the  head  of  Oconaluftee.  It  was  winter  time  and  very 
cold  and  his  friends  thought  he  must  be  dead,  but  after  sixteen  days 
he  came  back  and  said  that  the  Little  People  had  found  him  and  taken 
him  to  their  cave,  where  he  had  been  well  treated,  and  given  plenty  of 
everything  to  eat  except  bread.  This  was  in  large  loaves,  but  when 
he  took  them  in  his  hand  to  eat  they  seemed  to  shrink  into  small  cakes 
so  light  and  crumbly  that  though  he  might  eat  all  day  he  would  not 
be  satisfied.  After  he  was  well  rested  they  had  brought  him  a  part  of 
the  way  home  until  they  came  to  a  small  creek,  about  knee  deep,  when 
they  told  him  to  wade  across  to  reach  the  main  trail  on  the  other  side. 
He  waded  across  and  turned  to  look  back,  but  the  Little  People  were 
gone  and  the  creek  was  a  deep  river.  When  he  reached  home  his 
legs  were  frozen  to  the  knees  and  he  lived  only  a  few  days. 

Once  the  Yiifiwi  Tsunsdi'  had  been  very  kind  to  the  people  of  a  cer- 
tain settlement,  helping  them  at  night  with  their  work  and  taking  good 
care  of  any  lost  children,  until  something  happened  to  offend  them  and 
they  made  up  their  minds  to  leave  the  neighborhood.  Those  who  were 
watching  at  the  time  saw  the  whole  company  of  Little  People  come 
down  to  the  ford  of  the  river  and  cross  over  and  disappear  into  the 
mouth  of  a  large  cave  on  the  other  side.  They  were  never  heard  of 
near  the  settlement  again. 

There  are  other  fairies,  the  Yiinwi  Amai'ylne' hi,  or  Water-dwellers, 
who  live  in  the  wTater,  and  fishermen  pray  to  them  for  help.  Other 
friendly  spirits  live  in  people's  houses,  although  no  one  can  see  them, 
and  so  long  as  they  are  there  to  protect  the  house  no  witch  can  come 
near  to  do  mischief. 

Tsdwa'si  and  Tsaga'si  are  the  names  of  two  small  fairies,  who  are 
mischievous  enough,  but  yet  often  help  the  hunter  who  prays  to  them. 
Tsawa'si,  or  Tsawa'si  Usdi'ga  (Little  Tsawa'si).  is  a  tiny  fellow, 
very  handsome,  with  long  hair  falling  down  to  his  feet,  who  lives 
in  grassy  patches  on  the  hillsides  and  has  great  power  over  the  game. 
To  the  deer  hunter  who  prays  to  him  he  gives  skill  to  slip  up  on  the 
deer  through  the  long  grass  without  being  seen.  Tsaga'si  is  another 
of  the  spirits  invoked  by  the  hunter  and  is  very  helpful,  but  when  some- 
one trips  and  falls,  we  know  that  it  is  Tsaga'si  who  has  caused  it. 
There  are  several  other  of  these  fairies  with  names,  all  good-natured, 
but  more  or  less  tricky. 

Then  there  is  />-  'tsdtd.  De'tsata  was  once  a  boy  who  ran  away  to 
the  woods  to  avoid  a  scratching  and  tries  to  keep  himself  invisible  ever 
since.  He  is  a  handsome  little  fellow  and  spends  his  whole  time  hunt- 
ing birds  with  blowgun  and  arrow.  He  lias  a  great  many  children 
who  are  all  just  like  him  and  have  the  same  name.     When  a  flock  of 


Kooney]  THE    REMOVED   TOWNHOUSES  335 

birds  flies  up  suddenly  as  if  frightened  ii  is  because  De'ts&ta  is  chasing 
them.  He  is  mischievous  and  sometimes  bides  an  arrow  from  the  bird 
hunter,  who  mu\  have  shot  it  off  into  a  perfectly  clearspace,  but  looks 
and  looks  without  finding  it.  Then  the  hunter  says.  "De'tsata,  you 
have  my  arrow,  and  it'  you  don't  give  it  up  I'll  scratch  you."  and  when 
he  looks  again  he  finds  it. 

There  is  one  spirit  that  goes  aboui  at  night  with  a  light.  The  <  !hero- 
kee  call  it  Atsil'-dihye'gt,  "The  Fire-carrier,"  and  thej  are  all  afraid  of 
it.  because  they  think  it  dangerous,  although  they  do  not  know'much 
about  it.  They  do  not  even  know  exactly  what  it  looks  like,  because 
they  are  afraid  to  stop  when  they  see  it.  It  may  lie  a  witch  instead 
of  a  spirit.  Watford's  mother  saw  the  "  Fire-carrier"  once  when  she 
was  a  young  woman,  as  she  was  coming  home  at  night  from  a  trading 
post  in  South  Carolina.  It  seemed  to  he  following  her  from  behind, 
and  she  was  frightened  and  whipped  up  her  horse  until  she  gol  away 
from  it  and  never  saw  it  again. 

79.   THE    REMOVED    TOWNHOUSES 

Long  ago,  long  before  the  Cherokee  were  driven  from  their  homes 
in  L838,  the  people  on  Valley  river  and  Hiwassee  heard  voices  of  invis- 
ible spirits  in  the  air  calling  and  warning  them  of  wars  and  misfor- 
tunes which  the  future  held  in  store,  and  inviting  them  to  come  and 
live  with  the  Nunne'hi,  the  Immortals,  in  their  homes  under  the  moun- 
tains and  under  the  water-.  For  days  the  voices  hung  in  the  air.  and 
the  people  listened  until  they  heard  the  spirits  say.  "If  you  would 
live  with  us,  gather  everyone  in  your  townhouses  and  fast  there  for 
seven  days,  and  no  one  must  raise  a  shout  or  a  warwhoop  in  all  that 
time.  Do  this  and  we  shall  come  and  you  will  see  us  and  we  shall 
take  you  to  live  with  Us." 

The  people  were  afraid  of  the  evils  that  were  to  come,  and  they 
knew  that  the  Immortals  of  the  mountains  and  the  waters  were  happy 
forever,  so  they  counciled  in  their  townhouses  and  decided  to  go  with 
them.  Those  of  AnisgayS'yi  town  came  all  together  into  their  town- 
house  and  prayed  and  fasted  for  six  days.  On  the  seventh  day  there 
was  a  sound  from  the  distant  mountains,  and  it  came  nearer  and  grew 
louder  until  a  roar  of  thunder  was  all  about  the  townhouse  and  they 
felt  the  ground  shake  under  them.  Now  they' were  frightened,  and 
despite  the  warning  some  of  them  screamed  out.  The  Nunne'hi,  who 
had  already  lifted  up  the  townhouse  with  its  mound  to  carry  it  away, 
were  startled  by  the  cry  and  let  a  part  of  it  fall  to  the  earth,  where 
now  we  see  the  mound  of  Se  tsi.  They  steadied  themselves  again  and 
hole  the  rest  of  the  townhouse.  with  all  the  people  in  it.  to  the  top 
of  Tsuda'ye luB'yi  (Lone  peak),  near  the  head  of  Cheowa,  where  we 
can  -till  see  it.  changed  long  ago  to  solid  rock,  but  the  people  are 
invisible  and  immortal. 


336  MYTHS    (IF    THE    CHEROKEE 


The  people  of  another  town,  on  Hiwassee,  at  the  place  which  we  call 
now  Du'stiya'lun'yi,  where  Shooting  creek  comes  in.  also  prayed  and 
fasted,  and  at  the  end  of  seven  days  the  Nunne'hi  came  and  took  them 
away  down  under  the  water.  They  are  there  now.  and  on  a  warm  sum- 
mer day,  when  the  wind  ripples  the  surface,  those  who  listen  well  can 
hear  them  talking  below.  When  the  Cherokee  drag  the  river  for  tish  the 
fish-drag  always  stops  and  catches  there,  although  the  water  is  deep, 
and  the  people  know  it  is  being  held  by  their  lost  kinsmen,  who  do  not 
want  to  be  forgotten. 

When  the  Cherokee  were  forcibly  removed  to  tin'  West  one  of  the 
greatest  regrets  of  those  along  Hiwassee  and  Valley  rivers  was  that 
they  were  compelled  to  leave  behind  forever  their  relatives  who  hail 
gone  to  the  Nunne'hi. 

In  Tennessee  river,  near  Kingston,  18  miles  below  Loudon,  Ten- 
nessee, is  a  place  which  the  Cherokee  call  Gustf,  where  there  once 
was  a  settlement  long  ago.  but  one  night  while  the  people  were  gath- 
ered in  the  townhouse  for  a  dance  the  bank  caved  in  and  carried  them 
all  down  into  the  river.  Boatmen  passing  the  spot  in  their  canoes  see 
the  round  dome  of  the  townhouse — now  turned  to  stone — in  the  water 
below  them  and  sometimes  hear  the  sound  of  the  drum  and  dance 
coming  up,  and  they  never  fail  to  throw  food  into  the  water  in  return 
for  being  allowed  to  cross  in  safety. 

80.   THE   SPIRIT   DEFENDERS   OF   NIKWASI' 

Long  ago  a  powerful  unknown  tribe  invaded  the  country  from  the 
southeast,  killing  people  and  destroying  settlements  wherever  they 
went.  No  leader  could  stand  against  them,  and  in  a  little  while  they 
had  wasted  all  the  lower  settlements  and  advanced  into  the  mountains. 
The  warriors  of  the  old  town  of  Nikwasi',  on  the  head  of  Little 
Tennessee,  gathered  their  wives  and  children  into  the  townhouse  and 
kept  scouts  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  the  presence  of  danger. 
One  morning  just  before  daybreak  the  spies  saw  the  enemy  approach- 
ing and  at  once  gave  the  alarm.  The  Nikwasi'  men  seized  their  arms 
and  rushed  out  to  meet  the  attack,  but  after  a  long,  hard  fight  they 
found  themselves  overpowered  and  began  to  retreat,  when  suddenly  a 
stranger  stood  among  them  and  shouted  to  the  chief  to  call  off  his  men 
and  he  himself  would  drive  back  the  enemy.  From  the  dress  and 
language  of  the  stranger  the  Nikwasi'  people  thought  him  a  chief 
who  had  come  with  reinforcements  from  the  Overhill  settlements  in 
Tennessee.  They  fell  back  along  the  trail,  and  as  they  came  near  the 
townhouse  they  saw  a  great  company  of  warriors  coming  out  from  the 
side  of  the  mound  as  through  an  open  doorway.  Then  they  knew  that 
their  friends  were  the  Nunne'hi,  the  Immortals,  although  no  one  had 
ever  heard  before  that  they  lived  under  Nikwasi'  mound. 

The  Nunne'hi  poured  out  by  hundreds,  armed  and  painted  for  the 


mooney]  THE    SPIEIT    DEFENDERS    OE    NIKWASl'  337 

fight,  and  the  most  curious  thing  about  it  all  wus  that  they  became 
invisible  as  soon  as  they  were  fairly  outside  of  the  settlement,  so  that 
although  the  enemy  saw  the  glancing  arrows  or  the  rushing  tomahawk, 
and  felt  the  stroke,  he  could  not  see  who  sent  it.  Before  such  invis- 
ible foes  the  invaders  soon  had  to  retreat,  going  first  south  along  the 
ridge  to  where  joins  the  main  ridge  which  separates  the  French  Broad 
from  the  Tuckasegee,  and  then  turning  with  it  to  the  northeast.  As 
they  retreated  thej  tried  to  shield  themselves  behind  rocks  and  trees, 
hut  the  Nunne'hi  arrows  went  around  the  rocks  and  killed  them  from 
the  other  side,  and  they  could  find  no  hiding  place.  All  (done-  the 
ridge  they  fell,  until  when  they  reached  the  head  of  Tuckasegee  not 
more  than  half  a  dozen  were  left  alive,  and  in  despair  they  sat  down 
anil  cried  out  for  mercy.  Ever  since  then  the  Cherokee  have  called 
tin'  place  Dayulsun'yl,  "Where  the  y  cried."  Then  the  Nunne'hi  chief 
told  them  they  had  deserved  their  punishment  for  attacking  a  peaceful 
tribe,  and  he  spared  their  lives  and  told  them  to  go  home  and  take  the 
new-  to  their  people.  This  was  the  Indian  custom,  always  to  spare  a 
few  to  carry  back  the  news  of  defeat.  They  went  home  toward  the 
north  and  the  Nunne'hi  went  hack  to  the  mound. 

And  they  are  >till  there,  because,  in  the  last  war.  when  a  strong 
party  of  Federal  troops  came  to  surprise  a  handful  of  Confederates 
posted  there  they  saw  so  man\  soldiers  guarding  the  town  that  they 
were  afraid  and  went  away  without  making  an  attack. 

*   -  ■:;  -.:■  *  ■;>  :.  * 

There  is  another  story,  that  once  while  all  the  warriors  of  a  certain 
town  were  off  on  a  hunt,  or  at  a  dance  in  another  settlement,  one  old 
man  was  chopping  wood  on  the  side  of  the  ridge  when  suddenly  a 
party  of  the  enemy  came  upon  him — Shawano,  Seneca,  or  some  other 
tribe.  Throwing  his  hatchet  at  the  nearest  one.  he  turned  and  ran  for 
the  house  to  yet  his  gun  and  make  the  best  defense  that  lie  might.  <  )n 
coming  out  at  once  with  the  gun  lie  was  surprised  to  find  a  large  body 
of  strange  warriors  driving  hack  the  enemy.  It  was  no  time  for  ques- 
tions, and  taking  his  place  with  the  others,  they  fought  hard  until  the 
enemy  was  pressed  back  up  the  creek  and  finally  broke  and  retreated 
across  the  mountain.  When  it  was  over  and  there  was  time  to  breathe 
again,  the  old  man  turned  to  thank  his  new  friends,  hut  found  that  he 
was  alone  -they  had  disappeared  as  though  the  mountain  had  -wal- 
lowed them.  Then  he  knew  that  they  were  the  Nunne'hi.  who  had 
come  to  help  their  friends,  the  Cherokee. 

81.  TSUL'KALU',    THE    SLANT-EYED    GIANT 

A  lony  time  ago  a  widow  lived  with  her  one  daughter  at  the  old 
town  of  Kanuga  on  Pigeon  river.     The  girl  was  of  age  to  marry,  and 

her  mother  used  to  talk   with  her  a  good  deal,  and  tdl  her  she  must 

l'.l    ETH— 01 22 


3S8  MYTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.aks.19 

be  sure  tci  take  no  one  but  a  good  hunter  for  a  husband,  so  that  they 
would  have  some  one  to  take  care  of  them  and  would  always  have 
plenty  of  meat  in  the  house.  The  girl  said  such  a  man  was  hard  to 
find,  but  her  mother  advised  her  not  to  be  in  a  hurry,  and  to  wait  until 
the  right  one  eame. 

Now  the  mother  slept  in  the  house  while  the  girl  slept  outside  in  the 
asi.  One  dark  night  a  stranger  eame  to  the  asi  wanting  to  court 
the  girl,  but  she  told  him  her  mother  would  let  her  marry  no  one  but 
a  good  hunter.  •"Well."  said  the  stranger,  "1  am  a  great  hunter," 
so  she  let  him  come  in.  and  he  stayed  all  aight.  .hist  before  day  he 
said  he  must  go  back  now  to  his  own  place,  hut  that  he  had  brought 
some  meat  for  her  mother,  and  she  would  rind  it  outside.  Then  he 
went  away  and  the  girl  had  not  seen  him.  When  day  came  she  went 
out  and  found  there  a  deer,  which  she  brought  into  the  house  to  her 
mother,  ami  told  her  it  was  a  present  from  her  new  sweetheart.  Her 
mother  was  pleased,  and  they  had  deersteaks  for  breakfast. 

Hi'  eame  again  the  next  night,  hut  again  went  away  before  daylight, 
and  this  time  he  left  two  deer  outside.  The  mother  was  more  pleased 
this  time,  but  said  to  her  daughter.  "'I  wish  your  sweetheart  would 
bring  us  some  wood."  Now  wherever  he  might  be,  the  stranger  knew 
their  thoughts,  so  when  he  eame  the  next  time  he  said  to  the  girl. 
'"Tell  your  mother  I  have  brought  the  wood":  and  when  she  looked 
out  in  the  morning  there  were  several  great  trees  lying  in  front  of 
the  door,  roots  and  branches  and  all.  The  old  woman  was  angry,  and 
said.  "  He  might  have  brought  us  some  wood  that  we  could  use  instead 
of  whole  trees  that  we  can't  split,  to  litter  up  the  road  with  brush." 
The  hunter  knew  what  she  said,  and  the  next  time  he  eame  he  brought 
nothing,  and  when  they  looked  out  in  the  morning  the  trees  were 
gone  and  there  was  no  wood  at  all.  so  the  old  woman  had  to  go  after 
some  herself. 

Almost  every  night  he  came  to  see  the  girl,  and  each  time  he 
bi'ought  a  deer  or  some  other  eame.  hut  still  he  always  left  before 
daylight.  At  last  her  mother  said  to  her.  "Your  husband  always 
le;u  es  before  daylight.  Why  don't  he  wait?  1  want  to  see  what  kind 
of  a  son-in-law  1  have."  When  the  girl  told  this  to  her  husband  he 
said  he  could  not  let  the  old  woman  see  him.  because  the  sight  would 
frighten  her.  "She  wants  to  see  you,  anyhow."  said  the  girl,  and 
began  t<>  cry,  until  at  last  he  had  to  consent,  hut  warned  her  that  her 
mother  must  not  say  that  he  looked  frightful  (usga'sS'ti'yu). 

The  next  morning  he  did  not  leave  so  early,  hut  stayed  in  the  fisi, 
and  when  it  was  daylight  the  girl  went  out  and  told  her  mother.  The 
old  woman  came  and  looked  in.  and  there  she  saw  a  great  giant,  with 
lone-  slanting  eyes  {tsul  LiihY).  lying  doubled  up  on  the  floor,  with  his 
head  against  the  rafters  in  the  left  hand  corner  at  the  hack,  and  his 
toes  scraping  the  roof  in  the  right-hand  corner  by  the  door.     She 


tsul'k  \  l  i  ■"'•"■'.| 

gave  "iil\  one  look  and  ran  back  to  the  house,  crying,  Usga'gt  ti'yu! 
si  ti'yu! 

Tsui  kahV  was  terribly  angrj  .     He  untwisted  himself  and  ca ul 

of  the  fisi,  and  said  good-bye  to  the  girl,  telling  her  thai  he  would  ne\  er 
let  her  mother  see  him  again,  but  would  go  back  to  his  own  country. 
Then  he  went  off  in  the  direction  of  Tsunegun'yi. 

Soon  after  he  left  the  girl  had  her  monthly  period.  There  was  a  \  ery 
great  Hoyi  of  blood,  and  the  mother  threw  it  all  into  the  river.  One 
nighl  after  the  girl  had  gone  to  bed  in  the  sis)  her  husband  came  again 
to  the  door  and  said  to  her.  "  It  seems  you  are  alone."  and  asked  where 
was  the  child.  She  said  there  had  been  none.  Then  he  asked  where 
was  the  blood,  and  -he  said  thai  her  mother  had  thrown  it  into  the 
river.  She  told  just  where  the  place  was, and  he  went  there  and  found 
a  small  worm  in  the  water.  He  took  it  up  and  carried  it  hack  to  the 
:1st.  and  as  he  walked  it  took  form  and  began  to  grow,  until,  when  he 
reached  the  asi.  it  was  a  baby  uirl  that  he  was  carrying.  He  gave  it 
to  his  wife  and  said.  "Your  mother  does  not  like  me  and  abuses  our 
child,  so  come  and  let  us  go  to  my  home."  The  girl  wanted  to  lie  with 
her  husband,  so,  after  telling  her  mother  good-bye,  she  took  up  the 
child  and  they  went  off  together  to  Tsunegun'yi. 

Now.  the  girl  had  an  older  In-other,  who  lived  with  his  own  wife  in 
another  settlement,  and  when  he  heard  that  his  sister  was  married  he 
came  to  pay  a  visit  to  her  and  her  new  husband,  hut  when  he  arrived  at 
Kanuga  his  mother  told  him  his  sister  had  taken  her  child  and  gone 
away  with  her  husband,  nobody  knew  where.  He  was  sorry  to  see  his 
mother  so  lonely,  so  he  said  he  would  go  after  his  sister  and  try  to  find  her 
and  bring  her  hack.  It  w  as  easy  to  follow  the  footprints  of  the  giant, 
and  the  young  man  went  alone-  the  trail  until  he  came  to  a  place  w  here 
they  had  re-ted.  and  there  were  tracks  on  the  ground  where  a  child  had 
been  lying  and  other  marks  as  if  a  baby  had  been  horn  there,  lie  went 
on  along  the  trail  and  came  to  another  place  where  they  had  rested, 
and  there  wen^  tracks  of  a  baby  crawling  about  and  another  lying  on 
the  ground.  He  went  on  and  came  to  where  they  had  rested  again, 
and  there  were  tracks  of  a  child  walking  and  another  crawling  about. 
Ih- went  on  until  he  came  where  they  had  rested  again,  and  there 
were  tracks  of  one  child  running  and  another  walking.  Still  he  fol- 
lowed the  trail  alone-  the  stream  into  the  mountain-,  and  came  to  the 
place  Where  they  had  re-ted  again,  and  this  time  there  were  footprints 
of  two  children  running  all  about,  and  the  footprints  can  -till  he  seen 
in  tlie  rock  at  that  place. 

Twice  again  he  found  where  they  had  rested,  and  then  the  trail  led 
up  the  -lope  (if  Tsunegun'yi,  and  he  heard  the  sound  of  a  drum  and 
voices,  as  if  people  were  dancing  inside  the  mountain.  Soon  he  came 
to  a  cave  like  a  doorway  in  the  side  of  the  mountain,  hut  the  rock  was 
so  -teep  and  smooth  that   he  could  not  climb  up  to  it.  hut  could  only 


340  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

just  look  over  the  edge  and  sec  the  heads  and  shoulders  of  a  great  many 
people  dancing  inside.  He  saw  his  sister  dancing  among-  them  and 
called  to  her  to  come  out.  She  turned  when  she  heard  his  voice,  and 
as  soon  as  the  drumming  stopped  for  a  while  she  came  out  to  him, 
finding  do  trouble  to  climb  down  the  rock,  and  leading-  her  two  little 
children  by  the  hand.  She  was  very  glad  to  meet  her  brother  and 
talked  with  him  a  long-  time,  but  did  not  ask  him  to  come  inside,  and 
at  last  he  went  away  without  having-  seen  her  husband. 

Several  other  times  her  brother  came  to  the  mountain,  but  always 
his  sisler  met  him  outside,  and  he  could  never  see  her  husband.  After 
four  years  had  passed  she  came  one  day  to  her  mother's  house  and 
said  her  husband  had  been  hunting-  in  the  woods  near  by.  and  they  were 
getting  ready  to  start  home  to-morrow,  and  if  her  mother  and  brother 
would  come  early  in  the  morning  they  could  see  her  husband.  If  they 
caine  too  late  for  .that,  she  said,  they  would  find  plenty  of  meat  to 
take  home.  She  went  back  into  the  woods,  and  the  mother  ran  to  tell 
her  son.  They  came  to  the  place  early  the  next  morning,  but  Tsuf- 
kalu'  and  his  family  were  already  gone.  On  the  drying  poles  they 
found  the  bodies  of  freshly  killed  deer  hanging,  as  the  girl  had  prom- 
ised, and  there  were  so  many  that  they  went  back  and  told  all  their 
friends  to  come  for  them,  and  there  were  enough  for  the  whole  settle- 
ment. 

Still  the  brother  wanted  to  see  his  sister  and  her  husband,  so  he 
went  again  to  the  mountain,  and  she  came  out  to  meet  him.  He  asked 
to  see  her  husband,  and  this  time  she  told  him  to  come  inside  with  her. 
They  went  in  as  through  a  doorway,  and  inside  he  found  it  like  agreal 
townhouse.  They  seemed  to  lie  alone,  but  his  sister  called  aloud.  "He 
wants  to  see  you."  and  from  the  air  came  a  voice,  "You  can  not  see 
me  until  you  put  on  a  new  dress,  and  then  you  can  see  me."  "I  am 
willing."  said  the  young  man.  sneaking  to  the  unseen  spirit,  and  from 
the  air  came  the  voice  again.  "Go  back,  then,  and  tell  your  peop'e 
that  to  see  me  they  must  go  into  the  townhouse  and  fast  seven  days, 
and  in  all  that  time  they  must  not  come  out  from  the  townhouse  or 
raise  the  war  whoop,  and  on  the  seventh  day  I  shall  come  with  new 
dresses  for  you  to  put  on  so  that  you  can  all  see  me." 

The  young  man  went  back  to  Kanuga  and  told  the  people.  They  all 
wanted  to  see  TsuTkalu',  who  owned  all  the  game  in  the  mountains, 
so  they  went  into  the  townhouse  and  began  the  fast.  They  fasted 
the  first  day  and  the  second  and  every  day  until  the  seventh — all  but 
ont^  man  from  another  settlement,  who  slipped  out  every  night  when 
it  was  dark  to  get  something  to  eat  and  slipped  in  again  when  no  one 
was  watching.  On  the  morning  of  the  seventh  day  the  sun  was  just 
coming  up  in  the  east  when  they  heard  a  great  noise  like  the  thunder  of 
rocks  rolling  down  the  side  of  Tsunegun'yi.  They  were  frightened, 
and  drew   near  together  in    the  townhouse,  and   no  one   whispered. 


Tsl'l.'k  A  I.I   '  341 

Nearer  and  louder  came  the  sound  until  it  gre^  into  an  aw  ful  rear,  and 
everj  one  trembled  and  held  his  breath  all  but  one  man.  the  stranger 
from  the  other  settlement,  who  losl  his  senses  from  fear  and  ran  cut 
of  the  townhouse  and  shouted  the  war  crj . 

At  once  the  roar  stopped  and  for  some  time  there  was  silence.  Then 
tli«-\  heard  ii  again,  but  as  if  it  were  going  farther  away,  and  then 
farther  and  farther,  until  at  last  ii  died  away  in  the  direction  of 
Tsunegufi'yi.  and  then  all  was  still  again.  The  people  came  out  from 
the  townhouse,  but  then'  was  silence,  and  they  could  see  nothing  but 
what  had  been  seven  days  before. 

Still  the  brother  was  not  disheartened,  but  came  again  to  see  his 
sister,  and  she  broughl  him  into  the  mountain.  He  asked  why  Tsul'kalu' 
had  not  brought  the  new  dresses,  as  he  had  promised,  and  the  voice 
from  the  air  said.  "  I  came  with  them,  but  you  did  not  obey  my  word. 
but  broke  the  fast  and  raised  the  war  cry."  The  young  man  answered, 
•'It  was  not  done  by  our  people,  hut  by  a  stranger.  It'  you  will  come 
again,  we  will  surely  do  as  you  say."  But  the  voice  answered,  "  Now 
you  can  never  see  me."  Then  the  young  man  could  not  say  any  more, 
and  he  went  back  to  Kanuga. 

82.   KANA'STA,   THE   LOST   SETTLEMENT 

Long  ago,  while  people  still  lived  in  the  old  town  of  Kana'sta,  03 
the  French  Broad, two  strangei's, who  looked  in  no  way  different  from 

other  Cherokee,  came  into  the  settlement  one  day  and  made  their  way 
into  the  chief 's  house.  After  the  first  greetings  were  over  the  chief 
asked  them  from  what  town  they  had  come,  thinking  them  from 
one  of  the  western  settlements,  but  they  said,  "We  are  of  your  people 
and  our  town  is  close  at  hand,  but  you  have  never  seen  it.  Here 
you  have  wars  and  sickness,  with  enemies  on  every  side,  and  after 
a  while  a  stronger  enemy  will  come  to  take  your  country  from  you. 
We  are  always  happy,  and  we  have  come  to  invite  you  to  live  w  ith  u> 
in  our  town  over  there."'  and  they  pointed  toward  Tsuwa  tel'da  (Pilot 
knolii.  "We  do  not  live  forever,  and  do  not  always  find  game 
when  we  go  for  it.  for  the  game  belongs  to  Tsulkalu',  who  lives  in 
Tsunegufi'yi,  but  we  have  peace  always  and  need  not  think  of  danger. 

We  g w.  but  if  your  people  will  live  with  us  let  them  fast  seven 

days,  and  we  shall  come  then  to  take  them."  Then  they  went  away 
toward  the  west. 

The  chief  called  his  people  together  into  the  townhouse  andthej  held 
a  council  over  the  matter  and  decided  at  hist  to  go  with  the  strangers. 
They  got  all  their  property  read}  for  moving, and  then  went  again  into 
the  townhouse  and  began  their  fast.  They  fasted  six  days,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  seventh,  he  fore  yet  the  sun  was  high,  they  saw  a  great 
company  coming  along  the  trail  from  the  west,  led  by  the  two  men 


342  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


who  had  stopped  with  the  chief.    They  see <1  just  like  Cherokee  from 

another  settlement,  and  after  a  friendly  meeting  they  took  up  a  part 
of  the  goods  to  be  carried,  and  the  two  parties  started  hack  together 
for  Tsuwatel'da.  There  was  one  man  from  another  town  visiting  at 
Kana'sta.  and  he  went  along  with  the  rest. 

When  they  came  to  the  mountain,  the  two  guides  led  the  way  into  a 
cave,  which  opened  out  like  a  great  door  in  the  side  of  the  rock, 
[nside  they  found  an  open  country  and  a  town,  with  houses  ranged  in 
two  lone-  rows  from  east  to  west.  The  mountain  people  lived  in  the 
houses  on  tlie  south  side,  and  they  had  made  ready  the  other  houses 
for  the  newcomers,  hut  even  after  all  the  people  of  Kana'sta.  with 
their  children  and  belongings,  had  moved  in,  there  were  still  a  large 
number  of  houses  waiting  ready  for  the  next  who  might  come.  The 
mountain  people  told  them  that  there  was  another  town,  of  a  different 
people,  above  them  in  the  same  mountain,  and  still  farther  above,  at 
the  very  top,  lived  the  Ani'-HyuntikwaM'ski  (the  Thunders). 

Now  all  the  people  of  Kana'sta  were  settled  in  their  new  homes,  but 
the  man  who  had  only  been  visiting  with  them  wanted  to  go  back  to 
his  own  friends.  Some  of  the  mountain  people  wanted  to  prevent 
this,  but  the  chief  said.  "No;  let  him  go  if  he  will,  and  when  he  tells 
his  friends  they  may  want  to  come,  too.  There  is  plenty  of  room  for 
all."  Then  he  said  to  the  man.  "Go  back  and  tell  your  friends  that  if 
they  want  to  come  and  live  with  us  and  be  always  happy,  there  is  a 
place  here  ready  and  waiting  for  them.  Others  of  us  live  in  Datsu'- 
Dalasgun'yi  and  in  the  high  mountains  all  around,  and  if  they  would 
rather  go  to  any  of  them  it  is  all  the  same.  We  see  you  wherever 
you  go  and  are  with  you   in  all  your  dances,  but   you  can   not  see  us 

unless  you  fast.     If  you  want  to  see  us.  fast    f ■  days,  and  we  will 

come  and  talk  with  you;  and  then  if  you  want  to  live  with  us,  fast 
again  seven  days,  and  we  will  come  and  take  you."  Then  the  chief 
led  the  man  through  the  cave  to  the  outside  of  the  mountain  and  left 
him  there,  but  when  the  man  looked  back  he  saw  no  cave,  but  only 
the  solid  rock. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

The  people  of  the  lost  settlement  were  never  seen  again,  and  they 
are  still  living  in  Tsuwa'tel'da.  Strange  things  happen  there,  so  that 
the  Cherokee  know  the  mountain  is  haunted  and  do  not  like  to  go 
near  it.  Only  a  few  years  ago  a  party  of  hunters  camped  there,  and 
as  they  sat  around  their  tire  at  supper  time  they  talked  of  the  story 
and  made  rough  jokes  about  the  people  of  old  Kana'sta.  That  night 
they  were  aroused  from  sleep  by  a  noise  as  of  stones  thrown  at  them 
from  among  the  trees,  but  when  they  searched  they  could  find  nobody, 
and  were  so  frightened  that  they  gathered  up  their  guns  and  pouches 
and  left  the  place. 


i mm  THE    MOUNTAIN    PEOPLE  343 

83.  TSUWE'NAhI:  a   legend   of   pilot   knob 

Iii  the  old  town  of  Kanuga,  on  Pigeon  river,  there  was  a  lazy  fellow 
named  Tsuwe'nahl,  who  lived  from  house  to  house  among  his  relativi 
and  never  brought  home  any  game,  although  he  used  to  spend  nearly 
all  his  time  in  the  woods.  At  last  his  friends  gol  ren  tired  of  keep 
ing  him,  so  he  told  them  to  gel  some  parched  corn  ready  for  him  and 
he  would  go  and  bring  back  a  deer  or  else  would  never  trouble  them 
again.  They  filled  his  pouch  with  parched  corn,  enough  for  a  long  trip, 
and  he  started  off  for  the  mountains.  l'a\  after  day  passed  until  they 
thought  the\  had  really  seen  the  l:i-t  of  him,  but  before  the  month  was 
half  gone  he  was  back  again  at  K&nuga,  with  no  deer,  but  with  a  won- 
derful story  to  tell. 

He  said  that  he  had  hardly  turned  away  from  the  trail  to  go  up  the 
ridge  when  he  met  a  stranger,  who  asked  him  where  he  was  'join-. 
Tsuwe'nahl  answered  that  his  friends  in  the  settlement  had  driven  him 
out  because  he  was  no  good  hunter,  and  that  if  he  did  not  find  a  deer 
this  time  he  would  never  go  hack  again.  "Why  not  come  with  me!" 
said  the  stranger,  "  niv  town  is  not  far  from  here,  and  you  have  rela- 
tives then'."  Tsuwe'nahl  was  very  glad  of  the  chance,  because  he 
was  ashamed  to  go  back  to  his  own  town;  so  he  went  with  the  stranger, 
who  took  him  to  Tsuwa  tel'da  (Pilot  knob).  They  came  to  a  cave. 
and  the  other  said.  "Let  us  go  in  hen':"'  hut  the  cave  ran  clear  to  the 
heart  of  the  mountain,  and  when  they  were  inside  the  hunter  found 
there  an  open  country  like  a  wide  bottom  land,  with  a  great  settle- 
ment and  hundreds  of  people.  They  were  all  glad  to  see  him.  and 
brought  him  to  their  chief,  who  took  him  into  his  own  house  and 
showed  him  a  scat  near  the  fire.  Tsuwe'nahl  sat  down,  hut  he  fell  it 
move  under  him.  and  when  he  looked  again  he  saw  that  it  was  a  tur- 
tle, with  it-  head  sticking  out  from  the  shell.  He  jumped  up,  hut  the 
chief  -aid,  "It  won't  hurt  you;  it  only  wants  to  see  who  you  are." 
So  he  -at  down  very  carefully,  and  tin-  turtle  drew  in  its  head  again. 
They  brought  food,  of  the  same  kind  that  he  had  been  accustomed  to 
at  home,  and  when  lie  had  eaten  the  chief  took  him  through  the  set- 
tlement until  he  had  seen  all  the  houses  and  talked  with  most  of  the 
people.  When  he  bad  seen  everything  and  had  re-ted  some  day-,  he 
wa- an.\iou-  to  get  hack  to  his  home,  so  the  chief  himself  brought  him 
to  the  mouth  of  the  cave  and  showed  him  the  trail  that  led  down  to  the 
river.  Then  hi'  said.  "  Von  are  going  back  to  the  settlement,  but  you 
will  never  he  satisfied  there  any  more.  Whenever  you  want  to  come 
to  us,  you  know  tin'  way."  The  chief  left  him.  and  Tsuwe'nahl  went 
dow  a  the  mountain  and  alone'  the  river  until  he  came  to  Kanuga. 

lie  told  his  -tory.  hut  n«>  one  believed  it  and  the  people  only  laughed 
at  him.  After  that  he  would  go  awa\  very  often  and  '»•  gone  for  sev- 
eral days  at  a  time,  ami  when  he  came  hack  to  the  settlement  he  would 


844  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


say  he  had  been  with  the  mountain  people.  At  last  one  man  said  he 
believed  the  story  and  would  go  with  him  to  see.  They  went  off 
together  t<>  the  woods,  where  they  made  a  camp,  and  then  Tsuwe'nahi 
went  on  ahead,  saying  he  would  !><•  hack  soon.  The  other  waited  for 
him,  doing  a  little  hunting  near  the  camp,  and  two  nights  afterwards 
Tsuwe'nahi  was  hack  again.  He  seemed  to  be  alone,  hut  was  talking 
as  he  came,  and  the  other  hunter  heard  girls'  voices,  although  he  could 
see  no  one.  When  he  came  up  to  the  fire  he  said.  "I  have  two  friends 
with  me,  and  they  say  there  is  to  be  a  dance  in  their  town  in  two 
nights,  and  if  you  want  to  go  they  will  come  for  you."  The  hunter 
agreed  at  once,  and  Tsuwe'nahi  called  out,  as  if  to  some  one  close  by, 
'"lie  says  he  will  go."  Then  lie  said.  "Our  sisters  have  come  for  some 
venison."  The  hunter  had  killed  a  deer  and  had  the  meat  drying  over 
the  tire,  so  he  said.  "What  kind  do  they  want?"  The  voices  answered. 
"Our  mother  told  us  to  ask  for  some  of  the  ribs,"  but  still  he  could 
see  nothing.  He  took  down  some  rib  pieces  and  gave  them  to  Tsu- 
we'nahi, who  took  them  and  said.  "In  two  days  we  shall  come  again 
for  you."  Then  he  started  oil.  and  the  other  heard  the  voices  going 
through  the  woods  until  all  was  still  again. 

In  two  days  Tsuwe'nahi  came,  and  this  time  he  had  two  girls  with 
him.  As  they  stood  near  the  tire  the  hunter  noticed  that  their  feet 
were  short  and  round,  almost  like  dogs'  paws,  hut  as  soon  as  they  saw 
him  looking  they  sat  down  so  that  he  could  not  see  their  feet.  After 
supper  the  whole  party  left  the  camp  and  went  up  along  the  creek  to 
Tsuwatel'da.  They  went  in  through  the  cave  door  until  they  got  to 
the  farther  end  and  could  see  houses  beyond,  when  all  at  once  the 
hunter's  legs  felt  as  if  they  were  dead  and  he  staggered  and  fell  to 
the  ground.  The  others  lifted  him  up,  hut  still  he  could  not  stand, 
until  the  medicine-man  brought  some  "old  tobacco"  and  rubbed  it 
on  his  legs  and  made  him  smell  it  until  he  sneezed.  Then  lie  was 
able  to  stand  again  and  went  in  with  the  others.  He  could  not  stand  at 
first,  because  he  had  not  prepared  himself  by  fasting  before  he  started. 

The  dance  had  not  yet  begun  and  Tsuwe'nahi  took  the  hunter  into  the 
townhouse  and  showed  him  a  seat  near  the  fire,  but  it  had  long  thorns 
of  honey  locust  sticking  out  from  it  and  he  was  afraid  to  sit  down. 
Tsuwe'nahi  told  him  not  to  be  afraid,  so  he  sat  down  and  found  that 
the  thorns  were  as  soft  as  down  feathers.  Now  the  drummer  came  in 
ami  the  dancers,  and  the  dance  began.  One  man  followed  at  the  end 
of  the  line,  crying  Kh!  Kh!  all  the  time,  but  not  dancing.  The 
hunter  wondered,  and  they  told  him.  "This  man  was  lost  in  the  moun- 
tain- and  had  been  calling  all  through  the  woods  for  his  friends  until 
his  voice  failed  and  he  was  only  able  to  pant  Kh!  Kh!  and  then  we 
found  him  and  took  him  in." 

When  it  was  over  Tsuwe'nahi  and  the  hunter  went  back  to  the  set- 
tlement.    At  the  next  dance  in  Kanuga  they  told  all  they  had  seen  at 


THE    THUNDER     \N1>    Ills    SISTERS  345 

Tsuwa tel'da,  what  a  large  town  was  there  and  how  kind  everybody 
was,  and  this  time  because  there  were  two  of  them  the  people 
believed  it.  Now  others  wauled  to  go,  but  Tsuwe'nahi  told  them  they 
must  firs!  fast  seven  days,  while  he  went  ahead  to  prepare  everything, 
and  then  he  would  come  and  brine-  them.  lie  wen!  away  and  the 
others  fasted,  until  at  the  end  of  seven  days  he  came  for  them  and  they 
went  with  him  to  Tsuwa'tel'da,  and  their  friends  in  the  settlement 
never  saw  them  again. 

84.   THE   MAN    WHO    MARRIED   THE   THUNDER'S   SISTER 

In  the  old  times  the  people  used  to  dance  often  and  all  night. 
Once  there  was  a  dance  at  the  old  town  of  Sakwi'yi,  on  the  head  of 
Chattahoochee,  and  after  it  was  well  started  two  young  women  with 
beautiful  lone-  hair  came  in.  but  no  one  knew  who  they  weir  or 
whence  they  had  come.  They  danced  with  one  partner  and  another, 
and    in    the    morning  slipped  awa\     before  anyone    knew    that    thej 

were  gone;  hut  a  young  warrior  had  fallen  in  love  with  <  of  the 

sisters  on  account  of  her  beautiful  hair,  and  after  the  manner  of  the 
Cherokee  had  already  asked  her  through  an  old  man  if  she  would 
marry  him  and  let  him  live  with  her.  To  this  the  young  woman  had 
replied  that  her  brother  at  home  must  first  he  consulted,  and  they 
promised  to  return  for  the  next  dance  seven  days  later  with  an  answer. 
but  in  the  meantime  if  the  young  man  really  loved  her  he  must  prove 
his  constancy  by  a  rigid  fast  until  then.  The  eager  lover  readily 
agreed  and  impatient!)  counted  the  days. 

In  seven  nights  there  was  another  dance.  The  young  warrior  was 
on  hand  early,  and  later  in  the  evening  the  two  sisters  appeared  as 
suddenly  as  before.  They  told  him  their  brother  was  willing,  and 
after  the  dance  they  would  conduct  the  young  man  to  their  home,  but 
warned  him  that  if  he  told  anyone  where  he  went  or  what  he  saw  he 
would  surely  die. 

He  danced  with  theinauain  and  about  daylight  the  three  came  away 
ju-i  before  the  dance  closed,  so  as  to  avoid  being  followed,  and  started 
oil  together.  The  women  led  the  way  alone- a  trail  through  the  woods, 
which  the  young  man  had  never  noticed  before,  until  they  came  to  a 
small  creek,  where,  without  hesitating,  they  stepped  into  the  water. 
The  young  man  paused  in  surprise  on  the  bank  and  thought  to  himself, 
"They  are  walking  in  the  water:  I  don't  want  to  do  that."  Tin- 
women  knew  his  thoughts  just  as  though  he  had  spoken  and  turned 
and  -aid  to  him.  "■This  is  not  water;  this  is  the  road  to  our  house." 
He  still  hesitated,  hut  they  urged  him  on  until  he  stepped  into  the 
water  and  found  it  was  only  soft  grass  that  made  a  tine  level  trail. 

They  went  on  until  the  trail  came  to  a  large  stream  which  In-  knew 
for  Tallulah  river.  The  women  plunged  boldly  in.  but  again  tin-  war- 
rior hesitated  on  the  bank,  thinking  to  himself,  ""That  water  is  very 


•~>4li  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

deep  and  will  drown  me;  I  can'tgo  on."  They  knew  his  thoughts  and 
turned  and  said,  "'This  is  no  water,  but  the  main  trail  that  got'-  past 
our  bouse,  which  is  now  close  by."  He  stepped  in,  and  instead  of 
water  there  was  tall  waving  grass  that  closed  above  his  head  as  he 
followed  them. 

They  went  only  a  short  distance  and  came  to  a  rock  cave  close 
under  [Jgufi'y]  (Tallulah  falls).  The  women  entered,  while  the  war- 
rior stopped  at  the  mouth:  but  they  said.  "This  is  our  house:  come  in 
and  oar  brother  will  soon  be  home;  he  is  coming  now.'"  They  heard 
low  thunder  in  the  distance.  He  went  inside  and  stood  up  close  to  the 
entrance.  Then  the  women  took  off  their  long  hair  and  hung  it  up  on 
a  lock,  and  both  their  heads  were  as  smooth  as  a  pumpkin.  The  man 
thought,  "It  is  not  hair  at  all,"  and  he  was  more  frightened  than 
ever. 

The  younger  woman,  the  one  he  was  about  to  marry,  then  sat  down 
and  told  him  to  take  a  seat  beside  her.  He  looked,  and  it  was  a  large 
turtle,  which  raised  itself  up  and  stretched  out  its  claws  as  if  angry  at 
being  disturbed.  The  young  man  said  it  was  a  turtle,  and  refused  to 
sit  down,  but  the  woman  insisted  that  it  was  a  seat.  Then  there  was 
a  louder  roll  of  thunder  and  the  woman  said.  "  Now  our  brother  is 
nearly  home."  While  they  urged  and  he  still  refused  to  come  nearer 
or  sit  down,  suddenly  there  was  a  great  thunder  clap  just  behind  him, 
and  turning  quickly  he  saw  a  man  standing  in  the  doorway  of  the  cave. 

"This  is  my  brother,"  said  the  woman,  and  he  came  in  and  sat  down 
upon  the  turtle,  which  again  rose  up  and  stretched  out  its  claws.  The 
young  warrior  still  refused  to  come  in.  The  brother  then  said  that  he 
was  just  about  to  start  to  a  council,  ami  invited  the  young  man  to  go 
with  him.  The  hunter  said  he  was  willing  to  go  if  only  he  had  a  horse; 
mi  the  young  woman  was  told  to  bring  one.  She  went  out  and  soon 
came  back  leading  a  great  uktena  snake,  that  curled  and  twisted 
along  the  whole  length  of  the  cave.  Some  people  say  this  was  a 
white  uktena  and  that  the  brother  himself  rode  a  red  one.  The  hun- 
ter was  terribly  frightened,  and  said  "That  is  a  snake;  I  can't  ride 
that."  The  others  insisted  that  it  was  no  snake,  but  their  riding 
horse.  The  brother  grew  impatient  and  said  to  the  woman.  "He may 
like  it  better  if  you  bring  him  a  saddle,  and  some  bracelets  for  his 
wrists  and  arms."  So  they  went  out  again  and  brought  in  a  saddle 
and  some  arm  bands,  and  the  saddle  was  another  turtle,  which  they 
fastened  on  the  uktena's  back,  and  the  bracelets  were  living  slimy 
snakes,  which  they  got  ready  to  twist  around  the  hunter's  wrists. 

He  was  almost  dead  with  fear,  and  said,  "What  kind  of  horrible 
place  is  this?  1  can  never  stay  here  to  live  with  snakes  and  creeping 
things."  The  brother  got  very  angry  and  called  him  a  coward,  and 
then  it  was  as  if  lightening  Hashed  from  his  eyes  and  struck  the  young 
man.  and  a  terrible  crash  of  thunder  stretched  him  senseless. 


r\Tii;riii'  3  I  7 

When  at  last  he  came  to  himself  again  he  was  standing  with  hit-  feel 
in  tin'  water  and  both  hands  grasping  a  laurel  bush  thai  grew  oul  from 
the  bank,  and  there  was  no  trace  of  the  cave  or  the  Thunder  People, 
l>ut  he  was  alone  in  the  forest.  He  made  his  way  oul  and  finally 
reached  his  own  settlement,  bul  Eound  then  that  he  had  been  gone  so 
very  long  that  all  the  people  had  thoughl  him  dead,  although  to  him 
it  seemed  only  the  day  after  the  .lance.  His  friends  questioned  him 
closely,  and.  forgetting  the  warning,  he  told  the  story;  l>nt  in  seven 
days  lie  died,  for  no  one  can  come  back  from  the  underworld  and 
tell  it  and  live. 

85.   THE    HAUNTED    WHIRLPOOL 

At  tin'  mouth  of  Suck  creek,  on  the  Tennessee,  about  ^  miles  below 
Chattanooga,  is  a  series  of  dangerous  whirlpools,  known  as  "The  Suck," 
and  noted  among  the  Cherokee  as  the  place  where  UntsaijT,  the 
gambler,  lived  long  ago  (see  the  storj  |.  They  call  it  Un'tiguhi',  "  Pot 
in-the-water,"  on  account  of  the  appearance  of  the  surging,  tumbling 
water,  suggesting  a  boiling  pot.  They  assert  that  in  the  old  times  the 
whirlpools  were  intermittent  in  character,  and  the  canoemen  attempt- 
ing to  pass  the  spot  used  to  hue-  the  bank,  keeping  constantly  on  the 
alert  for  signs  of  a  coming  eruption,  and  when  they  saw  the  water 
begin  to  revolve  more  rapidly  would  stop  and  wait  until  it  became 
quiet  again  before  attempting  to  proceed. 

It  happened  once  that  two  men.  going  down  the  river  in  a  canoe,  as 
they  came  near  this  place  saw  the  water  circling  rapidly  ahead  of  them. 
They  pulled  up  to  the  hank  to  wait  until  it  became  smooth  again,  hut 
the  whirlpool  seemed  to  approach  with  wider  and  wider  circles,  until 
the\  were  drawn  into  the  vortex.  They  were  thrown  out  of  the  canoe 
and  carried  down  under  the  water,  where  one  man  was  seized  by  a 
great  fish  and  was  never  seen  again.     The  other  was  taken  round  and 

round  down  to  the   very    lowesl   center  of    the  whirlpool,  when  another 

circle  caught  him  and  bore  him  outward  ami  upward  until  he  was 
finally  thrown  up  again  to  the  surface  and  floated  out  into  the  -hallow- 
water,  whence  lie  made  his  escape  to  shore.  Ho  told  afterwards  that 
when  he  reached  the  oarrowesl  circle  of  the  maelstrom  the  water 
seemed  to  open  below  him  and  he  could  look  down  as  through  the 
roof  beams  of  a  house,  ami  there  on  the  bottom  of  the  river  he  had 
seen  a  great  company  of  people,  who  looked  up  and  beckoned  to  him 
to  join  them,  hut  as  they  put  up  their  hands  to  seize  him  the  swifl 
current  caught  him  and  took  him  out  of  their  reach. 

86.  YAHULA 

Yahoola  creek,  which  flows  by  I  >ahlonega,  in  Lumpkin  countj  .  Geor 
gia,  is  called  Yahula'i  (Yahula  place)  by  the Cherokees, and  this  i-  the 
story  of  the  name: 


348  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Years  ago,  long-  before  the  Revolution,  Yahula  was  a  prosperous 

stock  trader  among-  the  Cherokee,  and  the  tinkling  of  the  bells  hung 
around  the  necks  of  his  ponies  could  lie  heard  on  every  mountain  trail. 
Once  there  was  a  great  hunt  and  all  the  warriors  were  out.  hut  when 
it  was  over  and  they  were  ready  to  return  to  the  settlement  Yahula 
was  not  with  them.  They  waited  and  searched,  hut  lie  could  not  be 
found,  and  at  last  they  went  back  without  him,  and  his  friends  grieved 
for  him  as  for  one  dead.  Some  time  after  his  people  were  surprised 
and  delighted  to  have  him  walk  in  among  them  and  sit  down  as  they 
were  at  supper  in  the  evening.  To  their  questions  he  told  them  that  he 
had  been  hist  in  the  mountains,  and  that  the  Nunne'hi,  the  Immortals, 
had  found  him  and  brought  him  to  their  town,  where  he  had  been  kept 
ever  since,  with  the  kindest  care  and  treatment,  until  the  longing  to  see 
his  old  friends  had  brought  him  back.  To  the  invitation  of  his  friends 
to  join  them  at  supper  lie  said  that  it  was  now  too  late — he  had  tasted 
the  fairy  food  and  could  never  again  eat  with  human  kind,  and  for  the 
same  reason  lie  could  not  stay  with  his  family,  but  must  go  back  to  the 
Nunne'hi.  His  wife  and  children  and  brother  begged  him  to  stay,  but 
he  said  that  he  could  not;  it  was  either  life  with  the  Immortals  or  death 
with  bis  own  people — and  after  some  further  talk  he  rose  to  go.  They 
saw  him  as  he  sat  talking  to  them  and  as  he  stood  up.  but  the  moment 
he  stepped  out  the  doorway  he  vanished  as  if  he  had  never  been. 

After  that  he  came  back  often  to  visit  his  people.  They  would  see 
him  first  as  he  entered  the  house,  and  while  he  sat  and  talked  he  was 
his  old  self  in  every  way.  but  the  instant  he  stepped  across  the  thresh- 
old he  was  gone,  though  a  hundred  eyes  might  be  watching.  He  came 
often.  Init  at  last  their  entreaties  grew  so  urgent  that  the  Nunne'hi 
must  have  been  offended,  and  he  came  no  more.  On  the  mountain  at 
the  head  of  the  creek,  about  10  miles  above  the  present  Dahlonega,  is 
a  small  square  inclosure  of  uncut  stone,  without  roof  or  entrance. 
Here  it  was  said  that  he  lived,  so  the  Cherokee  called  it  Yahula'i  and 
called  tlie  stream  by  the  same  name.  Often  at  night  a  belated  traveler 
coming  along  the  trail  by  the  creek  would  hear  the  voice  of  Yahula 
singing  certain  favorite  old  songs  that  he  used  to  like  to  sing  as  he 
drove  his  pack  of  horses  across  the  mountain,  the  sound  of  a  voice  urg- 
ing them  on,  and  the  crack  of  a  whip  and  the  tinkling  of  bells  went 
with  the  song,  but  neither  driver  nor  horses  could  be  seen,  although  the 
sounds  passed  close  by.  The  songs  and  the  bells  were  heard  only  at 
night. 

There  was  one  man  who  had  been  his  friend,  who  sang  the  same  songs 
for  a  time  after  Yahula  had  disappeared,  but  he  died  suddenly,  and 
then  the  Cherokee  were  afraid  to  sing  these  songs  any  more  until  it 
was  so  long  since  anyone  had  heard  the  sounds  on  the  mountain  that 
they  thought  Yahula  must  be  gone  away,  perhaps  to  the  West,  where 
others  of  the  tribe  had  already  gone.      It  is  so  long  ago  now  that  even 


THE    CANNIBAL    -1'IIUTS  3  19 

thr  stone  house  may  have  been  destroyed  by  this  time,  bu1  more  than 
one  old  man's  father  -aw  it  and  heard  the  songs  and  the  bells  a  hundred 
years  ago.  When  the  Cherokee  went  from  Georgia  to  Indian  Terri- 
tory in  1838  some  of  them  said,  "Maybe  Vahula  has  gone  there  and 
we  shall  hear  him,"  but  they  have  never  heard  him  again. 

87.  THE  WATER  CANNIBALS 

Besides  the  friendly  Nunng'hi  of  the  streams  and  mountains  there  isa 
race  of  cannibal  spirits,  who  stay  at  the  bottom  of  the  deep  rivers  and 
live  upon  human  flesh,  especially  that  of  little  children.  They  come 
out  just  after  daybreak  and  go  about  unseen  from  house  to  house  until 
they  find  some  one  still  asleep,  when  they  shoot  him  with  their  invisi- 
ble arrows  and  carry  the  dead  body  down  under  the  water  to  feast  upon 
it.  That  no  one  may  know  what  has  happened  they  leave  in  place 
of  the  body  a  shade  or  image  of  the  dead  man  or  little  child,  that  wakes 
up  and  talks  ;ln<l  goes  about  just  as  he  did.  hut  there  i-  no  life  in  it. 
and  in  seven  days  it  withers  and  dies,  and  the  people  bury  it  and  think 
they  are  burying  their  dead  friend.  It  was  a  long  time  before  the 
people  found  out  about  this,  but  now  they  always  try  to  he  awake  at 
daylight  and  wake  up  the  children,  telling  them  "The  hunters  are 
among  you." 

This  is  the  way  they  first  knew  about  the  water  cannibals:  There  was 
a  man  in  Tikwali'tsi  town  who  became  sick  and  grew  worse  until  the 
doctors  said  he  could  not  live,  and  then  his  friends  went  away  from 
the  house  and  left  him  alone  to  die.  They  were  not  so  kind  to  each 
other  in  the  old  times  as  they  are  now  .  because  they  were  afraid  of  the 
witches  that  came  to  torment  dying  people. 

He  was  alone  several  days,  not  able  to  rise  from  his  bed,  when  one 
morning  an  old  woman  came  in  at  the  door.  She  looked  just  like  the 
other  women  of  the  settlement,  hut  he  did  not  know  her.  She  came 
over  to  tin-  lied  and  -aid.  ••You  are  very  sick  and  your  friends  seem  to 
have  left  you.  Come  with  me  and  I  will  make  you  well."  The  man 
was  so  near  death  that  he  could  not  move,  hut  now  her  word-  made 
him  feel  stronger  at  once,  and  he  asked  her  where  she  wanted  him  to 
go.  "We  live  close  by;  come  with  me  and  I  will  show  you."  said  the 
woman,  so  he  got  up  from  his  bed  and  she  led  the  way  down  to  the 
water.  When  she  came  to  the  water  she  stepped  in  and  he  followed, 
and  there  was  a  road  under  the  water,  and  another  country  there  just 
like  that  above. 

They  went  on  until  they  eame  to  a  settlement  with  a  great  many 
houses,  and  women  going  about  their  work  and  children  playing. 
They  met  a  party  of  hunters  coming  in  from  a  hunt,  hut  instead  of 
deer  or  bear  quarters  hanging  from  their  shoulders  the\  carried  the 
bodies  of  dead  men  and  children,  and  several  of  the  bodies  the  man 
knew  for  those  of   hi-  own    friends   in  Tikwali'tsi".     They  eame  to  a 


350  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


house  and  the  woman  said  "This  is  where  I  live,"  and  took  him  in  and 
fixed  a  bed  for  him  and  made  him  comfortable. 

By  this  time  he  was  very  hungry,  but  the  woman  knew  his  thoughts 
and  said.  "  We  must  get  him  something  to  eat.*'  She  took  one  of  the 
bodies  that  the  hunters  had  just  brought  in  and  cut  off  a  slice  to  roast. 
The  man  was  terribly  frightened,  but  she  read  his  thoughts  again  and 
said.  "I  see  you  can  not  eat  our  food."  Then  she  turned  away  from 
him  and  held  her  hands  before  her  stomach — so — and  when  she  turned 
around  again  she  had  them  full  of  bread  and  beans  such  as  he  used  to 
have  at  home. 

So  it  was  every  day.  until  soon  he  was  well  and  strong-  again.  Then 
she  told  him  he  might  go  home  now,  but  he  must  be  sure  not  to  speak 
to  anyone  for  seven  days,  and  if  any  of  his  friends  should  question 
him  he  must  make  signs  as  if  his  throat  were  sore  and  keep  silent. 
She  went  with  him  along  the  same  trail  to  the  water's  edge,  and  the 
water  closed  over  her  and  he  went  back  alone  to  Tikwiili'tsi.  "When 
he  came  there  his  friends  were  surprised,  because  they  thought  he 
had  wandered  off  and  died  in  the  woods.  They  asked  him  where 
he  had  been,  but  he  only  pointed  to  his  throat  and  said  nothing,  so 
they  thought  he  was  not  yet  well  and  let  him  alone  until  the  seven 
days  were  past,  when  he  began  to  talk  again  and  told  the  whole  story. 

Historical  Traditions 
88.  first  contact  with  whites 

There  are  a  few  stories  concerning  the  first  contact  of  the  Cherokee 
with  whites  and  negroes.  They  are  very  modern  and  have  little  value 
as  myths,  but  throw  some  light  upon  the  Indian  estimate  of  the  differ- 
ent races. 

One  story  relates  how  the  first  whites  came  from  the  east  and  tried 
to  enter  into  friendly  relations,  but  the  Indians  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  them  for  a  long  time.  At  last  the  whites  left  a  jug  of  whisky 
and  a  dipper  near  a  spring  frequented  by  the  Indians.  The  Indians 
came  along. -tasted  the  liquor,  which  they  had  never  known  before, 
and  liked  it  so  well  that  they  ended  by  all  getting  comfortably  drunk. 
While  they  were  in  this  happy  frame  of  mind  some  white  men  came 
up.  and  this  time  the  Indians  shook  hands  with  them  and  they  bave 
been  friends  after  a  fashion  ever  since.  This  may  possibly  be  a  Chero- 
kee adaptation  of  the  story  of  Hudson's  first  landing  on  the  island  of 
Manhattan. 

*  *  *  -x-  *  *  * 

At  I  he  creation  an  ulufisu'tl  was  given  to  the  white  man,  and  a  piece 
of  silver  to  the  Indian.  But  the  white  man  despised  the  stone  and 
threw  it  away,  while  the  Indian  did  the  same  with  the  silver.  In 
going  about  the  white  man  afterward  found  the  silver  piece  and  put  it 


the  cndian's  and  white  man's  gifts  35] 

i 1 1 1 ■  >  his  pockel  and  has  prized  it  ever  since.  The  Lndian,  in  like 
manner,  found  the  ulunsu'ti  where  the  white  man  had  thrown  it.  He 
picked  it  up  and  has  kepi  it  since  as  his  talisman,  as  money  is  the 
talismanic  power  of  the  white  man.  This  story  is  quite  general  and 
is  probably  older  than  othei's  of  it-  class. 

****** 
When  Sequoya,  the  inventor  of  the  Cherokee  alphabet,  was  trying 
to  introduce  it  among  his  people,  about  Im'1  some  of  them  opposed  it 
upon  the  ground  that  Indian-  had  no  business  with  reading.  They 
said  that  when  the  Indian  and  the  white  man  were  created,  the  Indian. 
being  the  rider,  was  given  a  book,  while  the  white  man  received  a  how 
and  arrows.  Each  was  instructed  to  take  good  care  of  his  gift  and 
make  the  best  use  of  it.  but  the  Indian  was  so  neglectful  of  his  hook 
that  the  white  man  soon  stole  it  from  him.  leaving-  the  how  in  its  place, 
so  that  hooks  and  reading  now  belong  of  right  to  the  white  man. 
while  the  Indian  ought  to  be  satisfied  to  hunt  for  a  living.  —  <  'heroka 
Advocate,  October  26,  Is  ft. 

The  negro  made  the  first  locomotive  for  a  toy  and  put  it  mi  a 
wooden  track  and  was  having  great  fun  with  it  when  a  white  man 
came  along,  watched  until  he  saw  how  to  run  it.  and  then  killed  the 
negro  and  took  the  locomotive  for  himself.  This,  also,  although 
plainly  of  very  recent  origin,  was  heard  from  several  informants. 

89.  THE  IROQUOIS  WARS 

Long  wars  were  waged  between  the  Cherokee  and  their  remote 
northern  relatives,  the  Iroquois,  with  both  of  whom  the  recollection, 
now  nearly  faded,  was  a  vivid  tradition  fifty  years  ago.  The  (Seneca) 
Iroquois  know  the  Cherokee  as  Oyada'ge'onnon,  a  name  rather  freelj 
rendered  "cave  people."  The  latter  call  the  Iroquois,  or  rather  their 
largest  and  most  aggressive  tribe,  the  Seneca,  Nundawe'gi,  Ani'-Nun- 
dawe'gl,  or  Ani'-Se'nika,  the  first  forms  being derii  ed  from  Nundawa'ga 
or  Nundawa'-ono,  "people  of  the  great  hills.*"  the  name  by  which  the 
Seneca  know-  themselves.  According  to  authorities  quoted  bj  - 
craft,  the  Seneca  claim  to  have  at  one  time  had  a  settlement,  from 
which  they  were  afterward  driven,  at  Seneca.  South  Carolina,  known 
in  history  a-  one  of  the  principal  towns  of  the  Lower  Cherokee. 

The  league  of  the  Iroquois  was  probably  founded  about  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  Before  L680  they  had  conquered  or  exter- 
minated all  the  tribes  upon  their  immediate  borders  and  had  turned 
their  arms  against  the  more  distant  Illinois,  ( latawba,  and  ( Jherokee. 
According  to  Iroquois  tradition,  the  Cherokee  were  the  aggressors, 
having  attacked  and  plundered  a  Seneca  hunting  party  somewhere  in 
the  west,  while  in  another  story  they  are  represented  as  having 
violated  a  peace  treaty   by  the  murder  of   the    Iroquois  delegates. 


352  MYTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Whatever  the  cause,  the  war  was  taken  up  by  all  the  tribes  of  the 
league. 

From  the  Iroquois  country  to  the  Cherokee  frontier  was  considered 
a  five  days'  journey  for  a  rapidly  traveling  war  party.  As  the  distance 
was  too  great  for  large  expeditions,  the  war  consisted  chiefly  of  a  series 
of  individual  exploits,  a  single  Cherokee  often  going  hundreds  of  miles 
to  strike  a  blow,  which  was  sure  to  be  promptly  retaliated  by  the  war- 
riors from  the  north,  the  great  object  of  every  Iroquois  boy  being  to 
go  against  the  Cherokee  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  take  the  war 
path.  Captives  were  made  on  both  sides,  and  probably  in  about  equal 
numbers,  the  two  parties  being  too  evenly  matched  for  either  to  gain 
any  permanent  advantage,  and  a  compromise  was  finally  made  by  which 
the  Tennessee  river  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  boundary  between  their 
rival  claims,  all  south  of  that  stream  being  claimed  by  the  Cherokee, 
and  being  acknowledged  by  the  Iroquois,  as  the  limit  of  their  own  con- 
quests in  that  direction.  This  Indian  boundary  was  recognized  by  the 
British  government  up  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution. 

Morgan  states  that  a  curious  agreement  was  once  made  between  the 
two  tribes,  by  which  this  river  was  also  made  the  limit  of  pursuit.  If 
a  returning  war  party  of  the  Cherokee  could  recross  the  Tennessee 
before  they  were  overtaken  by  the  pursuing  Iroquois  the}'  were  as  safe 
from  attack  as  though  entrenched- behind  a  stockade.  The  pursuers, 
if  they  chose,  might  still  invade  the  territory  of  the  enemy,  but  they 
passed  by  the  camp  of  the  retreating  Cherokee  without  offering  to 
attack  them.  A  similar  agreement  existed  for  a  time  between  the 
Seneca  and  the  Erie. 

The  Buffalo  dance  of  the  Iroquois  is  traditionally  said  to  have  bad 
its  origin  in  an  expedition  against  the  Cherokee.  When  the  war- 
riors on  their  way  to  the  south  reached  the  Kentucky  salt  lick  they 
found  there  a  herd  of  buffalo,  and  heard  them,  for  the  first  time, 
"singing  their  favorite  songs,"  i.  e.,  bellowing  and  snorting.  From 
the  bellowing  and  the  movements  of  the  animals  were  derived  the 
music  and  action  of  the  dance. 

According  to  Cherokee  tradition,  as  given  by  the  chief  Stand  Watie, 
the  war  was  finally  brought  to  an  end  by  the  Iroquois,  who  sent  a  dele- 
gation to  the  Cherokee  to  propose  a  general  alliance  of  the  southern 
and  western  tribes.  The  Cherokee  accepted  the  proposition,  and  in 
turn  sent  out  invitations  to  the  other  tribes,  all  of  which  entered  into 
the  peace  excepting  the  Osage,  of  whom  it  was  therefore  said  that  they 
should  be  henceforth  like  a  wild  fruit  on  the  prairie,  at  which  every 
bird  should  pick,  and  so  the  Osage  have  remained  ever  a  predatory 
tribe  without  friends  or  allies.  This  may  be  the  same  treaty  described 
in  the  story  of  "The  Seneca  Peacemakers."  A  formal  and  final  peace 
between  the  two  tribes  was  arranged  through  the  efforts  of  the  British 
agent,  Sir  William  Johnson,  in  1768. 


THE    [ROQUOIS    W  \  RS  353 

In  1847  there  were  -till  living  among  the  Seneca  the  grandchildren 
of  Cherokee  captives  taken  in  these  war-.  In  IT'.'d  the  Seneca  pointed 
out  to  Colonel  Pickering  a  chief  who  was  a  native  Cherokee,  having 
been  taken  when  a  boy  and  adopted  among  the  Seneca,  who  afterward 
made  him  chief.    This  was  probably  the  same  man  of  whom  thej  told 

Schoolcraft  fift3  years  later.     He  was  a  full-bl 1  Cherokee,  bul  bad 

been  captured  when  too  young  to  have  any  memory  of  the  event. 
Years  afterward,  when  he  ka<l  grown  to  manhood  and  had  become  a 
chief  in  the  tribe,  he  learned  of  bis  foreign  origin,  and  was  filled  at 
once  with  an  overpowering  longing  t<>  go  back  to  the  south  to  find 
hi-  people  ami  live  and  die  among  them.  He  journeyed  to  the  Chero- 
kee country,  bul  on  arriving   there  found    to  his  great  disappoint nt 

that  the  story  of  his  capture  had  been  forgotten  in  the  tribe,  and  that 
his  relatives,  if  any  were  left,  failed  to  recognize  him.  Being  unable 
to  find  hi-  kindred,  he  made  only  a  short  visit  and  returned  again  to 

the  Seneca. 

From  Janie-  Wafford,  of  Indian  Territory,  the  author  obtained  a 
detailed  account  of  the  Iroquois  peace  embassy  referred  to  by  Stand 
Watie,  and  of  the  wampum  belt  that  accompanied  it.  Wafford's 
information  concerning  the  proceedings  at  Echota  was  obtained 
directly  from  two  eyewitnesses — Sequoya,  the  inventor  of  the  alpha- 
bet, and  (JatuiTwulI.  "Hard-mush,"  who  afterward  explained  the  belt 
at  the  great  council  near  Tahlequah  seventy  years  later.  Sequoya,  at 
the  time  of  the  Echota  conference,  was  a  boy  living  with  his  mother 
at  Taskigi  town  a  few  miles  away,  while  GratfLn'wa'lI  was  already  a 
young  man. 

The  treaty  of  peace  between  the  Cherokee  and  Iroquois,  made  at 
Johnson  Hall  in  New  York  in  1768,  appears  from  the  record  to  have 
been  brought  about  by  the  Cherokee,  who  sent  for  the  purpose  a 
delegation  of  chiefs,  headed  l>v  AganstaYta,  "Groundhog-sausage," 
of  Echota.  their  great  leader  in  the  war  of  1760-61  against  the  Eng- 
lish. After  the  treaty  had  been  concluded  the  Cherokee  delegates 
invited  some  of  the  Iroquois  chiefs  to  go  home  with  them  for  a  visit, 
l>ut  the  latter  declined  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  yet  safe,  and  in 
fact  some  of  their  warrior-  were  at  that  very  time  out  againsi  the 
Cherokee,  not  yet  being  aware  of  the  peace  negotiations.  It  is  proba- 
ble, therefore,  that  the  Iroquois  delegates  did  not  arrive  at  Echota 
until  -ome  considerable  time,  perhaps  three  years,  after  the  formal 
preliminaries  had  been  concluded  in  the  north. 

According  to  Sequoya's  account,  as  given  to  Wafford,  there  had 
been  a  lone-  war  between  the  Cherokee  and  the  northern  Indians,  who 
were  never  able  to  conquer  the  Cherokee  or  break  their  spirit,  until 
at  last  the  Iroquois  were  tired  of  fighting  and  -cut  a  delegation  to 
make  peace.  The  messengers  sel  out  for  the  south  with  their  wam- 
pum belts  and  peace  emblem-,  but  lost  their  way  after  passing  Ten- 
19  kth—  oi 23 


354 


MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEBOKEE 


nessee  river,  perhaps  from  the  necessity  of  avoiding  the  main  trail, 
and  instead  of  arriving  at  Itsa'tl  or  Echota,  the  ancient  peace  town 
and  capital  of  the  Cherokee  Nation— situated  <>n  Little  Tennessee  river 
below  Citico  creek,  in  the  present  Monroe  county,  Tennessee — they 


found  themselves  on  the  outskirts  of  Ta'likwa'  or  Tellico,  on  Tellico 
river,  some  10  or  15  miles  to  the  southward. 

Concealing  themselves  in  the  neighborhood,  they  sent  one  of  their 
number  into  the  town  to  announce  their  coming.     As  it  happened  the 

lf'The  Onondagas  retain  the  custody  of  the  wampums  <>f  the  Five  Nations,  and  the  keeper  of  the' 
wampums,  Thomas  Webster,  of  the  snipe  tribe,  a  consistent,  thorough  pagan,  is  their  interpreter. 
Notwithstanding  the  claims  made  that  the  wampums  can  be  read  as  a  governing  code  of  law,  it  is 
evident  that  they  are  simply  monumental  reminders  of  preserved  traditions,  without  any  literal 
details  whatever. 

"The  first  [of  this]  group  from  left  to  right,  represents  a  convention  of  the  Six  Nations  at  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Tuscaroras  into  the  league:  the  second,  the  Five  Nations,  upon  seven  strands,  illustrates  a 
treaty  with  seven  Canadian  tribes  before  the  year  ir,u<>:  the  tbird  signifies  the  guarded  approach  of 
strangers  to  the  councils  of  the  Five  Nations  (a  guarded  gate,  with  a  long,  white  path  leading  to  the 
inner  gate,  where  the  Five  Nations  are  grouped,  with  the  Onondagas  in  the  center  and  a  safe  council 
house  behind  all);  the  fourth  represents  a  treaty  when  but  four  of  the  Six  Nations  were  represented, 
and  the  fifth  embodies  the  pledge  of  seven  Canadian  christianized  nations  to  abandon  their  crooked 
ways  and  keep  an  honest  peace  (having  a  cross  for  each  tribe,  and  with  a  zigzag  line  below,  to  indi- 
cate that  their  ways  had  been  crooked  but  would  ever  after  be  as  sacred  as  the  cross).  Above  this 
group  is  another,  claiming  to  bear  date  about  1608,  when  Champlain  joined  the  Algonquins  against 
the  Iroquois." — Carrington,  in  Six  Nations  of  New  York.  Extra  Bulletin,  Eleventh  Census,  pp.  33-34, 1892. 


mou.ney]  THE    IROQUOIS    WARS  355 

chief  and  his  family  were  at  work  in  their  cornfield,  and  his  daughter 
had  just  gone  up  to  the  house  for  sonic  reason  when  the  Iroquois 
entered  and  asked  for  something  to  eat.  Seeing  that  he  was  a 
stranger,  she  set  out  food  for  him  according  to  the  old  custom  of  hos- 
pitality.    While  he  was  eating  her  father,  the  chief,  came  in  to  sec 

what  was  delaying  her,  and  was  surprised  to  find  ther ie  of  the 

hereditary  enemies  of  his  tribe.     By  this  time  the  word  had  got it 

that  an  Iroquois  was  in  the  chief's  house,  and  the  men  of  the  town 
had  left  their  work  and  seized  their  guns  to  kill  him,  but  the  chief 
heard  them  coming  and  standing  in  the  doorway  kept  them  off,  say- 
ing: "This  man  has  come  here  on  a  peace  mission,  and  before  you  kill 
him  you  must  first  kill  me.""  They  finally  listened  to  him.  and  allowed 
the  messenger  to  go  out  and  bring  his  companions  to  the  chief's  house, 
where  they  were  all  taken  care  of. 

When  they  were  well  rested  after  their  lone-  journey  the  chief  of 
Ta'likwa  himself  went  with  them  to  Itsa'ti.  the  capital,  where  lived  the 
great  chief  AganstS'ta,  who  was  now  the  civil  ruler  of  the  Nation. 
The  chiefs  of  the  various  towns  were  summoned  and  a  council  was 
held,  at  which  the  speaker  for  the  Iroquois  delegation  delivered  his 
message  and  produced  the  wampum  belts  and  pipes,  which  they 
brought  as  proofs  of  their  mission  and  had  carried  all  the  way  in  packs 
upon  their  backs. 

He  said  that  for  three  years  his  people  had  been  wanting  to  make 
peace.  There  was  a  spring  of  dark,  cloudy  water  in  their  country,  and 
they  had  covered  it  over  for  one  year  and  then  looked,  hut  the  water 
was  still  cloudy.  Again  they  had  covered  it  over,  but  when  they 
looked  at  the  end  of  another  year  it  was  still  dark  and  troubled.  For 
another  year  they  had  covered  the  spring,  and  this  time  when  they 
looked  the  water  was  clear  and  sparkling.  Then  they  knew  the  time 
had  come,  and  they  left  home  with  their  wampum  belts  to  make  peace 
with  their  enemies. 

The  friendly  message  was  accepted  by  the  Cherokee,  and  the  belts 
and  other  symbolic  peace  tokens  were  delivered  over  to  their  keeping. 
Other  belts  in  turn  were  probably  given  to  the  Iroquois,  and  after  the 
usual  round  of  feasting  and  dancing  the  messengers  returned  to  their 
people  in  the  north  and  the  long  war  was  at  an  end. 

For  nearly  a  century  these  symbolic  records  of  the  peace  with  the 
Iroquois  were  preserved  by  the  Cherokee,  and  were  carried  with  them 
to  the  western  territory  when  the  tribe  was  finally  driven  from  its  old 
home  in  1838.  They  were  then  in  the  keeping  of  John  Ross,  principal 
chief  at  the  time  of  the  removal,  and  were  solemnly  produced  at  a 
ereat  intertribal  council  held  near  Tahlequah,  in  the  Indian  Territory, 
in  .Tune,  1843,  when  they  were  interpreted  by  the  Cherokee  speaker, 
Gatun'wa'U,  '•Hard-mush."  who  had  seen  them  delivered  to  the  child's  of 
his  tribe  at  old  Itsa'ti  seventy  years  before.  Watford  was  present  im 
thi-  occasion  and  describes  it. 


35(1  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [Eih.ans.19 

Holding  the  belts  over  his  arm  while  speaking,  Hard-mush  told  of 
the  original  treaty  with  the  Iroquois,  and  explained  the  meaning  of 
each  belt  in  turn.  According  to  the  best  of  Watford's  recollection, 
there  was  one  large  belt,  to  which  the  .smaller  belts  were  fitted.  The 
beads  did  not  seem  to  be  of  shell,  and  may  have  been  of  porcelain. 
There  were  also  red  pipes  for  the  warriors,  grayish-white  pipes  for 
the  chiefs  who  were  foremost  in  making  the  peace,  and  some  fans  or 
oilier  ornaments  of  feathers.  There  were  several  of  the  red  pipes, 
resembling  the  red-stone  pipes  of  the  Sioux,  but  only  one,  or  perhaps 
two,  of  the  white  peace  pipes,  which  may  have  been  only  painted,  and 
were  much  larger  than  the  others.  The  pipes  were  passed  around  the 
circle  at  the  council,  so  that  each  delegate  might  take  a  whiff.  The 
objects  altogether  made  a  considerable  package,  which  was  carefully 
guarded  by  the  Cherokee  keeper.  It  is  thought  that  they  were 
destroyed  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  "when  the  house  of  John  Ross,  a 
few  miles  south  of  Tahlequah,  was  burned  by  the  Confederate  Chero- 
kee under  their  general,  Stand  Watie. 

90.   HIADEONI,   THE  SENECA 

"Hiadeoni  was  the  father  of  the  late  chief  Young-king.  He  was  a 
Seneca  warrior,  a  man  of  great  prowess,  dexterity,  and  swiftness  of 
foot,  and  had  established  his  reputation  for  courage  and  skill  on  many 
occasions.  He  resolved  while  the  Seneca  were  still  living  on  the  Gen- 
esee river  to  make  an  incursion  alone  into  the  country  of  the  Cherokee. 
He  plumed  himself  with  the  idea  that  he  could  distinguish  himself  in 
this  daring  adventure,  and  he  prepared  for  it,  according  to  the  custom 
of  warriors.  They  never  encumber  themselves  with  baggage.  He 
took  nothing  but  his  arms  and  the  meal  of  a  little  parched  and  pounded 
corn.     The  forest  gave  him  his  meat. 

Hiadeoni  reached  the  confines  of  the  Cherokee  country  in  safety  and 
alone.  He  waited  for  evening  before  he  entered  the  precincts  of  a 
village.  He  found  the  people  engaged  in  a  dance.  He  watched  his 
opportunity,  and  when  one  of  the  dancers  went  out  from  the  ring  into 
the  bushes  he  dispatched  him  with  his  hatchet.  In  this  way  he  killed 
two  men  that  night  in  the  skirts  of  the  woods  without  exciting  alarm, 
and  took  their  scalps  and  retreated.  It  was  late- when  he  came  to  a 
lodge,  standing  remote  from  the  rest,  on  his  course  homeward. 
Watching  here,  he  saw  a  young  man  come  out,  and  killed  him  as  he 
had  done  the  others,  and  took  his  scalp.  Looking  into  the  lodge  cau- 
tiously he  saw  it  empty,  and  ventured  in  with  the  hope  of  finding  some 
tobacco  and  ammunition  to  serve  him  on  his  way  home. 

While  thus  busied  in  searching  the  lodge  he  heard  footsteps  at  the 
door,  and  immediately  threw  himself  on  the  bed  from  which  the  young 
man  had  risen,  and  covered  his  face,  feigning  sleep.  They  proved  to 
be  the  footsteps  of  his  last  victim's  mother.  She.  supposing  him  to 
be  her  son,  whom  she  had  a  short  time  before  left  lying  there,  said, 


5 seyI  HIADEON]       THE    TWO    MOHAWKS  357 

■"M\  son,  I  am  going  to  such  a  place  and  will  n<it  In-  back  till  morn- 
ing." 11<'  made  a  suitable  response,  and  the  old  woman  went  out. 
[nsensibly  he  fell  asleep,  and  knew  nothing  till  morning,  when  the 
lirst  thing  he  heard  was  the  mother's  voice.  She.  careful  for  her  son, 
was  at  the  fireplace  \er\  early,  pulling  some  roasted  squashes  out  of 
the  ashes,  and  after  putting  them  out,  and  telling  him  -he  lel't  them 
for  him  to  eat.  she  went  away.  He  sprang  up  instantly  ami  fled;  hut 
the  early  dawn  hail  revealed  his  inroad,  and  he  was  hotly  pursued. 
Light  of  foot,  and  having  the  start,  he  succeeded  in  reaching  ami  con- 
cealing himself  in  a  remote  piece  of  woods,  where  he  laid  till  night, 
and  then  pursued  his  way  toward  the  Genesee,  which,  in  due  time  he 
reached,  bringing  his  three  Cherokee  scalps  as  trophies  of  his  victory 
and  prowess." — Schoolcraft.  Notes  on  [roquois,  p.  253,  1*47. 

91.   THE   TWO    MOHAWKS 

•"In  the  year  17-17  a  couple  of  the  Mohawk  Indians  came  against  the 
lower  towns  of  the  Cheerake,  and  so  cunningly  ambuscaded  them 
through  most  part  of  the  spring  and  summer,  as  to  kill  above  twenty  in 
different  attacks  before  they  were  discovered  by  any  party  of  the 
enraged  and  dejected  people.  They  had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
most  convenient  ground  for  their  purpose,  and  were  extremely  swift 
and  long-winded.  Whenever  they  killed  any  and  got  the  scalp  they 
made  off  to  the  neighboring  mountains,  and  ran  over  the  broad  ledges 
of  rocks  in  contrary  courses,  as  occasion  offered,  so  as  the  pursuers 
could  by  no  means  trace  them.  Once,  when  a  large  company  was  in 
chase  of  them,  they  ran  round  a  steep  hill  at  the  head  of  the  main 
eastern  branch  of  Savana  river,  intercepted,  killed,  and  scalped  the 
hindmost  of  the  party,  and  then  made  off  between  them  and  Keeo- 
whee.  As  this  was  the  town  to  which  the  company  belonged,  they 
hastened  home  in  a  close  body,  as  the  proper  place  of  security  from 
such  enemy  wizards.  In  this  manner  did  those  two  sprightly,  gallant 
savages  perplex  and  intimidate  their  foes  for  the  space  of  four  moons 
in  the  greatest  security,  though  they  often  were  forced  to  kill  and 
barbecue  what  they  chiefly  lived  upon,  in  the  midst  of  their  watchful 
enemies.  Having  sufficiently  revenged  their  relations"  blood  and  grat- 
ified their  own  ambition  with  an  uncommon  number  of  scalps,  they 
resolved  to  captivate  one  and  run  home  with  him  as  a  proof  of  their 
having  killed  none  but  the  enemies  of  their  country.  Accordingly, 
they  approached  very  near  to  Keeowhee,  about  half  a  mile  below  the 
late  Fort  Prince  George.  Advancing  with  the  usual  caution  on  such 
an  occasion,  one  crawled  along  under  the  best  cover  of  the  place  about 
the  distance  of  a  hundred  yards  ahead,  while  the  other  shifted  from 
tree  to  tree,  looking  sharply  every  way.  In  the  evening,  however,  an 
old.  beloved  man  discovered  them  from  the  top  of  an  adjoining  hill, 
and  knew  them  to  he  enemies  by  the  (ait   of  their  hair,  light   trim   for 


358  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

running-,  and  their  postures.  He  returned  to  the  town  and  called 
first  at  the  house  of  one  of  our  traders  and  informed  him  of  the  affair, 
enjoining  him  not  to  mention  it  to  any,  lest  the  people  should  set  off 
against  them  without  success  before  their  tracks  were  to  be  discovered 
and  he  be  charged  with  having  deceived  them.  But.  contrary  to  the 
true  policy  of  traders  among  unforgiving  savages,  that  thoughtless 
member  of  the  Choktah  Sphynx  Company  busied  himself,  as  usual,  out 
of  his  proper  sphere,  sentfor  the  headmen,  and  told  them  the  story. 
As  the  Mohawks  were  allies  and  not  known  to  molest  any  of  the  tra- 
ders in  the  paths  and  woods,  he  ought  to  have  observed  a  strict  neu- 
trality. The  youth  of  the  town,  by  order  of  their  headmen,  carried 
on  their  noisy  public  diversions  in  their  usual  manner  to  prevent  their 
foes  from  having  any  suspicion  of  their  danger,  while  runners  were 
sent  from  the  town  to  their  neighbors  to  come  silently  and  assist 
them  to  secure  the  prey  in  its  state  of  security.  They  came  like  silent 
ghosts,  concerted  their  plan  of  operation,  passed  oxer  the  river  at  the 
old  trading  ford  opposite  to  the  late  fort,  which  lay  between  two  con- 
tiguous commanding  hills,  and,  proceeding  downward  over  a  broad 
creek,  formed  a  large  semicircle  from  the  river  bank,  while  the  town 
seemed  to  be  taking  its  usual  rest.  They  then  closed  into  a  narrower 
compass,  and  at  last  discovered  the  two  brave,  unfortunate  men  lying 
close  under  the  tops  of  some  fallen  young  pine  trees.  The  company 
gave  the  war  signal,  and  the  Mohawks,  bounding  up,  bravely  repeated 
it;  but,  by  their  sudden  spring  from  under  thick  cover,  their  arms  were 
useless.  They  made  desperate  efforts,  however,  to  kill  or  be  killed,  as 
their  situation  required.  One  of  the  Cheerake,  the  noted  half-breed 
of  Istanare  [Ustana'li]  town,  which  lay  ^  miles  from  thence,  was  at  the 
first  onset  knocked  down  and  almost  killed  with  his  own  cutlass,  which 
was  wrested  from  him,  though  he  was  the  strongest  of  the  whole 
nation.  But  they  were  overpowered  by  numbers,  captivated,  and  put 
to  the  most  exquisite  tortures  of  fire,  amidst  a  prodigious  crowd  of 
exulting  foes. 

One  of  the  present  Choktah  traders,  who  was  on  the  spot,  told  me  that 
when  they  were  tied  to  the  stake  the  younger  of  the  two  discovered  our 
traders  on  a  hill  near,  addressed  them  in  English,  and  entreated  them 
to  redeem  their  lives.  The  elder  immediately  spoke  to  him,  in  his 
own  language,  to  desist.  On  this,  he  recollected  himself,  and  became 
composed  like  a  stoic,  manifesting  an  indifference  to  life  or  death, 
pleasure  or  pain,  according  to  their  standard  of  martial  virtue,  and 
their  dying  behaviour  did  not  reflect  the  least  dishonor  on  their  former 
gallant  actions.  All  the  pangs  of  fiery  torture  served  only  to  refine 
their  manly  spirits,  and  as  it  was  out  of  the  power  of  the  traders  to 
redeem  them  they,  according  to  our  usual  custom,  retired  as  soon  as 
the  Indians  began  the  diabolical  tragedy." — Adair,  American  Indians, 
p.  383,  1775. 


UREAU  OF  AMERICAN    ETHNOLOGY  NINETEENTH   ANNUAL   REPORT     PL.   XVII 


ANNIE    AX     'SADAYI 


SENECA    TRADITIONS  359 

92.   ESCAPE   OF   THE   SENECA  BOYS 

Some  Seneca  warrior-  were  hunting  in  the  woods,  and  one  morning, 
on  starting  out  for  the  day,  they  lefl  two  boys  behind  to  take  care 
of  the  camp.  Soon  after  thej  had  gone,  a  war  party  of  Cherokee 
cam.'  up.  and  finding  the  boys  alone  took  them  both  and  started  back 
to  the  south,  traveling  at  such  a  rate  thai  when  the  hunters  returned 
in  tin-  evening  thej  decided  that  ii  was  of  do  use  t<>  follow  them. 
When  the  Cherokee  reached  their  own  country  they  gave  the  boys 
in  an  old  man,  whose  sons  had  been  killed  by  the  Seneca.  Betook 
the  boys  ami  adopted  them  tor  his  own,  and  they  grew  up  with  him 
until  they  were  large  and  strong  enough  to  go  hunting  for  themselves. 

Bui  all  the  time  they  remembered  their  own  home,  and  one  day  the 
older  one  said  to  his  brother,  "  Let's  kill  the  old  man  and  run  awaj  ." 
'•  No."  -aid  the  other,  "we  mighl  get  lost  if  we  ran  away,  we  arc  so 
far  from  home."  "  1  remember  the  way,"  said  his  brother,  so  they 
made  a  plan  to  escape.  A  few  days  later  the  old  man  took  the  boys 
with  him  and  the  three  -d  out  together  for  a  hunt  in  the  mountains. 
When  they  were  well  away  from  the  settlement  the  hoys  killed  the 
old  man.  took  all  the  meat  and  parched  corn  meal  they  could  easily 
carry,  and  started  to  make  their  wa\  hack  to  the  north,  keeping  away 
from  the  main  trail  and  following  the  ridge  of  the  mountains.  After 
many  days  they  came  to  the  end  of  the  mountains  and  found  a  trail 
which  the  older  brother  knew  as  the  one  along  which  they  had  been 
taken  when  they  were  first  captured.  They  went  on  bravely  now 
until  they  came  to  a  wide  clearing  with  houses  at  the  farther  end.  and 
the  older  brother  said.  "  I  believe  there  is  where  we  used  to  live."  It 
was  so  lone-  ago  that  they  were  not  quite  sure,  and  besides  they  were 
dressed  now  like  Cherokee,  so  they  thought  it  safer  to  wait  until  dark. 
They  saw  a  river  ahead  and  went  down  to  it  and  sat  behind  a  large 
tree  to  wait.  Soon  several  women  came  down  for  water  and  passed 
close  to  the  tree  without  noticing  the  hoys.  Said  the  older  brother, 
"I  know  those  women.  One  of  them  is  our  mother."  They  waited 
until  the  women  had  tilled  their  buckets  and  started  to  the  village, 
when  both  ran  out  to  meet  them  with  the  Seneca  hailing-shout, 
•■  i,n,r,'!  l,n,r/:"  At  first  the  women  were  frightened  and  thought 
it  a  party  of  Cherokee,  hut  when  they  heard  their  own  language  they 
came  nearer.  Then  the  mother  recognized  her  two  sms.  and  -aid. 
■■Let  us  go  hack  and  dance  for  the  dead  come  to  life."  and  they  were 
all  very  glad  and  went  into  the  village  together.  -Arranged  from 
Curtin,  Seneca  manuscript. 

93.  THE  UNSEEN   HELPERS 

Ganogwioeon,  a  war  chief  of  the  Seneca,  led  a  party  against  the 
Cherokee.     When  they  came  near  tin'  first  town  he  left  his  men  outside 


360  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

and  went  in  alone.  At  the  first  house  he  found  an  old  woman  and  her 
granddaughter.  They  did  not  see  him,  and  he  went  into  the  asl  and 
hid  himself  under  some  wood.  When  darkness  came  on  he  heard  the 
old  woman  say.  "Maybe  GanogwioeoS  is  near;  I'll  close  the  door." 
After  a  while  he  heard  them  going  to  bed.  When  he  thought  they 
were  asleep  Ik1  went  into  the  house.  The  fire  had  burned  down  low, 
but  the  girl  was  still  awake  and  saw  him.     She  was  about  to  scream, 

when  he  said.  ""I  am  Ganogwii 5.     If  you  scream  I'll  kill  you.     If 

you  keep  quiet  Til  not  hurt  you."  They  talked  together,  and  he  told 
her  that  in  the  morning  she  must  bring  the  chief's  daughter  to  him. 
She  promised  to  do  it,  and  told  him  where  he  should  wait.  Just  before 
daylight  he  left  the  house. 

In  the  morning  the  girl  went  to  the  chief's  house  and  said  to  his 
daughter,  "Let's  go  out  together  for  wood."  The  chief's  daughter 
got  ready  and  went  with  her.  and  when  they  came  to  the  place  where 
Ganogwioeon  was  hiding  he  sprang  out  and  killed  her,  but  did  not 
hurt  the  other  girl.  He  pulled  oft  the  scalp  and  gave  such  a  loud 
scalp  yell  that  all  the  warriors  in  the  town  heard  it  and  came  running 
out  after  him.  He  shook  the  scalp  at  them  and  then  turned  and  ran. 
He  killed  the  first  one  that  came  up.  but  when  he  tried  to  shoot  the 
next  one  the  bow  broke  and  the  Cherokee  got  him. 

They  tied  him  and  carried  him  to  the  two  women  of  the  tribe  who 
had  the  power  to  decide  what  should  be  done  with  him.  Each  of  these 
women  had  two  snakes  tattooed  on  her  lips,  with  their  heads  opposite 
each  other,  in  such  a  way  that  when  she  opened  her  mouth  the  two 
snakes  opened  their  mouths  also.  The}'  decided  to  burn  the  soles  of 
his  feet  until  they  were  blistered,  then  to  put  grains  of  corn  under 
the  skin  and  to  chase  him  with  clubs  until  they  had  beaten  him  to 
death. 

They  stripped  him  and  burnt  his  feet.  Then  they  tied  a  bark  rope 
around  his  waist,  with  an  old  man  to  hold  the  other  end.  and  made  him 
run  between  two  lines  of  people,  and  with  clubs  in  their  hands.  When 
they  gave  the  word  to  start  Ganogwioeon  pulled  the  rope  away  from 
the  old  man  and  broke  through  the  line  and  ran  until  he  had  left  them 
all  out  of  sight.  When  night  came  he  crawled  into  a  hollow  log.  He 
was  naked  and  unarmed,  with  his  feet  in  a  pitiful  condition,  and 
thought  he  could  never  get  away. 

He  heard  footsteps  on  the  leaves  outside  and  thought  his  enemies 
were  upon  him.  The  footsteps  came  up  to  the  log  and  some  one  said 
to  another,  "This  is  our  friend."  Then  the  stranger  said  to  Gano- 
gwioeon, "You  think  you  are  the  same  as  dead,  but  it  is  not  so.  We 
will  take  care  of  you.  Stick  out  your  feet."  He  put  out  his  feet 
from  the  log  and  felt  something  licking  them.  After  a  while  the  voice 
said,  "I  think  we  have  licked  his  feet  enough.  Now  we  must  crawl 
inside  the  log  and  lie  on  each  side  of  him  to  keep  him  warm."    They 


G  ANi  IQW  li  i]:<  >\  36 1 

crawled  in  beside  him.  In  the  morning  thej  crawled  out  and  toldhim 
to  stick  out  lii—  feel  again.  They  licked  them  again  and  then  said  to 
him,  "Now  we  have  done  all  we  can  do  this  time.  Goon  until  you 
come  to  tlic  place  where  you  made  a  bark  shelter  a  long  time  ago,  and 
under  the  hark  you  will  find  something  to  help  you."  Ganogwioeon 
crawled  oul  of  the  log,  hut  they  were  gone.  His  feel  were  better 
now  and  he  could  walk  comfortably.  He  went  on  until  about  noun. 
when  he  came  to  the  bark  shelter,  and  under  it  he  found  a  knife,  an 
awl,  and  a  flint,  that  his  men  had  hidden  there  two  years  before,  lie 
to..k  them  and  started  on  again. 

Toward  evening  he  looked  around  until  he  found  another  hollow 
tree  and  crawled  into  it  to  sleep.  At  night  he  heard  the  footsteps  and 
voices  again.  When  he  put  out  his  feet  again,  as  the  strangers  told 
him  to  do,  they  licked  his  feet  a-  before  and  then  crawled  in  and  lay 
down  on  each  side  of  him  to  keep  him  warm.  Still  he  could  not  see 
them.  In  the  morning  after  they  went  out  they  licked  his  feet  again 
and  said  to  him.  "At  noon  you  will  find  food."  Then  they  went 
away. 

Ganogwioeon  crawled  out  of  the  tree  and  went  on.  At  noon  he 
came  to  a  burning  log,  and  near  it  was  a  dead  hear,  which  was  -till 
warm,  as  if  it  had  been  killed  only  a  short  time  before,  lie  skinned 
the  hear  and  found  it  very  fat.  He  cut  up  the  meat  and  roasted  as 
much  as  he  could  eat  or  carry.  AVhile  it  was  roasting  he  scraped  the 
skin  and  rubbed  rotten  wood  dust  on  it  to  clean  it  until  lie  was  tired. 
When  night  came  he  lay  down  to  sleep.  He  heard  the  steps  and  the 
voices  again  and  one  said,  "  Well,  our  friend  is  lying  down.  He  has 
plenty  to  eat.  and  it  does  not  seem  as  if  he  is  going-  to  die.  Let  us  lick 
In-  feet  again."  When  they  had  finished  they  said  to  him.  "  You  need 
not  worry  any  more  now.  You  will  get  home  all  right."  Before  it 
was  day  they  left  him. 

When  morning  came  he  put  the  bearskin  around  him  like  a  shirt. 
with  the  hair  outside,  and  started  on  again,  taking  as  much  of  the 
meat  as  he  could  carry.  That  night  his  friends  came  to  him  again. 
They  -aid.  ■•Your  feet  arc  well,  hut  you  will  he  cold."  so  they  lay 
again  on  each  side  of  him.  Before  daylight  they  left,  saying.  "About 
noon  you  will  find  something  to  wear."  He  went  on  and  about  midday 
he  came  to  two  young  hears  just  killed.  He  skinned  them  and  dressed 
the  skins,  then  roasted  as  much  meat  as  he  wanted  and  lay  down  to 
-leep.  Iii  the  morning  he  made  leggings  of  the  skins,  took  some  of 
tin'  meat,  and  started  on. 

His  friends  came  again  the  next  night  and  toldhim  that  in  the  morn- 
ing he  would  come  upon  something  else  to  wear.  A-  they  -aid.  about 
noon  he  found  two  fawns  just  killed.  He  turned  the  skins  and  made 
himself  a  pair  of  moccasins,  then  cut  some  of  the  meat,  and  traveled 
on  until  evening,  when  he  made  a  tire  and  had  -upper. 


362  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

That  night  again  he  heard  the  steps  and  voices,  and  one  said.  "My 
friend,  very  soon  now  yon  will  reach  home  safely  and  find  your 
friends  all  well.  Now  we  will  tell  yon  why  we  have  helped  you. 
Whenever  you  went  hunting  you  always  gave  the  best  part  of  the 
meat  to  us  and  kept  only  the  smallest  part  for  yourself.  For  that  we 
are  thankful  and  help  you.  In  the  morning  you  will  see  us  and  know 
who  we  are." 

In  the  morning  when  he  woke  up  they  were  still  there — two  men  as 
he  thought — but  after  he  had  said  the  last  words  to  them  and  started 
on,  he  turned  again  to  look,  and  one  was  a  white  wolf  and  the  other  a 
black  wolf.  That  day  he  reached  home. — Arranged  from  Curtin, 
Seneca  manuscript. 

94.   HATCINONDON'S   ESCAPE   FROM   THE  CHEROKEE 

Hatcinondofi  was  a  great  warrior,  the  greatest  among  the  Seneca. 
Once  he  led  a  company  against  the  Cherokee.  They  traveled  until 
they  came  to  the  great  ridge  on  the  border  of  the  Cherokee  country, 
and  then  they  knew  their  enemies  were  on  the  lookout  on  the  other 
side.  Hatcinondofi  told  his  men  to  halt  where  they  were  while  he 
went  ahead  to  see  what  was  in  front.  The  enemy  discovered  and 
chased  him.  and  he  ran  into  a  canebrake,  where  the  canes  were  in  two 
great  patches  with  a  narrow  strip  of  open  ground  between.  They  saw 
him  go  into  the  canes,  so  they  set  fire  to  the  patch  and  watched  at  the 
open  place  for  him  to  come  out,  but  before  they  got  around  to  it  he 
had  run  across  into  the  second  patch  and  escaped.  When  the  canes 
had  burned  down  the  Cherokee  looked  for  his  body  in  the  ashes,  but 
could  not  find  any  trace  of  it.  so  they  went  home. 

When  Hatcinondofi  got  into  the  second  canebrake  he  was  tired  out, 
so  he  lay  down  and  fell  asleep.  At  night  while  he  was  asleep  two  men 
came  and  took  him  by  the  arm,  saying:  "We  have  come  for  you. 
Somebody  has  sent  for  }'ou."  They  took  him  a  long  way.  above  the 
sky  vault,  until  they  came  to  a  house.  Then  they  said:  •"This  is 
where  the  man  lives  who  sent  for  you."  He  looked,  but  could  see  no 
door.  Then  a  voice  from  the  inside  said  ••Come  in."  and  something 
like  a  door  opened  of  itself.  He  went  in  and  there  sat  Hawenni'o,  the 
Thunder-god. 

Hawenni'o  said,  ''I  have  sent  for  you  and  you  are  here.  Are  you 
hungry?"  Hatcinondofi  thought:  •"That's  a  strange  way  to  talk;  that's 
not  the  way  I  do — I  give  food.''  The  Thunder  knew  his  thoughts,  so 
he  laughed  and  said,  "I  said  that  only  in  fun."  lie  rose  and  brought 
half  a  cake  of  bread,  half  of  a  wild  apple,  and  half  a  pigeon.  Hatci- 
nondofi said,  "'This  is  very  little  to  till  me,"  but  the  Thunder  replied, 
"If  you  eat  that,  there  is  more."  He  began  eating,  but.  as  he  ate, 
everything  became  whole  again,  so  that  he  was  not  able  to  finish  it. 

While  he  was  sitting  he  heard  some  one  running  outside,  and  directly 


mooney]  HATCINONDOS'S    ES(   \n  363 

the  door  was  tin-own  open  and  the  Sun  came  in,  so  bright  thai  1  latci- 
Qondon  had  to  hold  his  head  down.  The  two  beings  talked  together, 
but  the  Seneca  could  not  understand  a  word,and  soon  the  visitor  wenl 
out  again.  Then  the  Thunder  said:  "That  is  the  one  you  call  the  Sun, 
who  watches  in  the  world  below.  It  is  night  down  there  now.  and  he 
is  hurrying  to  the  east.  Hesaysthere  has  just  been  a  battle,  [love 
both  the  Seneca  and  the  Cherokee,  and  when  you  get  back  to  your 
warriors  you  must  tell  them  to  stop  fighting  and  go  home."  Again 
he  brought  food,  half  of  each  kind,  and  when  Hatcinondofi  bad  eaten, 
the  Thunder  said.  "Now  my  messengers  will  take  you  to  your  place." 

The  door  opened  again  of   itself,  and    I  Iatcinofidofi  followed  the  two 

Sky  People  until  they  brought  him  to  the  place  where  he  had  slept, 
and  there  left  him.  He  found  his  party  and  told  the  warriors  what  he 
had  seen.  They  held  a  council  over  it  and  decided  to  strike  the  enemy 
once  before  going  home.  Hatcinondofi  led  them.  They  met  the 
Cherokee  and  went  home  with  scalps. 

He  led  another  party  against  the  Cherokee,  but  this  time  lie  was 
taken  and  carried  to  the  Cherokee  town.  It  was  the  custom  among 
the  Cherokee  to  let  two  women  say  what  should  lie  done  with  captives. 
They  decided  that  he  should  lie  tortured  with  tire,  so  he  was  tied  to  a 
tree,  and  the  wood  was  piled  around  him.  Hatcinondofi  gave  himself 
up  for  lost,  when  a  rain  storm  came  up  and  the  people  concluded  to 
■wait  until  it  was  over.     They  went  away  and  left  him  tied  to  the  tree. 

Pretty  soon  an  old  woman  came  up  to  him.  and  said.  "My  grandson, 
you  think  you  are  going  to  die,  but  you  are  not.  Try  to  stir  your 
limbs."  He  struggled  and  finally  got  his  limbs  free.  Then  she  said. 
"Now  you  are  free.  I  have  come  to  repay  }rour  kindness.  You 
remember  that  you  once  found  a  frog  in  the  middle  of  a  circle  of  tire 
and  that  you  picked  it  up  and  put  it  into  the  water.  I  was  that  frog, 
and  now  I  help  you.  I  sent  the  rain  storm,  and  now  you  must  go 
down  to  the  creek  anil  follow  the  current." 

When  the  rain  was  over  the  people  came  back, but  Hatcinondofi  Was 
gone.  They  trailed  him  down  to  the  creek,  but  lie  had  found  a  hollow 
tree  lying  in  the  water,  with  a  hole  on  the  upper  side  through  which 
he  could  breathe,  so  he  crawled  into  it  and  they  could  not  find  him. 
Once  two  of  the  Cherokee  came  and  sat  on  the  log  and  he  could  hear 
them  talking  about  him.  but  they  did  not  know  that  he  was  inside. 
When  they  were  all  gone,  he  came  out  and  kept  on  down  the  stream. 
After  dark  he  came  to  a  place  where  three  hunters  had  made  a  fire  and 
gone  to  sleep  for  the  night.  Their  hatchets  and  arms  were  hung  up 
on  a  tree.  Hatcinondofi  was  naked.  He  listened  until  he  was  sure 
tin'  men  were  asleep,  then  he  took  one  of  then-  hatchets  and  killed  all 
three,  one  after  another.  .He  dressed  himself  in  the  clothes  of  one. 
and  put  on  his  belt,  with  the  knife  and  hatchet.  Then  he  washed 
himself   at    the   creek  and  -at  down  bj    the  lire  and  cooked  hi-  supper. 


3I>4  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth  ann.19 

After  that  he  stretched  and  painted  the  throe  scalps  and  lay  down  by 
the  fire  to  sleep.  In  the  morning  he  took  what  provision  he  could 
cany  and  traveled  in  a  great  circle  until  he  found  the  road  by  which 
he  and  his  warriors  had  come.  He  found  fresh  tracks  and  followed 
them  until  he  saw  smoke  ahead.  He  listened  until  he  heard  men 
speaking  Seneca,  and  knew  that  it  was  his  party.  Then  he  gave  the 
Seneca  shout — Gowd ! — three  times  and  his  friends  ran  out  to  meet 
him.  They  had  been  afraid  that  he  was  killed,  but  were  glad  now 
that  they  had  waited  for  him.  They  went  home  together.  This  is 
their  story. — Arranged  from  Curtin,  Seneca  manuscript. 

95.   HEMP-CARRIER 

On  the  southern  slope  of  the  ridge,  along  the  trail  from  Robbins- 
ville  to  Valley  river,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina,  are  the 
remains  of  a  number  of  stone  cairns.  The  piles  are  leveled  now,  but 
thirty  years  ago  the  stones  were  still  heaped  up  into  pyramids,  to  which 
every  Cherokee  who  passed  added  a  stone.  According  to  the  tradition 
these  piles  marked  the  graves  of  a  number  of  women  and  children  of 
the  tribe  who  were  surprised  and  killed  on  the  spot  by  a  raiding  party 
of  the  Iroquois  shortly  before  the  final  peace  between  the  two  Nations. 
As  soon  as  the  news  was  brought  to  the  settlements  on  Hiwassee  and 
Cheowa  a  party  was  made  under  Tale'tanigi'ski,  "Hemp-carrier,"  to 
follow  and  take  vengeance  on  the  enemy.  Among  others  of  the  party 
was  the  father  of  the  noted  chief  Tsunu'lakun'skl,  or  Junaluska,  who 
(Junaluska)  died  on  Cheowa  about  1855. 

For  days  they  followed  the  trail  of  the  Iroquois  across  the  Great 
Smoky  mountains,  through  forests  and  over  rivers,  until  they  finally 
tracked  them  to  their  very  town  in  the  far  northern  Seneca  country. 
On  the  way  they  met  another  war  party  headed  for  the  south,  and  the 
Cherokee  killed  them  all  and  took  their  scalps.  When  they  came 
near  the  Seneca  town  it  was  almost  night,  and  they  heard  shouts  in  the 
townhouse,  where  the  women  were  dancing  over  the  fresh  Cherokee 
scalps.  The  avengers  hid  themselves  near  the  spring,  and  as  the  dancers 
came  down  to  drink  the  Cherokee  silently  killed  one  and  another  until 
they  had  counted  as  many  scalps  as  had  been  taken  on  Cheowa,  and 
still  the  dancers  in  the  townhouse  never  thought  that  enemies  were 
near.  Then  said  the  Cherokee  leader,  "We  have  covered  the  scalps 
of  our  women  and  children.  Shall  we  go  home  now  like  cowards,  or 
shall  we  raise  the  war  whoop  and  let  the  Seneca  know  that  we  are 
men?"  "Let  them  come,  if  they  will,"  said  his  men;  and  they  raised 
the  scalp  yell  of  the  Cherokee.  At  once  there  was  an  answering  shout 
from  the  townhouse,  and  the  dance  came  to  a  sudden  stop.  The  Seneca 
warriors  swarmed  out  with  ready  gun  and  hatchet,  but  the  nimble 
Cherokee  were  off  and  away.  There  was  a  hot  pursuit  in  the  dark- 
ness, but  the  Cherokee  knew  the  trails  and  were  light  and  active 


uooney]  OWL'S    DEATH    SONG  365 

runners,  and  managed  to  get  away  with  the  loss  of  only  a  single  man. 
The  res!  got  home  safely,  and  the  people  were  so  well  pleased  with 
Hemp-carrier's  braver}  and  success  thai  they  gave  him  seven  wives. 

96.  THE    SENECA    PEACEMAKERS 

In  the  course  of  the  long  war  with  the  Cherokee  it  happened  once 
that  eight  Seneca  determined  to  undertake  a  journey  t<>  the  smith  to 
sec  if  they  could  make  a  peace  will)  their  enemies.  On  coming  near 
the  border  of  the  Cherokee  country  they  met  some  hunters  of  that 
tribe  to  whom  they  told  their  purpose.  The  latter  at  once  hurried 
ahead  with  the  news,  and  when  the  peacemakers  arrived  they  found 
themselves  well  received  by  the  Cherokee  chiefs,  who  called  a  council 
to  consider  the  proposition.  All  hut  one  of  the  child's  favored  the 
peace,  hut  he  demanded  that  the  eighl  delegates  should  first  join  them 
in  a  war  party  which  was  just  preparing  to  go  against  a  tribe  farther 
south,  probably  the  Creeks.  The  Seneca  agreed, and  set  out  with  the 
war  party  for  the  south;  hut  in  the  fight  which  resulted,  the  Seneca 
leader.  The  Owl,  was  captured.  The  other  seven  escaped  with  the 
Cherokee. 

A  council  was  held  in  the  enemy's  camp,  and  it  was  decided  that 
The  Owl  should  he  burned  at  the  stake.  The  wood  was  gathered  and 
everything  made  ready,  hut  as  they  were  about  to  tie  him  he  claimed 
the  warrior's  privilege  to  sing  his  death  song  and  strike  the  post  as  he 
recited  his  warlike  deed>.  The  request  pleased  his  enemies,  who  put 
a  tomahawk  into  his  hands  and  told  him  to  begin. 

He  told  first  his  exploits  in  the  north,  and  then  in  the  west,  giving 
times  and  places  and  the  number  of  scalps  taken,  until  his  enemies 
were  so  pleased  and  interested  that  they  forgot  the  prisoner  in  the 
warrior.  It  was  a  long  story,  hut  at  last  he  came  to  the  battle  in 
which  he  was  taken.  He  told  how  many  relatives  he  had  killed  of  the 
very  men  around  him.  and  then,  striking  the  post  with  his  tomahawk, 
"So  many  of  your  people  have  I  killed,  and  so  many  will  I  yet  kill;" 
and  with  that  he  struck  down  two  men,  sprang  through  the  circle  of 
warriors,  and  was  away,  [t  was  all  so  sudden  that  it  was  some  moments 
before  his  enemies  could  recover  from  their  surprise.  Then  they 
seized  their  weapons  and  were  after  him  through  the  woods,  hut  he  had 
had  a  good  start  and  was  running  for  his  life,  so  that  he  outran  the 
chase   and    tinalh    reached   the   Cherokee   cam})   in   safety  and    rejoined 

his  seven  companions. 

On  this  proof  of  good  will  the  Cherokee  then  concluded  the  treaty, 
and  the  peacemakers  returned  to  their  own  country. — Arranged  from 
Schoolcraft.  Notes  on  Iroquois,  p.  258. 

97.   ORIGIN   OF   THE  YONTONWISAS   DANCE 

Two  Seneca  women  who  were  sisters,  with  the  baby  hoy  of  the  older 

one.  were   in    a    sugar    grove    near    their    home    when   a    war   party  of 


366  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.akn.19 

Cherokee  came  upon  them  and  carried  them  off.  When  the  people  of 
the  town  learned  what  had  happened,  they  decided  not  to  go  after  the 
enemy  for  fear  they  would  kill  the  women,  .so  they  made  no  pursuit. 

The  Cherokee  carried  the  women  with  them  until  they  were  within 
one  day  of  the  Cherokee  towns.  The  elder  sister  learned  this  and 
made  up  her  mind  to  try  to  escape.  She  had  a  knife  without  a  handle 
hidden  under  her  belt,  and  that  night  when  all  lay  down  to  sleep  by 
the  lire  she  kept  awake.  When  they  were  sleeping  soundly,  she  looked 
around.  She  and  her  sister  were  tied  together,  and  on  each  side  of 
them  was  a  Cherokee  with  the  end  of  the  rope  under  his  body  on  the 
ground.  Taking  out  her  knife,  she  cut  the  rope  without  waking  the 
men.  and  then  rousing  her  sister  quietly  she  whispered  to  her  to  come. 
Tln'\  were  going  to  leave  (lie  little  boy,  but  lie  started  to  cry,  so  she 
said,  "■  Let  us  die  together,"  and  took  him  up  on  her  back,  and  the 
two  women  hurried  away.  In  a  little  while  they  heard  an  alarm 
behind  them,  and  knew  that  their  escape  was  discovered,  and  then 
they  saw  the  blazing  pine  knots  waving  through  the  trees  where  the 
Cherokee  were  coming  on  looking  for  them.  The  women  knew  the 
Cherokee  would  hunt  for  them  toward  the  north,  along  the  trail  to 
the  Seneca  country,  so  they  made  a  circuit  and  went  around  to  the 
south  until  they  came  in  sight  of  a  tire  and  saw  a  man  sitting  by  a 
tree,  shaking  a  rattle  and  singing  in  a  low  voice.  They  found  they  had 
come  directly  back  to  the  enemy's  camp,  so  the  older  sister  said,  ''This 
will  never  do;  we  must  try  again.  Let  us  go  straight  ahead  to  that 
big  tree  in  front,  and  from  that  straight  on  to  the  next,  and  the  next." 
In  this  way  they  kept  on  a  straight  course  until  morning.  When  the 
sun  came  up,  they  took  another  direction  toward  home,  and  at  night 
they  rested  in  the  woods. 

They  traveled  all  the  next  day.  and  at  night  rested  again.  In  the 
night  a  voice  spoke  to  the  younger  woman,  "Is  that  where  you  are 
resting;"'  and  she  answered,  '•Yes.'''  The  voice  said  again.  '"Keep 
on,  and  you  will  come  out  at  the  spot  where  you  were  captured.  No 
harm  will  come  to  you.  To-morrow  you  will  find  food."  She  roused 
her  sister  ami  told  her  what  the  voice  had  said. 

In  the  morning  they  went  on  and  at  noon  found  a  buck  freshly  killed. 
Near  by  they  found  a  log  on  fire,  so  they  roasted  some  of  the  meat, 
had  a  good  meal,  and  carried  away  afterwards  as  much  of  the  meat  as 
they  could.  They  kept  on.  camping  every  night,  and  when  the  meat 
was  nearly  gone  they  saved  the  rest  for  the  little  boy. 

At  last  one  night  the  \oice  spoke  again  to  the  younger  sister  and 
said.  •"You  are  on  the  right  road,  and  to-morrow  you  will  be  on  the 
border  of  the  Seneca  country.     You  will  find  food.     That  is  all." 

In  the  morning  she  told  her  older  sister.  They  started  on  again  and 
walked  until  about  noon,  when  they  came  to  a  patch  of  wild  potatoes. 
They  dug  and  found  plenty,  and  as  they  looked  around  they  saw  smoke 


THE    yONTOSwiSAS    DANCE  367 

where  there  had  been  a  camp  fire.  They  gathered  wood,  made  up  the 
fire,  ;tn<!  roasted  the  potatoes.  Then  they  ate  as  many  a~  the}  wanted 
and  carried  the  rest  with  them. 

They  traveled  on  until  the  potatoes  were  almosl  gone.  Then  at 
night  the  voice  came  again  to  the  younger  woman,  saying:  "Al  aoon 
tomorrow  yon  will  reach  your  home,  and  the  first  person  you  will 
meel  will  be  your  uncle.     When  you  gel  to  the  tow  o,  you  must  call  the 

people  toe-ether  and  tell  them  all  that  has  happened.  You  must  go  to 
the  long  house  and  take  oil'  your  skirl  and  carry  it  on  your  shoulder. 
Then  you  must  go  inside  and  go  around  once,  singing,  'We  have  come 
home;  we  are  here.'  This  is  the  Ybntonwisas  song,  and  it  shall  he 
for  women  only.  Know  now  that  we  are  the  ETadionyageonon,  the 
>k\    People,  who  have  watched  n\  er  you  all  this  time." 

When  the  girl  awoke,  she  told  her  sister,  and  they  said.  "We  must, 
do  all  this."  and  they  began  to  sine'  as  they  went  along.  Aliout  noon 
they  heard  the  sound  of  chopping,  and  when  they  went  to  the  place 
they  found  it  was  their  uncle  cutting  blocks  to  make  spoons.  He  did 
not  see  them  until  they  spoke,  and  at  first  could  hardly  believe  that 
they  were  living  women,  because  he  knew  that  they  had  been  taken  by 
the  Cherokee.  He  was  very  glad  to  see  them,  and  as  they  walked  on 
to  the  town  they  told  him  all  they  had  been  commanded  to  do  by  the 
Sky  People.  When  they  arrived  at  the  town,  he  called  all  the  people 
toe-ether,  and  they  went  to  the  long  house.  There  the  two  women 
sang  their  song  and  did  everything  exactly  as  they  had  been  told  to  do. 
and  when  it  was  over  they  said.  ■'This  is  all."  and  sat  down.  This  is 
the  same  Yontonwisas  song  that  is  still  sung  by  the  women. — Arranged 
from  Curtin,  Seneca  manuscript. 

98.   GA'NA'S  ADVENTURES  AMONG   THE  CHEROKEE 

Ga'na'  was  a  Seneca  war  chief.  He  called  a  council  and  said.  "We 
must  go  to  the  Cherokee  and  see  if  we  can't  agree  to  be  friendly 
together  and  live  in  peace  hereafter."  The  people  consented,  and  the 
chief  said.  "We  uiu-t  go  to  water  first  before  we  start."  So  they  went, 
a  great  party  of  warriors,  far  away  into  the  deep  forest  by  the  river 
side.  There  were  no  women  with  them.  For  ten  days  they  drank 
medicine  every  morning  to  make  them  vomit  and  washed  and  bathed 
in  the  river  each  clay. 

Then  the  chief  said.  "  Now  we  must  get  the  eagle  feathers.  "  They 
went  i,,  the  top  of  a  high  hill  and  dug  a  trench  there  the  length  of  a 
man's  body,  and  put  a  man  into  it.  with  boughs  over  the  top  so  that 
he  could  not  be  seen,  and  above  that  they  put  the  whole  body  of  a 
deer.  Then  the  people  went  oil'  out  of  sight,  and  said  the  words  to 
invite  Shada'ge'a.  the  great  eagle  that  lives  in  the  clouds,  to  come  down. 

The  man  under  the  brushwood  heard  a  noise,  and  a  common  eagle 
came  and  ate  a  Little  ami  flew  away  again.     Soon  it  came  back,  ate  a 


368  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

little  more,  and  flew  off  in  another  direction.  It  told  the  other  birds 
and  they  came,  bat  the  man  scared  them  away,  because  he  did  not 
want  common  birds  to  eat  the  meat.  After  a  while  he  heard  a  great 
noise  coming  through  the  air,  and  he  knew  it  was  Shada'ge'a,  the  bird 
he  wanted.  Shada*ge'a  is  very  cautious,  and  looked  around  in  every 
direction  for  some  time  before  be  began  to  eat  the  meat.  As  soon  as 
he  was  eating  the  man  put  his  hand  up  cautiously  and  caught  hold  of 
the  bird's  tail  and  held  on  to  it.  Shada'ge'a  rose  up  and  flew  away, 
and  the  man  had  pulled  out  one  feather.  They  had  to  trap  a  good 
many  eagles  in  this  way,  and  it  was  two  years  before  they  could  get 
enough  feathers  to  make  a  full  tail,  and  were  ready  to  start  for  the 
Cherokee  country. 

They  were  many  days  on  the  road,  and  when  they  got  to  the  first 
Cherokee  town  they  found  there  was  a  stockade  around  it  so  that  no 
enemy  could  enter.  They  waited  until  the  gate  was  open,  and  then 
two  Seneca  dancers  went  forward,  carrying  the  eagle  feathers  and 
shouting  the  signal  yell.  When  the  Cherokee  heard  the  noise  they 
came  out  and  saw  the  two  men  singing  and  dancing,  and  the  chief  said, 
"These  men  must  have  come  upon  some  errand."  The  Seneca  mes- 
sengers came  up  and  said.  "Call  a  council;  we  have  come  to  talk  on 
important  business."  All  turned  and  went  toward  the  townhouse,  the 
rest  of  the  Seneca  following  the  two  who  were  dancing.  The  town- 
house  was  crowded,  and  the  Seneca  sang  and  danced  until  they  were 
tired  before  they  stopped.     The  Cherokee  did  not  dance. 

After  tin' dance  the  Seneca  chief  said.  "Now  I  will  tell  you  why 
we  have  come  so  far  through  the  forest  to  see  you.  We  have  thought 
among  ourselves  that  it  is  time  to  stop  fighting.  Your  people  and 
ours  arc  always  on  the  lookout  to  kill  each  other,  and  we  think  it  is 
time  for  this  to  stop.  Here  is  a  belt  of  wampum  to  show  that  I  speak 
the  truth.  If  your  people  are  willing  to  be  friendly,  take  it,"  and  he 
held  up  the  licit.  The  Cherokee  chief  stepped  forward  and  said,  "  I 
will  hold  it  in  my  hand,  and  to-morrow  we  will  tell  you  what  we  decide." 
He  then  turned  and  said  to  the  people,  '"Go  home  and  bring  food." 
They  went  and  brought  so  much  food  that  it  made  a  great  pile  across 
the  house,  and  all  of  both  tribes  ate  together,  but  could  not  finish  it. 

Next  day  they  ate  together  again,  and  when  all  were  done  the  Cher- 
okee chief  said  to  the  Seneca.  "We  have  decided  to  be  friendly  and 
to  bury  our  weapons,  these  knives  and  hatchets,  so  that  no  man  may 
take  them  up  again."  The  Seneca  chief  replied,  "We  are  glad  you 
have  accepted  our  offer,  and  now  we  have  all  thrown  our  weapons  in  a 
pile  together,  and  the  white  wampum  hangs  between  us,  and  the  belt 
shall  be  as  long  as  a  man  and  hang  down  to  the  ground." 

Then  the  Cherokee  chief  said  to  his  people,  "Now  is  the  time  for 
any  of  you  that  wishes  to  adopt  a  relative  from  among  the  Seneca  to 
do  so."     So  some  Cherokee  women  went  and  picked  out  one  man  and 


mooney]  GA  N.V  s    ADVENTURES  369 

said,  ""  Vmi  shall  be  our  uncle,"  and  some  more  took  another  for  their 
brother,  and  so  on  until  only  Ga'na',  the  chief,  was  left,  bul  the  Cher- 
okee chief  said,  "  No  one  must  take  Ga'na',  for  a  young  man  is  here  to 
claim  him  as  his  father."    Then  the  young  man  rami'  up  to  Ga'na'  and 

said.  '"Father.  I  am  glad  to  see  you.     Father,  we  will  go  I e,"  and 

he  led  Ga'na'  to  his  own  mother's  house,  the  house  where  Ga'na'  had 

spent  the  first  night.  The  young  man  was  really  his  son.  and  when 
Ga'na'  came  to  the  house  he  recognized  the  woman  as  his  wife  who  had 
been  carried  off  lone-  ago  by  the  Cherokee. 

While  they  were  there  a  messenger  came  from  the  Seoqgwageono 
tribe,  that  lived  near  the  great  salt  water  in  the  east,  to  challenge  the 
Cherokee  to  a  ball  play.  lie  was  dressed  in  skins  which  were  so  long 
that  they  touched  the  ground.  He  said  that  his  people  were  already 
on  the  way  and  would  arrive  in  a  certain  number  of  days.  They 
came  on  the  appointed  day  and  the  next  morning  began  to  make  the 
bets  with  the  Cherokee.  The  Seneca  were  still  there.  The  strangers 
bet  two  very  heavy  and  costly  robes,  besides  other  things.  They 
began  to  play,  and  the  Cherokee  lost  the  game.  Then  the  Seneca 
said.  "We  will  try  this  time.'*  Both  sides  bet  heavily  again,  and  the 
game  began,  but  after  a  little  running  the  Seneca  carried  the  ball  to 
their  goal  and  made  a  point.  Before  lone-  they  made  all  the  points 
and  won  the  game.  Then  the  bets  were  doubled,  and  the  Seneca  won 
again.  "When  they  won  a  third  game  also  the  Seoqgwageono  said. 
••  Let  us  try  a  race."  and  the  Seneca  agreed. 

The  course  was  level,  and  the  open  space  was  very  wide.  The 
Cherokee  selected  the  Seneca  runner,  and  it  was  agreed  that  they 
would  run  the  first  race  without  betting  and  then  make  their  bets  on 
the  second  race.  They  ran  the  first  race,  and  when  they  reached  the 
post  the  Seneca  runner  was  just  the  measure  of  his  body  behind  the 
other.  His  people  asked  him  if  he  had  done  his  best,  but  he  said. 
"No;  I  have  not."  so  they  made  their  bets,  and  the  second  race  -the 
real  race — began.  When  they  got  to  the  middle  the  Seneca  runner 
said  to  the  other.  "Do  your  best  now.  for  I  am  going  to  do  mine." 
and  as  he  said  it  lie  pulled  out  and  left  the  other  far  behind  and  won 
the  race.  Then  the  Seoqgwageono  said.  "There  is  one  more  race 
yet  -the  long  race,"  and  they  got  ready  for  it,  but  the  Cherokee 
chief  said  to  his  own  men.  "  We  have  won  everything  from  these 
people.  I  think  it  will  be  best  to  let  them  have  one  race,  for  if  they 
lose  all.  they  may  make  trouble."  They  selected  a  Cherokee  to  run, 
and  he  was  beaten,  and  the  Seoqgwageono  went  home. 

In  a  few  days  they  sent  a  messenger  to  challenge  the  Cherokee  id 
meet  them  halfway  for  a  battle.  When  the  Cherokee  heard  this  they 
said  to  the  Seneca.  "There  are  so  few  of  you  here  that  we  don't  want 
to  have  you  killed.  It  is  better  for  you  to  go  home."  So  the  Seneca 
went  back  to  their  own  country. 

19    ETH— 01 24 


370  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.akk.19 

Three  years  later  they  came  again  to  visit  the  Cherokee,  who  told 
them  that  the  Seoqgwageono  had  won  the  battle,  and  that  the  chief  of 
the  enemy  had  said  afterward.  "  I  should  like  to  fight  the  Seneca,  for 
I  am  a  double  man.'1  Before  long  the  enemy  heard  that  the  Seneca 
were  there  and  sent  them  a  challenge  to  come  and  tight.  The  Seneca 
said.  "We  must  try  to  satisfy  them,"  so  with  Cherokee  guides  they 
set  out  for  the  country  of  the  Seoqgwageono.  They  went  on  until 
they  came  to  an  opening  in  the  woods  within  one  day's  journey  of  the 
first  village.  Then  they  stopped  and  got  ready  to  send  two  messen- 
gers to  notify  the  enemy,  but  the  Cherokee  said,  "You  must  send 
them  so  as  to  arrive  about  sundown."  They  did  this,  and  when  the 
messengers  arrived  near  the  town  they  saw  all  the  people  out  playing 
ball. 

The  two  Seneca  went  around  on  the  other  side,  and  began  throwing 
sumac  darts  as  they  approached,  so  that  the  others  would  think  they 
were  some  of  their  own  men  at  play.  In  this  way  they  got  near 
enough  to  kill  a  man  who  was  standing  alone.  They  scalped  him, 
and  then  raising  the  scalp  yell  they  rushed  off  through  the  woods, 
saying  to  each  other  as  they  ran,  "Be  strong — Be  strong."  Soon  they 
saw  the  Seoqgwageono  coming  on  horses,  but  managed  to  reach  a  dry 
creek  and  to  hide  under  the  bank,  so  that  the  enemy  passed  on  without 
seeing  them. 

The  next  morning  they  came  out  and  started  on,  but  the  enemy  was 
still  on  the  watch,  and  before  long  the  two  men  saw  the  dust  of  the 
horses  behind  them.  The  others  came  up  until  they  were  almost 
upon  them  and  began  to  shoot  arrows  at  them,  but  by  this  time  the 
two  Seneca  were  near  the  opening  where  their  own  friends  were  hid- 
ing, drawn  up  on  each  side  of  the  pass.  As  the  pursuers  dashed  in 
the  two  lines  of  the  Seneca  closed  in  and  every  man  of  the  Seoqgwa- 
geono was  either  killed  or  taken. 

The  Seneca  went  back  to  the  Cherokee  country  and  after  about  a 

month  they  returned  to  their  own  homes.     Afterward  the  Cherokee 

told  them,  "  We  hear  the  Seoqgwageono  think  you  dangerous  people. 

They  themselves  are  conjurers  and  can  tell  what  other  people  are 

going  to  do.  but   they  cannot   tell  what  the  Seneca  are  going  to  do. 

The  Seneca   medicine  is  stronger." — Arranged  from  Curtin,  Seneca 

manuscript. 

gg.  THE   SHAWANO   WARS 

Among  the  most  inveterate  foes  of  the  Cherokee  were  the  Shawano, 
known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Ani'-Sawanu'gi,  who  in  ancient  times,  prob- 
ably as  early  as  1680,  removed  from  Savannah  (i.  e.,  Shawano)  river, 
in  South  Carolina,  and  occupied  the  Cumberland  river  region  in  mid- 
dle Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  from  which  they  were  afterward  driven 
by  the  superior  force  of  the  southern  tribes  and  compelled  to  take  ref- 
uge north  of  the  Ohio.     On  all   old   maps  we  find  the  Cumberland 


iioonby]  THE    SHAWANO    WARS  .".71 

marked  as  the  "  river  of  the  Shawano."  Although  the  two  tribes  were 
frequently,  and  perhaps  for  long  periods,  on  friendly  terms,  the  ordi- 
nary condition  was  one  of  chronic  warfare,  from  an  early  traditional 
period  until  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  This  hostile  feeling  was 
intensified  by  the  fact  that  the  Shawano  were  usually  the  steady  allies 
of  the  Creeks,  the  hereditary  southern  enemies  of  the  Cherokee.  In 
174'.».  however,  we  find  a  party  of  Shawano  from  the  north,  accom- 
panied by  -e\  era!  ( Iherokee,  making  an  inroad  into  the  ( 'reek  country, 
and  afterward  taking  refuge  among  the  Cherokee,  thus  involving  the 
latter  in  a  new  war  with  their  southern  neighbors  (Adair,  Am.  Inds., 
276,  177.")).  The  Shawano  made  themselves  respected  for  their  fighting 
qualities,  gaining  a  reputation  for  valor  which  they  maintained  in  their 
later  wars  with  the  whites,  while  from  their  sudden  attack  and  fertil- 
ity of  stratagem  they  ca t<>  be  regarded  as  a  tribe  of  magicians.     By 

capture  or  intermarriage  in  the  old  days  there  is  quite  an  admixture  of 
Shawano  blood  among  the  Cherokee. 

According  to  Haywood,  an  aged  Cherokee  chief,  named  the  Little. 
Cornplanter  (Little  Carpenter?),  stated  in  177i'  that  the  Shawano  had 
removed  from  the  Savannah  river  a  lone-  time  before  in  consequence 
of  a  disastrous  war  with  several  neighboring  tribes,  and  had  settled  upon 
the  Cumberland,  by  permission  of  his  people.  A  quarrel  having  after- 
ward arisen  between  the  two  tribes,  a  strong  body  of  Cherokee  invaded 
the  territory  of  the  Shawano,  and.  treacherously  attacking  them,  killed 
a  great  number.  The  Shawano  fortified  themselves  and  a  long  war 
ensued,  which  continued  until  the  Chickasaw  came  to  the  aid  of  the 
Cherokee,  when  the  Shawano  were  gradually  forced  to  withdraw  north 
of  the  Ohio. 

At  the  time  of  their  final  expulsion,  about  the  year  1710,  the  boy 
Charleville  was  employed  at  a  French  post,  established  for  the  Shawano 
trade,  which  occupied  a  mound  on  the  south  side  of  Cumberland  river, 
where  now  is  the  city  of  Nashville.  For  a  long  time  the  Shawano  had 
been  so  hard  pressed  by  their  enemies  that  they  had  been  withdrawing 
to  the  north  in  small  parties  for  several  years,  until  only  a  few  remained 
behind,  and  these  also  now  determined  to  leave  the  country  entirely. 
In  March  the  trader  sent  Charleville  ahead  with  several  loads  of  -kins, 
intending  himself  to  follow  with  the  Shawano  a  few  months  later.  In 
the  meantime  the  Chickasaw,  learning  of  the  intended  move,  posted 
themselves  on  both  side-  of  Cumberland  river,  above   the   mouth  of 

Harpeth.  with  cai -  tocut  off  escape  by  water,  and  suddenly  attacked 

the  retreating  Shawano,  killings  large  part  of  them,  toe-ether  with  the 
trader,  and  taking  all  their  skins,  trading  goods,  and  other  property. 
Charleville  lived  to  tell  the  story  nearly  seventy  years  later.  As  the 
war  was  never  terminated  by  any  formal  treaty  of  peace,  the  hostile 
warriors  continued  to  attack  each  other  whenever  they  chanced  to  meet 
on  the   rich  hunting  grounds  of  Kentuckv.  until  finally,  from  mutual 


372  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.asn.19 

dread,  the  region  was  abandoned  by  both  parties,  and  continued  thus 
unoccupied  until  its  settlement  by  the  whites.1 

According  to  Cherokee  tradition,  a  body  of  Creeks  was  already 
established  near  the  mouth  of  Hiwassee  while  the  Cherokee  still  had 
their  main  settlements  upon  the  Little  Tennessee.  The  Creeks,  being 
near  neighbors,  pretended  friendship,  while  at  the  same  time  secretly 
aiding  the  Shawano.  Having  discovered  the  treachery,  the  Cherokee 
took  advantage  of  the  presence  of  the  Creeks  at  a  great  dance  at 
Itsa'ti,  or  Echota,  the  ancient  Cherokee  capital,  to  fall  suddenly  upon 
them  and  kill  nearly  the  whole  party.  The  consequence  was  a  war, 
with  the  final  result  that  the  Creeks  were  defeated  and  forced  to 
abandon  all  their  settlements  on  the  waters  of  the  Tennessee  river.2 

Haywood  says  that  "Little  Cornplanter"  had  seen  Shawano  scalps 
brought  into  the  Cherokee  towns.  When  he  was  a  boy,  his  father, 
who  was  also  a  chief,  had  told  him  how  he  had  once  led  a  party  against 
the  Shawano  and  was  returning  with  several  scalps,  when,  as  they 
were  coming  through  a  pass  in  the  mountains,  they  ran  into  another 
party  of  Cherokee  warriors,  who,  mistaking  them  for  enemies,  fired 
into  them  and  killed  several  before  they  diseovei-ed  their  mistake.3 

Schoolcraft  also  gives  the  Cherokee  tradition  of  the  war  with  the 
Shawano,  as  obtained  indirectly  from  white,  informants,  but  incorrectly 
makes  it  occur  while  the  latter  tribe  still  lived  upon  the  Savannah. 
'"The  Cherokees  prevailed  after  a  long  and  sanguinary  contest  and 
drove  the  Shawnees  north.  This  event  they  cherish  as  one  of  their 
proudest  achievements.  '  What!1  said  an  aged  Cherokee  chief  to  Mr 
Barnwell,  who  had  suggested  the  final  preservation  of  the  race  by 
intermarriage  with  the  whites.  "What!  Shall  the  Cherokees  perish! 
Shall  the  conquerors  of  the  Shawnees  perish!  Never!'"  * 

Tribal  warfare  as  a  rule  consisted  of  a  desultory  succession  of  petty 
raids,  seldom  approaching  the  dignity  of  a  respectable  skirmish  and 
hardly  worthy  of  serious  consideration  except  in  the  final  result.  The 
traditions  necessarily  partake  of  the  same  trivial  character,  being  rather 
anecdotes  than  narratives  of  historical  events  which  had  dates  and 
names.     Lapse  of  time  renders  them  also  constantly  more  vague. 

On  the  Carolina  side  the  Shawano  approach  was  usually  made  up  the 
Pigeon  river  valley,  so  as  to  come  upon  the  Cherokee  settlements  from 
behind,  and  small  parties  were  almost  constantly  lurking  about  waiting 
the  favorable  opportunity  to  pick  up  a  stray  scalp.  On  one  occasion 
some  Cherokee  hunters  were  stretched  around  the  camp  fire  at  night 
when  they  heard  flic  cry  of  a  flying  squirrel  in  the  woods — tsu-u!  tsu-u! 
tsu-u!  Always  on  the  alert  for  danger,  they  suspected  it  might  be  the 
enemy's  signal,  and  all  but  one  hastily  left  the  fire  and  concealed  them- 
selves. That  one,  however,  laughed  at  their  fears  and,  defiantly  throw- 
ing some  heavy  logs  on  the  fire,  stretched  himself  out  on  his  blanket 

1  Haywood,  Nat.  and  Aborig.  Hist,  of  Tennessee,  pp.  222-224,  1823. 

-  Ibid,  p.  241.  3  Ibid,  p.  222.  *  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  p.  160,  1847. 


THE    SHAWANO    WARS  373 

and  began  to  sing.  Soon  he  heard  a  stealthy  step  coming  through  the 
bushes  and  gradually  approaching  the  tiiv.  until  suddenly  an  enemy 
sprang  out  upon  him  from  the  darkness  and  boie  him  to  the  earth. 
But  the  Cherokee  was  watchful,  and  putting  up  his  hands  he  seized 
the  other  by  the  anus,  and  with  a  mighty  effort  threw  him  backward 
into  the  fire.  The  dazed  Shawano  lay  there  a  moment  squirming  upon 
the  coals,  then  bounded  to  Ins  feet  and  ran  into  the  woods,  howling 
with  pain.  There  was  an  answering  laugh  from  his  comrades  hidden 
in  the  hush.  1  mt  although  the  Cherokee  kept  watch  for  some  time  the 
enemy  made  no  further  attack,  probably  led  by  the  very  boldness  of 
the  hunter  to  suspect  some  ambush. 

On  another  occasion  a  small  hunting  party  in  the  Smoky  mountains 
heard  the  gobble  of  a  turkey  (in  telling  the  story  Swimmer  gives  a 
good  imitation).  Some  eager  young  hunters  were  for  going  at  once 
toward  the  game,  but  others,  more  cautious,  suspected  a  ruse  and 
advised  a  reconnaissance.  Accordingly  a  hunter  went  around  to  the 
hack  of  the  ridge,  and  on  coming  up  from  the  other  side  found  a 
man  posted  in  a  large  tree,  making  the  gobble  call  to  decoy  the  hunters 
within  reach  of  a  Shawano  war  party  concealed  behind  some  bushes 
midway  between  the  tree  and  the  camp.  Keeping  close  to  the  ground, 
the  Cherokee  crept  up  without  being  discovered  until  within  gunshot, 
then  springing  to  his  feet  he  shot  tin'  man  in  the  tree,  and  shouting 
"•  Kill  them  all,"  rushed  upon  the  enemy,  who.  thinking  that  a  strong 
force  of  Cherokee  was  upon  them,  fled  down  the  mountain  without 
attempting  to  make  a  stand. 

Another  tradition  of  these  wars  is  that  concerning  Tun&'i,  a  great 
warrior  and  medicine-man  of  old  Itsa'tl.  on  the  Tennessee.  In  one 
hard  right  with  the  Shawano,  near  the  town,  he  overpowered  his  man 
and  stabbed  him  through  both  arms.  Running  cords  through  the 
holes  he  tied  his  prisoner's  arms  and  brought  him  thus  into  Itsa'tl, 
where  he  was  put  to  death  by  the  women  with  such  tortures  that  his 
courage  broke  and  he  begged  them  to  kill  him  at  once. 

A  tier  retiring  to  the  upper  Ohio  the  Shawano  were  received  into  the 
protection  of  the  Delawares  and  their  allies,  and  being  thus  strength- 
ened felt  encouraged  to  renew  the  war  against  the  Cherokee  with 
increased  vigor.  The  latter,  however,  proved  themselves  more  than  a 
match  for  their  enemies,  pursuing  them  even  to  their  towns  in  western 
Pennsylvania,  and  accidentally  killing  there  some  Delawares  who  occu- 
pied the  country  jointly  with  the  Shawano.  This  involved  the  ( 'herokee 
in  a  war  with  the  powerful  Delawares.  which  continued  until  brought 
to  an  end  in  L768  at  the  request  of  the  Cherokee,  who  made  terms  of 
friendship  at  the  same  time  with  the  Iroquois.  The  Shawano  being 
thus  left  alone,  and  being,  moreover,  roundly  condemned  by  their 
friends,  the  Delawares.  as  the  cause  of  the  whole  trouble,  had  no  heart 
t..  continue  the  war  and  were  obliged  to  make  final  peace.1 
i  Heckewelder  Indian  Nations,  p.  88,  r. -print  of  L876. 


37-4  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

ioo.   THE  RAID   ON   TIKWALI'TSI 

The  last  noted  leader  of  the  Shawano  raiding  parties  was  a  chief 
known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Tawa'li-ukwanun'ti,  "Punk-plngged-in," 
on  account  of  a  red  spot  on  his  cheek  which  looked  as  though  a  piece 
of  punk  (tawa'H)  had  been  driven  into  the  flesh. 

The  people  of  Tikwali'tsi  town,  on  Tuckasegee,  heard  rumors  that 
a  war  party  under  this  leader  had  come  in  from  the  north  and  was 
lurking  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood.  The  Cherokee  conjurer. 
whose  name  was  Etawa'ka-tsistatla'ski,  "Dead-wood -lighter,"  resorted 
to  his  magic  arts  and  found  that  the  Shawano  were  in  ambush  along  the 
trail  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  a  short  distance  above  the  town. 
By  his  advice  a  party  was  fitted  out  to  go  up  on  the  south  side  and 
come  in  upon  the  enemy's  rear.  A  few  foolhardy  fellows,  however, 
despised  his  words  and  boldly  went  up  the  trail  on  the  north  side  until 
they  came  to  Deep  Creek,  where  the  Shawano  in  hiding  at  the  ford 
took  them  "  like  fish  in  a  trap"  and  killed  nearly  all  of  them. 

Their  friends  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  heard  the  firing,  and 
crossing  tlic  river  above  Deep  creek  they  came  in  behind  the  Shawano 
and  attacked  them,  killing  a  number  and  forcing  the  others  to  retreat 
toward  the  Smoky  mountains,  with  the  Cherokee  in  pursuit.  The 
invaders  had  with  them  two  Cherokee  prisoners  who  were  not  able  to 
keep  up  with  the  rapid  flight,  so  their  captors  took  them,  bound  as 
they  were,  and  threw  them  over  a  cliff.  An  old  conjurer  of  their  own 
party  finding  himself  unable  to  keep  up  deliberately  sat  clown  against 
a  tree  near  the  same  spot  to  wait  for  death.  The  pursuers  coming  up 
split  his  head  with  a  hatchet  and  threw  his  body  over  the  same  cliff, 
which  takes  its  name  from  this  circumstance.  The  Shawano  continued 
to  retreat,  with  the  Cherokee  close  behind  them,  until  they  crossed 
the  main  ridge  at  the  gap  just  below  Clingman's  dome.  Here  the 
Cherokee  gave  up  the  pursuit  and  returned  to  their  homes. 

ioi.   THE  LAST  SHAWANO   INVASION 

Perhaps  a  year  after  the  raid  upon  Tikwali'tsi,  the  Shawano  again, 
under  the  same  leader,  came  down  upon  the  exposed  settlement  of 
Kanuga,  on  Pigeon  river,  and  carried  off  a  woman  and  two  children 
whom  they  found  gathering  berries  near  the  town.  Without  waiting 
to  make  an  attack  they  hastily  retreated  with  their  prisoners.  The 
people  of  Kanuga  sent  for  aid  to  the  other  settlements  farther  south, 
and  a  strong  party  was  quickly  raised  to  pursue  the  enemy  and  recover 
the  captives.  By  this  time,  however,  the  Shawano  had  had  several 
days'  start  and  it  was  necessary  for  the  Cherokee  to  take  a  shorter 
course  across  the  mountains  to  overtake  them.  A  noted  conjurer 
named  Ka'lanu,  '"The  Raven,"  of  Hiwassee  town,  was  called  upon  to 
discover  by  Ids  magic  arts  what  direction  the  Shawano  had  taken  and 


booney]  THE    LAST    SHAW  AMI    [NVASION  875 

how  far  they  had  already  gone.  Calling  the  chiefs  together  he  told 
them  to  till  the  pip''  and  smoke  and  he  would  return  with  the  informa- 
tion before  the  pipe  was  smoked  out.  They  sat  down  in  a  circle  around 
the  fire  and  lighted  the  pipe,  while  he  went  out  into  the  woods.  Soon 
they  heard  the  cry  of  an  owl,  and  after  sonic  interval  they  heard  it 
again,  and  the  next  moment  the  conjurer  walked  oul  from  the  trees 
before  yet  the  first  smoke  was  finished. 

He  reported  that  he  had  trailed  the  Shawano  to  their  camp  and  that 
they  were  seven  days  ahead.  The  Cherokee  at  once  followed  as  The 
Raven  guided,  and  reached  the  place  in  seven  days  and  found  all  the 
marks  of  a  camp,  but  the  enemy  was  already  gone.  Again  and  once 
again  the  conjurer  wenl  ahead  in  his  own  mysterious  fashion  to  spy 
out  the  country, and  they  followed  as  he  pointed  the  way.  On  return- 
ing the  third  time  he  reported  that  their  enemies  had  halted  beside  the 
great  river  (the  Ohio),  and  soon  afterward  he  came  in  with  the  news 
that  they  were  crossing  it.  The  Cherokee  hurried  on  to  the  river, 
but  by  this  time  the  Shawano  were  on  the  other  side.  The  pursuers 
hunted  up  and  down  until  they  found  a  favorable  spot  in  the  stream, 
and  then  waiting  until  it  was  dark  they  prepared  to  cross,  using  logs 
as  rafts  and  tacking  with  the  current,  and  managed  it  so  well  that 
they  were  over  long  before  daylight  without  alarming  the  enemy. 

The  trail  was  now  fresh,  and  following  it  they  soon  came  upon  the 
camp,  which  was  asleep  and  all  unguarded,  the  Shawano,  flunking 
themselves  now  safe  in  their  own  country,  having  neglected  to  post 
sentinels.  Rushing  in  with  their  knives  and  tomahawks,  the  Cherokee 
fell  upon  their  sleeping  foe  and  killed  a  number  of  them  before  the 
others  could  wake  and  seize  their  arms  to  defend  themselves.  Then 
there  was  a  short,  desperate  encounter,  but  the  Shawano  were  taken 
at  a  disadvantage,  their  leader  himself  being  among  the  first  killed. 
and  in  a  few  moments  they  broke  and  ran.  every  man  for  himself,  to 
exape  as  best  he  could.  The  Cherokee  released  the  captives,  whom 
thc\  found  tied  to  trees,  and  after  taking  the  scalps  from  the  dead 
Shawano,  with  their  guns  and  other  equipments,  returned  to  their 
own  country. 

102.   THE   FALSE   WARRIORS   OF   CHILHOWEE 

Some  warriors  of  Chilhowee  town,  on  Little  Tennessee,  organized  a 
war  party,  as  they  said,  to  go  against  the  Shawano.  They  started  off 
north  along  the  great  war  trail,  but  when  they  came  to  Pigeon  river 
they  changed  their  course,  and  instead  of  going  on  toward  the  Sha- 
wano country  they  went  up  the  river  and  came  in  at  the  back  of  Cowee, 
one  of  the  Middle  settlements  of  their  own  tribe.  Here  they  concealed 
themselves  near  the  path  until  a  party  of  three  or  four  unsuspecting 
townspeople  came  by,  when  thej  rushed  out  and  killed  them,  took  their 
scalps  and  a  gun  belonging  to  a   man   named  Gunskali'skl,  and  then 


37t)  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  ieth.ann.19 

hurriedly  made  their  way  home  by  the  same  roundabout  route  to  Chil- 
howee,  where  they  showed  the  fresh  scalps  and  the  gun,  and  told  how 
they  had  met  the  Shawano  in  the  north  and  defeated  them  without 
losing  a  man. 

According  to  custom,  preparations  were  made  at  once  for  a  great 
scalp  dance  to  celebrate  the  victory  over  the  Shawano.  The  dance  was 
held  in  the  townhouse  and  all  the  people  of  the  settlement  were  there 
and  looked  on,  while  the  women  danced  with  the  scalps  and  the  gun, 
and  the  returned  warriors  boasted  of  their  deeds.  As  it  happened, 
among  those  looking  on  was  a  visitor  from  Cowee,  a  gunstocker,  who 
took  particular  notice  of  the  gun  and  knew  it  at  once  as  one  he  had 
repaired  at  home  for  Gunskali'ski.  He  said  nothing,  but  wondered 
much  how  it  had  come  into  possession  of  the  Shawano. 

The  scalp  dance  ended,  and  according  to  custom  a  second  dance  was 
appointed  to  be  held  seven  days  later,  to  give  the  other  warriors  also 
a  chance  to  boast  of  their  own  war  deeds.  The  gunstocker,  whose 
name  was  Gulsadikf,  returned  home  to  Cowee,  and  there  heard  for  the 
first  time  how  a  Shawano  war  party  had  surprised  some  of  the  town 
people,  killed  several,  and  taken  their  scalps  and  a  gun.  He  under- 
stood it  all  then,  and  told  the  chief  that  the  mischief  had  been  done, 
not  by  a  hostile  tribe,  but  by  the  false  men  of  Chilhowee.  It  seemed 
too  much  to  believe,  and  the  chief  said  it  could  not  be  possible,  until 
the  gunstocker  declared  that  he  had  recognized  the  gun  as  one  he  had 
himself  repaired  for  the  man  who  had  been  killed.  At  last  they  were 
convinced  that  his  story  was  true,  and  all  Cowee  was  eager  for  revenge. 

It  was  decided  to  send  ten  of  their  bravest  warriors,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  gunstocker,  to  the  next  dance  at  Chilhowee,  there  to  take 
their  own  method  of  reprisal.  Volunteers  offered  at  once  for  the  service. 
They  set  out  at  the  proper  time  and  arrived  at  Chilhowee  on  the  night 
the  dance  was  to  begin.  As  they  crossed  the  stream  below  the  town 
they  met  a  woman  coming  for  water  and  took  their  first  revenge  by 
killing  her.  Men,  women,  and  children  were  gathered  in  the  town- 
house,  but  the  Cowee  men  concealed  themselves  outside  and  waited. 

In  this  dance  it  was  customary  for  each  warrior  in  turn  to  tell  the 
story  of  some  deed  against  the  enemy,  putting  his  words  into  a  song 
which  he  first  whispered  to  the  drummer,  who  then  sang  with  him, 
drumming  all  the  while.  Usually  it  is  serious  business,  but  occasion- 
ally, for  a  joke,  a  man  will  act  the  clown  or  sing  of  sonic  extravagant 
performance,  that  is  so  clearly  impossible  that  all  the  people  laugh.  One 
man  after  another  stepped  into  the  ring  and  sang  of  what  he  had  done 
against  the  enemies  of  his  tribe.  At  last  one  of  the  late  war  party  rose 
from  his  seat,  and  after  a  whisper  to  the  drummer  began  to  sing  of  how 
they  had  gone  to  Cowee  and  taken  scalps  and  the  gun,  which  he  carried 
as  he  danced.  The  chief  and  the  people,  who  knew  nothing  of  the 
treacherous  act,  laughed  heartily  at  what  they  thought  was  a  great  joke. 


mooney]  THE    FALSE    WARKIOBS    OF   CHILHOWEE  377 

But  now  the  gunstocker,  who  had  hern  waiting  outside  with  the 
Cowee  men,  stripped  off  his  breechcloth  and  rushed  naked  into  the  town- 
house.  Bending  down  to  the  drummer — who  was  one  of  the  traitors, 
luit  failed  to  recognize  Gulsadihi'  he  gave  him  the  words,  and  then 
straightening  up  he  began  to  sing,  "///'.'  Ask  who  has  done  this!" 
while  he  danced  around  the  circle,  making  insulting  gestures  toward 
everyone  there.     The  song  was  quick  and  the  drummer  beat  very  fast. 

11«'  made  one  round  and  bent  down  again  to  the  drummer,  then 
straightened  up  and  sang,  "  Fit/  I  have  killed  a  pregnant  woman  at 
the  ford  and  thrown  her  body  into  the  river!"  Several  men  started 
with  surprise,  hut  the  chief  said.  "He  is  only  joking;  go  on  with  the 
dance."  and  the  drummer  heat  rapidly. 

Another  round  and  he  bent  down  again  to  the  drummer  and  then 
began  to  Sing,  "We  thought  our  enemies  were  from  the  north,  but  we 
have  followed  them  and  they  are  here  '."  Now  the  drummer  knew  at 
last  what  it  all  meant  and  he  drummed  very  slowly,  and  the  people 
grew  uneasy.  Then,  without  waiting-  on  the  drummer,  Gulsadihi  sane-. 
"Cowee  will  have  a  ball  play  with  you!" — and  everyone  knew  this 
was  a  challenge  to  battle— and  then  fiercely:  "But  if  you  want  to  fight 
now  my  men  are  ready  to  die  here  !  " 

With  that  he  waved  his  hand  and  left  the  townhouse.  The  dancers 
looked  at  each  other  uneasily  and  some  of  them  rose  to  go.  The  chief. 
who  could  not  understand  it,  urged  them  to  go  on  with  the  dance,  but 
it  was  of  no  avail.  They  left  the  townhouse.  and  as  they  went  out  they 
met  the  Cowee  men  standing  with  their  guns  ready  and  their  hatchets 
in  their  belts.  Neither  party  said  anything,  because  they  were  still  on 
friendly  ground,  but  everyone  knew  that  trouble  was  ahead. 

The  Cowee  men  returned  home  and  organized  a  strong  party  of 
warriors  from  their  own  and  all  the  neighboring  Middle  settlements  to 
go  and  take  vengeance  on  Chilhowee  and  on  Kuwa'hi.  just  below,  which 
had  also  been  concerned  in  the  raid.  They  went  down  the  Tennessee 
and  crossed  over  the  mountains,  but  when  they  came  on  the  other  side 
they  found  that  their  enemies  had  abandoned  their  homes  and  fled  for 
refuge  to  the  remoter  settlements  or  to  the  hostile  Shawano  in  the  north. 

103.  COWEE    TOWN 

Cowee',  properly  Kawi'yi,  abbreviated  Kawi',  was  the  name  of  two 
Cherokee  settlements,  one  of  which  existed  in  1755  on  a  branch  of 
Keowee  river,  in  upper  South  Carolina,  while  the  other  and  more 
important  was  on  Little  Tennessee  river,  at  the  mouth  of  Cowee  creek, 
about  10  miles  below  the  present  Franklin,  in  North  Carolina.  It 
was  destroyed  by  the  Americans  in  ls7«i.  when  it  contained  about 
a  hundred  house-,  but  was  rebuilt  and  continued  to  be  occupied 
until  the  cession  of  1819.  The  name  can  not  be  translated,  but  may 
possibly  mean  "the  place  of  the  Deer  clan"  (Ani'-KawT).      It  was  one 


378  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


of  the  oldest  and  largest  of  the  Cherokee  towns,  and  when  Wafford 
visited  it  as  a  boy  he  found  the  trail  leading-  to  it  worn  so  deep  in  places 
that,  although  on  horseback,  he  could  touch  the  ground  with  his  feet 
on  each  side. 

There  is  a  story,  told  by  Wafford  as  a  fact,  of  a  Shawano  who  had 
been  a  prisoner  there,  but  had  escaped  to  his  people  in  the  north,  ami 
after  the  peace  between  the  two  tribes  wandered  back  into  the  neigh- 
borhood on  a  hunting  trip.  While  standing  on  a  hill  overlooking  the 
valley  he  saw  several  Cherokee  on  an  opposite  hill,  and  called  out  to 
them,  "Do  you  still  own  Cowee'"  They  shouted  in  reply,  "Yes;  we 
own  it  yet."  Back  came  the  answer  from  the  Shawano,  who  wanted 
to  encourage  them  not  to  sell  any  more  of  their  lands,  "  Well,  it's  the 
best  town  of  the  Cherokee.     It's  a  good  country;  hold  on  to  it." 

104.   THE   EASTERN   TRIBES 

Besides  the  Iroquois  and  Shawano,  the  Cherokee  remember  also  the 
Delawares,  Tuscarora,  Catawba,  and  Cheraw  as  tribes  to  the  east  or 
north  with  which  thev  formerly  had  relations. 

The  Cherokee  call  the  Delawares  Anakwan'  ki,  in  the  singular 
Akwan'ki.  a  derivative  formed  according  to  usual  Cherokee  phonetic 
modification  from  Wapanaq'ki,  "Easterners,"  the  generic  name  by 
which  the  Delawares  and  their  nearest  kindred  call  themselves. 

In  the  most  ancient  tradition  of  the  Delawares  the  Cherokee  are 
called  Talega,  Tallige,  Tallige-wi,  etc.1  In  later  Delaware  tradition 
they  are  called  Kitu'hwa,  and  again  we  tind  the  two  tribes  at  war,  for 
which  their  neighbors  are  held  responsible.  According  to  the  Dela- 
ware account,  the  Iroquois,  in  one  of  their  forays  to  the  south,  killed 
a  Cherokee  in  the  woods  and  purposely  left  a  Delaware  war  club 
near  the  body  to  make  it  appear  that  the  work  had  been  done  by  men 
of  that  tribe.  The  Cherokee  found  the  body  and  the  club,  and  natur- 
ally supposing  that  the  murder  had  been  committed  by  the  Delawares. 
they  suddenly  attacked  the  latter,  the  result  being  a  long  and  bloody 
war  between  the  two  tribes.2  At  this  time,  i.  e.,  about  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  it  appears  that  a  part  at  least  of  the  Cherokee 
lived  on  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Ohio,  where  the  Delaware's  made 
continual  inroads  upon  them,  finally  driving  them  from  the  region 
and  seizing  it  for  themselves  about  the  year  1708. 3  A  century  ago  the 
Delawares  used  to  tell  how  their  warriors  would  sometimes  mingle  in 
disguise  with  the  Cherokee  at  their  night  dances  until  the  opportunity 
came  to  strike  a  sudden  blow  and  be  off  before  their  enemies  recovered 
from  the  surprise. 

Later  there  seems  to  have  been  peace  until  war  was  again  brought  on 

1  Brinton,  Lunatic  inn]  Their  Legends,  p.  130  rt  passim,  isST>;  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  pp.  147,305 
et  passim,  LS47;  Heckewelder,  Indian  Nations,  pp.  47-50,  ed.  1876. 
-  Heckewelder,  op.  cit.,  p.  54. 
3  Loskiel,  History  of  the  [Moravian]  Mission,  pp.  124-127;  London,  1794. 


BUREAU   OF   AMERICAN   ETHNOLOGY  NINETEENTH   ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.    XVIII 


WALINI',    A    CHEROKEE     WOMAN 


mooney]  THE    DELAWARES    AND    THE    TUSCARORA  379 

l>\  the  action  of  the  Shawano,  who  had  taken  refuge  with  the  1  >elawares, 
after  having  been  driven  from  their  old  home  on  Cumberland  river 
by  the  Cherokee.  Feeling  secure  in  their  new  alliance,  the  Shawano 
renewed  their  raids  upon  the  Cherokee,  who  retaliated  by  pursuing 
them  into  the  Delaware  country,  where  they  killed  several  Delawares 
by  mistake.  This  inflamed  the  latter  people,  already  excited  by  the 
sight  of  Cherokee  scalps  and  prisoners  brought  hack  through  their 
country  by  the  [roquois,  and  another  war  was  the  result,  which  lasted 
until  the  Cherokee,  tired  of  fighting  so  many  enemies,  voluntarily  made 
overtures  for  peace  in  L 768,  saluting  the  Delawares  as  Grandfather,  an 
honorary  title  accorded  them  by  all  the  Algonquian  tribes.  The  Dela- 
wares then  reprimanded  the  Shawano,  as  the  cause  of  the  trouble,  and 
advised  them  to  keep  quiet,  which,  as  they  were  now  left  to  fighl  their 
battles  alone,  they  were  clad  enough  to  do.  At  the  same  time  the 
Cherokee  made  peace  with  the  Iroquois,  and  the  long  war  with  the 
northern  tribes  came  to  an  end.  The  friendly  feeling  thus  established 
was  emphasized  in  177'.».  when  the  Cherokee  sent  a  message  of  con- 
dolence upon  the  death  of  the  Delaware  chief  White-eyes.1 

The  Tuscarora,  formerly  the  ruling-  tribe  of  eastern  North  Carolina, 
are  still  remembered  under  the  name  Ani'-Skala'li,  and  are  thus  men- 
tioned in  the  Feather  dance  of  the  Cherokee,  in  which  some  of  the 
actors  are  supposed  to  be  visiting  strangers  from  other  tribes. 

A-  the  majority  of  the  Tuscarora  fled  from  Carolina  to  the  Iroquois 
country  about  1713,  in  consequence  of  their  disastrous  war  with  the 
whites,  their  memory  has  nearly  faded  from  the  recollection  of  the 
southern  Indians.  From  the  scanty  light  which  history  throws  upon 
their  mutual  relations,  the  two  tribes  seem  to  have  been  almost  con- 
stantly at  war  with  each  other.  Whenat  one  time  the  Cherokee,  hav- 
ing already  made  peace  with  some  other  of  their  neighbors,  were  urged 
by  the  whites  to  make  peace  also  with  the  Tuscarora.  they  refused,  on 
the  ground  that,  as  they  could  not  live  without  war.  it  was  better  to  let 
matters  stand  as  they  were  than  to  make  peace  with  the  Tuscarora  and 
be  obliged  immediately  to  look  about  for  new  enemies  with  whom  to 
tight.  For  some  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Tuscarora  war  in 
1711  the  Cherokee  had  ceased  their  inroads  upon  this  tribe,  and  it  was 
therefore  .-iippo-ed  that  they  were  more  busily  engaged  with  some 
other  people  west  of  the  mountains,  these  being  probably  the  Shawano, 
whom  they  drove  out  of  Tennessee  about  this  time."  In  the  war  of 
1711-1713  the  Cherokee  assisted  the  whites  against  the  Tuscarora.  In 
1731  the  Cherokee  again  threatened  to  make  war  upon  the  remnant  of 
that  tribe  still  residing  in  North  Carolina  and  the  colonial  government 
was  compelled  to  interfere.3 

i  Heckewelder,  Indian  Nations,  pp  88  B9,  1876. 

-  See  Haywood,  Nat.  and  Aborig.  Hist,  of  Tei 9see,pp.220,224,237, 1823. 

•North  Carolina  Colonial  Records,  in,  pp.  153, 202,  345     1886 


380  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

The  Cheraw  or  Sara  ranging  at  different  periods  from  upper  South 
Carolina  to  the  southern  frontier  of  Virginia,  are  also  remembered 
under  the  name  of  Ani'-Suwa'li.  or  Ani'-Suwa'la,  which  agrees  with  the 
Spanish  form  Xuala  of  De  Soto's  chronicle,  and  Suala,  or  Sualy,  of 
Lederer.  The  Cherokee  remember  them  as  having  lived  east  of  the 
Blue  ridge,  the  trail  to  their  country  leading  across  the  gap  at  the 
head  of  Swannanoa  river,  east  from  Asheville.  The  name  of  the 
stream  and  gap  is  a  corruption  of  the  Cherokee  Suwa'li-Nunna'hi, 
"Suwa'li  trail."  Being  a  very  warlike  tribe,  they  were  finally  so 
reduced  by  conflicts  with  the  colonial  governments  and  the  Iroquois 
that  they  were  obliged  to  incorporate  with  the  Catawba,  among  whom 
they  still  maintained  their  distinct  language  as  late  as  1743. ' 

The  Catawba  are  known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Ani'ta'gwa,  singular 
Ata'gwa,  or  Ta'gwa.  the  Cherokee  attempt  at  the  name  by  which  they 
are  most  commonly  known.  They  were  the  immediate  neighbors  of 
the  Cherokee  on  the  east  and  southeast,  having  their  principal  settle- 
ments on  the  river  of  their  name,  just  within  the  limits  of  South  Caro- 
lina, and  holding  the  leading  place  among  all  the  tribes  east  of  the 
Cherokee  country  with  the  exception  of  the  Tuscarora.  On  the  first 
settlement  of  South  Carolina  there  were  estimated  to  be  about  7,000 
persons  in  the  tribe,  but  their  decline  was  rapid,  and  by  war  and  disease 
their  number  had  been  reduced  in  1775  to  barely  500,  including  the 
incorporated  remnants  of  the  Cheraw  and  several  smaller  tribes.  There 
are  now,  perhaps,  100  still  remaining  on  a  small  reservation  near  the 
site  of  their  ancient  towns.  Some  local  names  in  the  old  Cherokee 
territory  seem  to  indicate  the  former  presence  of  Catawba,  although 
there  is  no  tradition  of  any  Catawba  settlement  within  those  limits. 
Among  such  names  may  be  mentioned  Toccoa  creek,  in  northeastern 
Georgia,  and  Toccoa  river,  in  north-central  Georgia,  both  names  being 
derived  from  the  Cherokee  Tagwa'hi,  "Catawba  place."  An  old 
Cherokee  personal  name  is  Ta'gwadihi',  "Catawba-killer." 

The  two  tribes  were  hereditary  enemies,  and  the  feeling  between 
them  is  nearly  as  bitter  to-day  as  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago.  Per- 
haps the  only  case  on  record  of  their  acting  together  was  in  the  war 
of  1711-13,  when  they  cooperated  with  the  colonists  against  the  Tusca- 
rora. The  Cherokee,  according  to  the  late  Colonel  Thomas,  claim 
to  have  formerly  occupied  all  the  country  about  the  head  of  the  Ca- 
tawba river,  to  below  the  present  Morganton,  until  the  game  became 
scarce,  when  they  retired  to  the  west  of  the  Blue  ridge,  and  afterward 
"loaned"  the  eastern  territory  to  the  Catawba.  This  agrees  pretty 
well  with  a  Catawba  tradition  recorded  in  Schoolcraft,  according  to 
which  the  Catawba — who  are  incorrectly  represented  as  comparatively 
recent  immigrants  from  the  north — on  arriving  at  Catawba  river  found 

1  Mooney,  Siouan  Tribes  of  the  East  (bulletin  of  the  Bureuu  of  Ethnology), pp. 56, 61, 1894. 


THE    CATAWBA  381 

their  progress  disputed  by  the  Cherokee,  who  claimed  original  owner- 
ship of  the  country.  A  battle  was  fought,  with  incredible  loss  on 
both  sides,  but  with  do  decisive  result,  although  the  advantage  was 
with  the  ( 'aiaw  ba,  on  account  of  their  baving  guns,  while  their  oppo- 
nents had  only  Indian  weapons.  Preparations  were  under  way  to 
renew  the  fight  when  the  Cherokee  offered  to  recognize  die  river  as 
the  boundary,  allowing  the  Catawba  to  settle  anywhere  to  the  east. 
The  overture  was  accepted  and  an  agreement  was  finally  made  h\  which 
the  Catawba  were  to  occupy  the  country  east  of  that  river  and  the 
Cherokee  the  country  west  of  Broad  river,  with  the  region  between 
the  two  streams  to  remain  as  neutral  territory.  Stone  piles  were 
heaped  up  on  the  battlefield  to  commemorate  the  treatj  .  and  the  Broad 
river  was  henceforth  called  Eswau  Huppeday  (Line  river),  by  the 
Catawba,  the  country  eastward  to  Catawba  river  being  left  unoccupied.1 
The  fact  that  one  party  had  e'uns  would  briny  this  event  within  the 
early  historic  period. 

The  Catawba  assisted  the  whites  against  the  Cherokee  in  the  war 
of  L760  and  in  the  later  Revolutionary  struggle.  About  100  war- 
riors, nearly  the  whole  fighting  strength  of  the  tribe,  took  part  in 
the  first-mentioned  war.  several  being  killed,  and  a  smaller  number 
accompanied  Williamson's  force  in  1770.'  At  the  battle  fought  under 
Williamson  near  the  present  site  of  Franklin.  North  Carolina,  the 
Cherokee,  according  to  the  tradition  related  by  Watford,  mistook  the 
Catawba  allies  of  the  troops  for  some  of  their  own  warriors,  and  were 
fighting  for  some  time  under  this  impression  before  they  noticed  that 
the  Catawba  wore  deer  tails  in  their  hair  so  that  the  whites  might  not 
make  the  same  mistake.  In  this  engagement,  which  was  one  of  the 
bloodiest  Indian  encounters  of  the  Revolution,  the  Cherokee  claim 
that  they  had  actually  defeated  the  troops  and  their  Catawba  allies, 
when  their  own  ammunition  gave  out  and  they  were  consequently 
forced  to  retire.  The  Cherokee  leader  was  a  noted  war  chief  named 
Tsaiu  (John). 

About  1840  nearly  the  whole  Catawba  tribe  moved  up  from  South 
Carolina  and  joined  the  eastern  band  of  Cherokee,  but  in  consequence 
of  tribal  jealousies  they  remained  but  a  short  time,  and  afterward 
returned  to  their  former  home,  as  is  related  elsewhere. 

Other  tribal  names  (of  doubtful  authority)  are  Ani'-Sa'm  and  Ani'- 
Sawaha'ni,  belonging  to  people  said  to  have  lived  toward  the  north; 
both  names  are  perhaps  intended  for  the  Shawano  or  Shawnee,  prop- 
erly Ajai'-Sawanu'gi.  The  Ani'-Gili'  are  said  to  have  been  neighbors 
of  the  Anin'tsior  Natchez;  the  name  may  possibly  be  a  Cherokee  form 
for  Congaree. 

i  Catawba  MS  from  South  Carolina  official  archives.    Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  m,  pp.  29 
sibid.,  p.  294, 1853. 


382  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

105.   THE    SOUTHERN    AND    WESTERN    TRIBES 

The  nearest  neighbors  of  the  Cherokee  to  the  south  were  the  Creeks 
or  Muscogee,  who  found  mixed  confederacy  holding  central  and  south- 
ern Georgia  and  Alabama.  They  were  known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Ani'- 
Ku'sa  or  Ani'-Gu'sa,  from  Kusa,  the  principal  town  of  the  Upper 
Creeks,  which  was  situated  on  Coosa  river,  southwest  from  the  present 
Talladega,  Alabama.  The  Lower  Creeks,  residing  chiefly  on  Chatta- 
hoochee river,  were  formerly  always  distinguished  as  Ani-lvawi'ta, 
from  Kawita  or  Coweta,  their  ancient  capital,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river,  in  Alabama,  nearly  opposite  the  present  Columbus,  Georgia. 
In  number  the  Creeks  were  nearly  equal  to  the  Cherokee,  but  differed 
in  being  a  confederacy  of  cognate  or  incorporated  tribes,  of  which 
the  Muscogee  proper  was  the  principal.  The  Cherokee  were  called 
by  them  Tsal-gal'gi  or  Tsulgiil'gi,  a  plural  derivative  from  Tsa'lagf, 
the  proper  name  of  the  tribe. 

The  ordinary  condition  between  the  two  tribes  was  one  of  hostility, 
with  occasional  intervals  of  good  will.  History,  tradition,  and  lin- 
guistic evidence  combine  to  show  that  the  Creeks  at  one  time  occupied 
almost  the  whole  of  northern  Georgia  and  Alabama,  extending  a  con- 
siderable distance  into  Tennessee  and  perhaps  North  Carolina,  and 
were  dispossessed  by  the  Cherokee  pressing  upon  them  from  the  north 
and  northeast.  This  conquest  was  accomplished  chiefly  during  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  culminated  with  the  decisive  engage- 
ment of  Tali'wa  about  1755.  In  most  of  their  early  negotiations  with 
the  Government  the  Creeks  demanded  that  the  lands  of  the  various 
tribes  be  regarded  as  common  property,  and  that  only  the  boundary 
between  the  Indians  and  the  whites  be  considered.  Failing  in  that, 
they  claimed  as  theirs  the  whole  region  of  the  Chattahoochee  and 
Coosa,  north  to  the  dividing  ridge  between  those  streams  and  the  Ten- 
nessee, or  even  beyond  to  the  Tennessee  itself,  and  asserted  that  any 
Cherokee  settlements  within  those  limits  were  only  by  their  own 
permission.  In  1783  they  claimed  the  Savannah  river  as  the  eastern 
boundary  between  themselves  and  the  Cherokee,  and  asserted  their 
own  exclusive  right  of  sale  over  all  the  territory  between  that  river 
and  the  Oconee.  On  the  other  hand  the  Cherokee  as  stoutly  claimed 
all  to  a  point  some  70  miles  south  of  the  present  city  of  Atlanta, 
on  the  ground  of  having  driven  the  Creeks  out  of  it  in  three  successive 
wars,  and  asserted  that  their  right  had  been  admitted  by  the  Creeks 
themselves  in  a  council  held  to  decide  the  question  between  the  two 
tribes  before  the  Revolution.  By  mutual  agreement,  about  1816, 
members  of  either  tribe  were  allowed  to  settle  within  the  territory 
claimed  by  the  other.  The  line  as  finally  established  through  the 
mediation  of  the  colonial  and  Federal  governments  ran  from  the  mouth 
of  Broad  river  oh  Savannah  nearly  due  west  across  Georgia,  passing 


THE    CREEKS  383 

about  1"  miles  north  of  Atlanta,  to  ( !oosa  river  in  Alabama,  and  thence 
northwest  to  strike  the  west  line  of  Alabama  about  2n  miles  south  of 
tlir  Tennessee.  ' 

Among  the  names  which  remain  to  show  the  former  presence  of 
Creeks  north  of  this  boundary  are  the  following:  Coweeta,  a  small 
creek  entering  the  Little  Tennessee  above  Franklin.  North  Carolina; 
Tomatola  (Cherokee,  Tama' II),  a  former  town  site  on  Vallej  river, 
near  Murphy.  North  Carolina,  the  name  being  that  of  a  former  Creek 
town  on  Chattahoochee;  Tomotley  (Cherokee,  Tama' In.  a  ford  at 
another  town  site  on  Little  Tennessee,  above  Tellico  mouth,  in  Ten- 
nessee; Coosa  {Cherokee.  Kusa'),  an  upper  creek  of  Nottely  river,  in 
1'nion  county,  Georgia;  Chattooga  (Cherokee.  Tsatu'gl),  a  river  in 
northwest  Georgia;  Chattooga  (Cherokee,  Tsatu'gl),  another  river,  a 
head-stream  of  Savannah;  Chattahoochee  river  (Creek.  Chatu-huchi, 
"pictured  rocks");  Coosawatee  (Cherokee,  Ku'sa-weti'yi,  "Old Creek 
place"),  a  river  in  northwestern  Georgia;  Tali'wa,  the  Cherokee  form 
of  a  Creek  name  for  a  place  on  an  upper  branch  of  Etowah  river  in 
Georgia,  probably  from  the  Creek  ta'luaox  ita'lua,  ■"town":  Euharlee 
(Cherokee.  Yuha'li.  said  by  the  Cherokee  to  be  from  Yufala  or  Eu- 
faula,  the  name  of  several  Creek  towns),  a  creek  flowing  into  lower 
Etowah  river:  Suwanee  (Cherokee.  Suwa'ni)  a  small  creek  on  upper 
Chattahoochee,  the  site  of  a  former  Cherokee  town  with  a  name  which 
the  (  hei'okee  say  is  Creek.  Several  other  names  within  the  same  terri- 
tory are  said  by  the  Cherokee  to  he  of  foreign  origin,  although  perhaps 
not  Creek,  and  may  he  from  the  Taskigi  language. 

According  to  Cherokee  tradition  as  given  to  Haywood  nearly  eighty 
years  ago  the  country  about  the  mouth  of  Hiwassee  river,  in  Tennessee, 
was  held  by  the  Creeks,  while  the  Cherokee  still  had  their  main  settle 
ments  farther  to  the  north,  on  the  Little  Tennessee.  In  the  Shawano 
war.  about  the  year  1700,  the  Creeks  pretended  friendship  for  the 
Cherokee  while  secretly  helping  their  enemies,  the  Shawano.  The 
Cherokee  discovered  the  treachery,  and  took  occasion,  when  a  party 
of  Creeks  was  visiting  a  dance  at  Itsa'tf  ( Echota),  the  Cherokee  capital, 
to  fall  upon  them  and  massacre  nearly  every  man.  The  consequence 
was  a  war  between  the  two  tribes,  with  the  final  result  that  the  Creeks 
were  forced  to  abandon  all  their  settlements  upon  the  waters  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  to  withdraw  south  to  the  Coosa  and  the  neighborhood 
of  the  ■•('reek  path,"  an  old  trading  trail  from  South  Carolina,  which 
crossed  at  the  junction  of  the  ( lostanaula  and  Etowah  rivers,  where  now 
is  the  city  of  Rome.  Georgia,  ami  struck  the  Tennessee  at  the  present 
Guntersville,  Alabama. 

A-  an  incident  of  this  war  the  same  tradition  relates  how  the 
Cherokee  once  approached  a  large  Creek  settlement  "at  the  island  on 

'  Royce,  The  Cherokee  Nation  of  In. linn-,  in  Fifth  Report  of  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  205   08,   <! 
272,  1887    als i  1783)  Bartram,  Travels,  p.  Is;,  1792, 


384  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

tlic  Creek  path,"  in  Tennessee  river,  opposite  Guntersville,  and,  con- 
cealing their  main  force,  sent  a  small  party  ahead  to  decoy  the  Creeks 
to  an  engagement.  The  Creek  warriors  at  once  crossed  over  in  their 
canoes  to  the  attack,  when  the  Cherokee  suddenly  rose  up  from  their 
ambush,  and  surrounded  the  Creeks  and  defeated  them  after  a  desperate 
battle.  Then,  taking  the  captured  canoes,  they  went  over  to  the  island 
and  destroyed  all  that  was  there.  The  great  leader  of  the  Cherokee 
in  this  war  was  a  chief  named  Bullhead,  renowned  in  tradition  for  his 
bravery  and  skill  in  strategy.1  At  about  the  same  time,  according  to 
Watford,  the  Cherokee  claim  to  have  driven  the  Creeks  and  Shawano 
from  a  settlement  which  they  occupied  jointly  near  Savannah,  Georgia. 

There  was  a  tradition  among  the  few  old  traders  still  living  in  upper 
Georgia  in  1890  that  a  large  tract,  in  that  part  of  the  State  had  been 
won  by  the  Cherokee  from  the  Creeks  in  a  ballplay.2  There  are  no 
Indians  now  living  in  that  region  to  substantiate  the  story.  As 
originally  told  it  may  have  had  a  veiled  meaning,  as  among  the  Chero- 
kee the  expression  "to  play  a  ball  game"  is  frequently  used  figur- 
atively to  denote  fighting  a  battle.  There  seems  to  be  no  good  ground 
for  Bartram's  statement  that  the  Cherokee  had  been  dispossessed  by 
tlie  Creeks  of  the  region  between  the  Savannah  and  the  Ocmulgee,  in 
southwestern  Georgia,  within  the  historic  period.3  The  territory  is 
south  of  any  traditional  Cherokee  claim,  and  the  statement  is  at 
variance  with  what  we  know  through  history.  He  probably  had  in 
mind  the  Uchee,  who  did  actually  occupy  that  country  until  incor- 
porated with  the  Creeks. 

The  victory  was  not  always  on  one  side,  however,  for  Adair  states 
that  toward  the  end  of  the  last  war  between  the  two  tribes  the  Creeks, 
having  easily  defeated  the  Cherokee  in  an  engagement,  contemptuously 
sent  against  them  a  number  of  women  and  boys.  According  to  this 
writer,  the  "true  and  sole  cause"  of  this  last  war  was  the  killing  of 
some  adopted  relatives  of  the  Creeks  in  1749  by  a  party  of  northern 
Shawano,  who  had  been  guided  and  afterward  sheltered  by  the  Chero- 
kee. The  war,  which  he  represents  as  a  losing  game  for  the  Chero- 
kee, was  finally  brought  to  an  end  through  the  efforts  of  the  governor 
of  South  Carolina,  with  the  unfortunate  result  to  the  English  that  the 
(reeks  encouraged  the  Cherokee  in  the  war  of  1760  and  rendered  them 
very  essential  help  in  the  way  of  men  and  ammunition.4 

The  battle  of  Tali'wa,  which  decided  in  favor  of  the  Cherokee  the 
long  war  between  themselves  and  the  Creeks,  was  fought  about  1755 
or  a  few  years  later  at  a  spot  on  Mountain  creek  or  Long-swamp 
creek,  which  enters  Etowah  .river  above  Canton,  Georgia,  near  where 

iHaywood,  Nal   and  Aborig.  Hist.  Trim.,  p.  241,  1823.    Bullhead  maybe  intended  for  Doublehead, 
an  old  Cherokee  name. 
SMooney,  The  Cherokee  Ball  Play,  in  The  American  Anthropologist,  m,  p.  107,  April,  1890. 

Bartram,  Travels,  p.  618,1791. 
«  Adair,  History  of  American  Indians,  pp.  227,  247,  252-256,  270,  276-279,  1775. 


hooneyJ  THE    SOUTHEKM    TRIBES  385 

the  old  trail  crossed  the  river  aboul  Long-swamp  town.  All  our 
information  concerning  it  is  traditional,  obtained  from  James  Wafford, 
who  heard  the  story  when  a  hoy.  aboul  the  year  1815,  from  an  old 
trader  named  Brian  Ward,  who  had  witnessed  the  battle  sixty  years 
before.  According  to  his  account,  it  was  probably  the  bardesl  battle 
ever  foughl  between  the  two  tribes,  aboui  five  hundred  Cherokee  and 
twice  that  number  of  Creek  warriors  being  engaged.  The  Cherokee 
were  at  first  overmatched  and  fell  back,  but  rallied  again  and  returned 
to  the  attack,  driving  the  Creeks  from  cover  so  that  they  broke  and 
ran.  The  victory  was  complete  and  decisive,  and  the  defeated  tribe 
immediately  afterward  abandoned  the  whole  upper  portion  of  Geor- 
gia and  the  adjacent  part  of  Alabama  to  the  conquerors.  Before 
this  battle  the  Creeks  had  been  accustomed  to  shift  about  a  good  deal 
from  place  to  place,  but  thereafter  they  confined  themselves  more 
closelj  to  fixed  home  locations.  It  was  in  consequence  of  this  defeat 
that  they  abandoned  their  town  on  Nottely  river,  below  Coosa  creek, 
near  the  present  Blairsville,  Georgia,  their  old'  fields  being  at  once 
occupied  by  Cherokee,  who  moved  over  from  their  settlements  on  the 
head  of  Savannah  river.  As  has  been  already  stated,  a  peace  was  made 
about  1759,  just  in  time  to  enable  the  Creeks  to  assist  the  Cherokee  in 
their  war  with  South  Carolina.  We  hear  little  more  concerning  the 
relations  of  the  two  tribes  until  the  Creek  war  of  1813-14,  described 
in  detail  elsewhere;  after  this  their  histories  drift  apart. 

The  Vuehi  or  Uehee.  called  Ani'-Yu'tsi  by  the  Cherokee,  were  a 
tribe  of  distinct  linguistic  stock  and  of  considerable  importance  in 
early  days;  their  territory  bordered  Savannah  river  on  both  sides  imme- 
diately below  the  Cherokee  country,  and  extended  some  distance  west- 
ward into  Georgia,  where  it  adjoined  that  of  the  Creeks.  They  were 
gradually  dispossessed  by  the  whites,  and  were  incorporated  with  the 
Creeks  about  the  year  1740,  but  retain  their  separate  identity  and 
language  to  this  day.  their  town  being  now  the  largest  in  the  Creek 
Nation  in  Indian  Territory. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  a  Cherokee  mixed-blood  named  I  ran- 
-e'ti  or  Rattling-gourd,  who  was  born  on  Hiwassee  river  in  1820  and 
came  west  with  his  people  in  1838.  a  number  of  Yuchi  lived,  before  the 
Removal,  scattered  among  the  Cherokee  near  the  present  Cleveland, 
Tennessee,  and  on  Chickamauga,  Cohutta,  and  Pinelog  creeks  in  the 
adjacent  section  of  Georgia.  They  bad  no  separate  settlements,  but 
spoke  their  own  language,  which  he  described  as  "  hard  and  grunting." 
Some  of  them  spoke  also  Cherokee  and  Creek.  They  had  probably 
drifted  north  from  the  Creek  country  before  a  boundary  had  been 
fixed  between  the  tribes.  When  Tahlequah  was  established  a~  the 
capital  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  the  West  in  1839  a  few  Yuchi  were 
found  already  settled  at  the  spot,  being  supposed  to  have  removed 
from  the  East  with  some  Creeks  after  the  chief  .Mcintosh  was  killed  in 

19  eth— 01 25 


386  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


1825.  They  perished  in  the  .smallpox  epidemic  which  ravaged  the 
frontier  in  184:0,  and  their  graves  were  still  pointed  out  at  Tahlequah 
in  1891.  Shortly  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  there  was  a 
large  and  prosperous  Yuchi  settlement  on  Cimarron  river,  in  what  was 
afterward  the  Cherokee  strip. 

Ramsey  states  that  *"a  small  tribe  of  Uchees"  once  occupied  the 
country  near  the  mouth  of  the  Hiwassee,  and  was  nearly  exterminated 
in  a  desperate  battle  with  the  Cherokee  at  the  Uchee  Old  Fields,  in 
Rhea  (now  Meigs)  county,  Tennessee,  the  few  survivors  retreating  to 
Florida,  where  they  joined  the  Seminoles.1  There  seems  to  be  no  other 
authority  for  the  statement. 

Another  broken  tribe  incorporated  in  part  with  the  Creeks  and  in 
part  with  the  Cherokee  was  that  of  the  Na'rtsl,  or  Natchez,  who  origi- 
nally occupied  the  territory  around  the  site  of  the  present  town  of 
Natchez  in  southern  Mississippi,  and  exercised  a  leading  influence  over 
all  the  tribes  of  the  region.  In  consequence  of  a  disastrous  war  with 
the  French  in  172M-31  the  tribe  was  disrupted,  some  taking  refuge 
with  the  Chickasaw,  others  with  the  Creeks,  either  then  or  later,  while 
others,  in  1736,  applied  to  the  government  of  South  Carolina  for  per- 
mission to  settle  on  the  Savannah  river.  The  request  was  evidently 
granted,  and  we  find  the  "Nachee"  mentioned  as  one  of  the  tribes 
living  with  the  Catawba  in  1743,  but  retaining  their  distinct  language. 
In  consequence  of  having  killed  some  of  the  Catawba  in  a  drunken 
quarrel  they  were  forced  to  leave  this  region,  and  seem  to  have  soon 
afterward  joined  the  Cherokee,  as  we  find  them  twice  mentioned  in 
connection  with  that  tribe  in  1755.  This  appears  to  be  the  last  refer- 
ence to  them  in  the  South  Carolina  records.2 

.lust  here  the  Cherokee  tradition  takes  them  up,  under  the  name  of 
Anin'tsi,  abbreviated  from  Ani'-Na'  tsi,  the  plural  of  Na'  tsi.  From  a 
chance  coincidence  with  the  word  for  pine  tree,  natsi',  some  English 
speaking  Indians  have  rendered  this  name  as  "Pine  Indians."  The 
Cherokee  generally  agree  that  the  Natchez  came  to  them  from  South 
Carolina,  though  some  say  that  they  came  from  the  Creek  country.  It 
is  probable  that  the  first  refugees  were  from  Carolina  and  were  joined 
later  by  others  from  the  Creeks  and  the  Chickasaw.  Bienville  states, 
in  1742,  that  some  of  them  had  gone  to  the  Cherokee  directly  from 
the  Chickasaw  when  they  found  the  latter  too  hard  pressed  by  the 
French  to  be  able  to  care  for  them.3  They  seem  to  have  been  regarded 
by  the  Cherokee  as  a  race  of  wizards  and  conjurers,  a  view  which  was 
probably  due  in  part  to  their  peculiar  religious  rites  and  in  part  to  the 
interest  which  belonged  to  them  as  the  remnant  of  an  extirpated  tribe. 
Although  we  have  no  direct  knowledge  on  the  subject,  there  is  every 


1  Ratnsey,  Annals  of  Tennessee,  pp.  81, 84, 1853. 

2  Mooney,  Siouan  Tribes  of  the  East  (bulletin  of  tbe  Bureau  of  Ethnology), p.  83,1894. 
8  Bienville,  quoted  in  Gayarrfi,  Louisiana. 


THK    SOUTHERN    TRIBES  387 

reason  to  suppose  thai  the  two  tribes  had  had  communication  with  each 
other  long  before  the  period  of  the  Natchez  war. 

According  to  the  statement  of  James  Wafford,  who  was  born  in  L806 
near  the  site  of -Clarkesville,  Ga. ,  when  this  region  was  still  Indian 
country,  the  "Notchees"  had  their  town  on  the  north  bank  of  Hiwas- 
see,  just  above  Peachtree  creek,  on  the  spot  where  a  Baptist  mission 
was  established  1>\  the  Rev.  EvanJonesin  1821,  a  few  miles  above  the 
present  Murphy,  Cherokee  county.  North  Carolina.  On  his  mother's 
side  lie  bad  himself  a  strain  of  Natchez  blood.  His  grandmother  had 
told  him  that  when  she  was  a  young  woman,  perhaps  about  17.'..'..  she 
once. had  occasion  to  go  to  this  town  on  some  business,  which  she  was 
obliged  to  transact  through  an  interpreter,  as  the  Natchez  had  Keen 
there  so  short  a  time  that  only  one  or  two  spoke  any  Cherokee.  They 
were  all  in  the  one  town,  which  the  Cherokee  called  Gwal  ga'hif,  "Frog 
place,"  but  he  was  unable  to  say  whether  or  not  it  had  a  townhouse. 
In  lNi'4.  as  one  of  the  census  takers  for  the  Cherokee  Nation,  he  went 
over  the  same  section  and  found  the  Natchez  then  living  jointly  with 
the  Cherokee  in  a  town  called  (itVlani'yi  at  the  junction  of  Brasstown 
and  Gumlog  creeks,  tributary  to  Hiwassee,  some  ti  miles  southeast  of 
their  former  location  and  close  to  the  Georgia  line.  The  removal  may 
have  been  due  to  the  recent  establishment  of  the  mission  at  the  old 
place.  It  was  a  large  settlement,  made  up  about  equally  from  the  two 
tribes,  hut  by  this  time  the  Natchez  were  not  distinguishable  in  dress 
or  general  appearance  from  the  others,  and  nearly  all  spoke  broken 
Cherokee,  while  still  retaining  their  own  language.  As  most  of  the 
Indians  had  come  under  Christian  influences  so  far  as  to  have  quit 
dancing,  there  was  no  townhouse.  Harry  Smith,  who  was  horn  about 
1820,  father  of  the  late  chief  of  the  East  Cherokee,  also  remembers 
them  as  living  on  Hiwassee  and  calling  themselves  Na'  tsi. 

Cause' ti.  already  mentioned,  states  that  when  hi'  was  a  boy  the 
Natchez  were  scattered  among  the  Cherokee  settlements  along  the 
upper  part  of  Hiwassee.  extending  down  into  Tennessee.  They  had 
then  no  separate  townhouses.  Some  of  them,  at  least,  had  come  up 
from  the  Creeks,  and  spoke  Creek  and  Cherokee,  as  well  as  their  own 
language,  which  he  could  not  understand,  although  familiar  with  both 
of  the  others.  They  were  great  dance  leaders,  which  agrees  with  their 
traditional  reputation  for  ceremonial  and  secret  knowledge.  They 
went  west  with  the  Cherokee  at  the  final  removal  of  the  tribe  to  Indian 
Territory  in  L838.  In  1890  there  was  a  small  settlement  on  Illinois 
river  a  few  miles  south  of  Tahlequah,  Cherokee  Nation,  several  per- 
sons in  which  still  spoke  their  own  language.  Some  of  these  may  have 
come  with  the  Creeks,  as  by  an  agreement  between  Creeks  and  Chero- 
kee about  the  time  of  the  Removal  it  had  been  arranged  that  citizens  of 
either  tribe  living  within  the  boundaries  claimed  by  the  other  might 
remain  without  question  if  they  so  elected.     There  are  still  several 


388  J(YTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE 


persons  claiming-  Natchez  descent  among  the  East  Cherokee,  but  the 
last  one  said  to  have  been  of  full  Natchez  blood,  an  old  woman  named 
Alkini',  died  about  1895.  She  was  noted  for  her  peculiarities,  espe- 
cially for  a  drawling-  tone,  stud  to  have  been  characteristic  of  her 
people,  as  old  men  remembered  them  years  ago. 

Haywood,  the  historian  of  Tennessee,  says  that  a  remnant  of  the 
Natchez  lived  within  the  present  limits  of  the  State  as  late  as  1750, 
and  were  even  then  numerous.  He  refers  to  those  with  the  Cherokee. 
and  tells  a  curious  story,  which  seems  somehow  to  have  escaped  the 
notice  of  other  writers.  According  to  his  statement,  a  portion  of  the 
Natchez,  who  had  been  parceled  out  as  slaves  among  the  French  in 
the  vicinity  of  their  old  homes  after  the  downfall  of  their  tribe,  took 
advantage  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  to  the  north,  in  175S,  to 
rise  and  massacre  their  masters  and  make  their  escape  to  the  neighbor- 
ing tribes.  On  the  return  of  the  troops  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Du 
Quesne  they  found  the  settlement  at  Natchez  destroyed  and  their 
Indian  slaves  tied.  Some  time  afterward  a  French  deserter  seeking  an 
asylum  among  the  Cherokee,  having  made  his  way  to  the  Great  Island 
town,  on  the  Tennessee,  just  below  the  mouth  of  Tellico  river,  was  sur- 
prised to  find  there  some  of  the  same  Natchez  whom  he  had  formerly 
driven  as  slaves.  He  lost  no  time  in  getting  away  from  the  place  to 
rind  safer  quarters  among  the  mountain  towns.  Notchy  creek,  a  lower 
affluent  of  Tellico,  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee,  probably  takes  its 
name  from  these  refugees.  Haywood  states  also  that,  although  incor- 
porated with  the  Cherokee,  they  continued  for  a  long  time  a  separate 
people,  not  marrying  or  mixing  with  other  tribes,  and  having  their 
own  chiefs  and  holding  their  own  councils;  but  in  1823  hardly  any- 
thing was  left  of  them  but  the  name.1 

Another  refugee  tribe  incorporated  partly  with  the  Cherokee  and 
partly  with  the  Creeks  was  that  of  the  Taskigi,  who  at  an  early  period 
had  a  large  town  of  the  same  name  on  the  south  side  of  the  Little  Ten- 
nessee, just  above  the  mouth  of  Tellico,  in  Monroe  count}-,  Tennessee. 
Sequoya,  the  inventor  of  the  Cherokee  alphabet,  lived  here  in  his  boy- 
hood, about  the  time  of  the  Revolution.  The  land  was  sold  in  1819. 
There  was  another  settlement  of  the  name,  and  perhaps  once  occupied 
by  the  same  people,  on  the  north  bank  of  Tennessee  river,  in  a  bend 
just  below  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  on  land  sold  also  in  1819.  Still 
another  may  have  existed  at  one  time  on  Tuskegee  creek,  on  the  south 
bank  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  north  of  Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county. 
North  Carolina,  on  land  which  was  occupied  until  the  Removal  in  1838. 
Taskigi  town  of  the  Creek  country  was  on  Coosa  river,  near  the  junction 
with  the  Tallapoosa,  some  distance  above  the  present  Montgomery, 

'Haywood,  Natural  and  Aboriginal  History  of  Tennessee,  pp.  105-107,  1823.  For  a  sketch  of  the 
Natchez  war  and  the  subsequent  history  of  the  scattered  fragments  of  the  tribe,  see  the  author's 
paper,  The  End  of  the  Natchez,  in  the  American  Anthropologist  for  July,  1899. 


hooney]  THE    SOUTHERN    TRIBES  389 

Alabama.  We  find  Tasquiqui  mentioned  us  a  town  in  the  ( Ireek  coun- 
ii\  visited  by  the  Spanish  captain,  Juan  Pardo,  in  L567.  The  name 
is  c\  iilcrnly  the  same,  though  we  ran  not  be  sure  that  the  location  was 
identical  with  thai  of  the  later  town. 

Who  or  what  the  Taskigi  were  is  uncertain  and  can  probably  never 
bo  known,  but  they  were  neither  Cherokee  nor  Muscogee  proper.  It 
would  seem  most  probable  that  they  were  of  Muskhogean  affinity,  but 
the\  may  have  been  an  immigrant  tribe  from  another  section,  or  may 
even  have  constituted  a  distinct  linguistic  stock,  representing  all  that 
was  left  of  an  ancient  people  whose  occupation  of  the  country  ante- 
dated the,  coming'  of  the  Cherokee  and  the  Creeks.  The  name  may  be 
derived  from  taska  or  ta&Jca'ya,  meaning  '"warrior"  h.  several  of  the 
Muskhogean  dialects.  It  is  not  a  Cherokee  word,  and  Cherokee  inform- 
ants state  positively  that  the  Taskigi  were  a  foreign  people,  with 
distinct  language  and  customs.  They  were  not  Creeks,  Natchez. 
Uchee,  or  Shawano,  with  all  of  whom  the  Cherokee  were  well 
acquainted  under  other  names.  In  the  townhouse  of  their  settlement 
at  the  mouth  of  Tellico  they  had  an  upright  pole,  from  the  top  of 
which  hung  their  protecting  '•medicine,''  the  image  of  a  human  figure 
cut  from  a  cedar  log.  For  this  reason  the  Cherokee  in  derision  some- 
times called  the  place  Atsma'-k'taun,  "Hanging-cedar  place."  Before 
the  sale  of  the  land  in  1819  they  were  so  nearly  extinct  that  the  Cher- 
okee had  moved  in  and  occupied  the  ground. 

Adair,  in  177.3,  mentions  the  Tae-keo-ge  {sic — a  double  misprint)  as 
one  of  several  broken  tribes  which  theCreekshad  "  artfully  decoyed  "  to 
incorporate  with  them  in  order  to  strengthen  themselves  against  hos- 
tile attempts.  Milfort,  about  17S0,  states  that  the  Taskigi  on  Coosa 
river,  were  a  foreign  people  who  had  been  driven  by  wars  to  seek  an 
asylum  among  the  Creeks,  being  encouraged  thereto  by  the  kind  recep- 
tion accorded  to  another  fugitive  tribe.  Their  request  was  granted  by 
the  confederacy,  and  they  were  given  lauds  upon  which  the}7  built 
their  town.  He  puts  this  event  shortly  before  the  incorporation  of 
the  Yuchi,  which  would  make  it  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  In 
1799,  according  to  Hawkins,  the  town  had  but  3.5  warriors,  "  had  lost 
its  ancient  language,''  and  spoke  Creek.  There  is  still  a  "white"'  or 
peace  town  named  Taskigi  in  the  Creek  Nation  in  Indian  Territory.1 

The  nearest  neighbors  of  the  Cherokee  on  the  west,  after  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Shawano,  were  the  Chickasaw,  known  to  the  Cherokee  as 
Ani'-Tsi'ksu,  whose  territory  lay  chiefly  between  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Tennessee,  in  what  is  now  western  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  and 
the  extreme  northern  portion  of  Mississippi.  By  virtue,  however,  of 
conquest  from  the  Shawano  or  of  ancient  occupancy  they  claimed  a 

1  Adair.  History  of  American  Indians,  p.  257,  1775.    The  other  statements  cor rning  tie-  Taskigi 

among  the  Creeks  are  taken  from  Gatschet'S  valuable  study,  A  Migration  Legend  of  the  Creek 
Indians,  i.  pp.  122,  1 15,  228,  1884. 


390  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


large  additional  territory  to  the  east  of  this,  including  all  upon  the 

waters  of  Duck  river  and    Elk  creek.     This  claim   was  disputed  by 

the   Cherokee      According  to   Haywood,    the   two  tribes    had   I a 

friends  and  allies  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Shawano,  but  afterward. 
shortly  before  the  year  1769,  the  Cherokee,  apparently  for  no  suffi- 
cient reason,  picked  a  quarrel  with  the  Chickasaw  and  attacked  them 
in  their  town  at  the  place  afterward  known  as  the  Chickasaw  Old 
Fields,  on  the  north  side  of  Tennessee  river,  some  twenty  miles  below 
the  present  Guntersville,  Alabama.  The  Chickasaw  defended  them- 
selves so  well  that  the  assailants  were  signally  defeated  and  compelled 
to  retreat  to  their  own  country.1  It  appears,  however,  that  the 
Chickasaw,  deeming  this  settlement  too  remote  from  their  principal 
towns,  abandoned  it  after  the  battle.  Although  peace  was  afterward 
made  between  the  two  tribes  their  rival  claim  continued  to  he  a  sub- 
ject of  dispute  throughout  the  treaty  period. 

The  Choctaw,  a  loose  confederacy  of  tribes  formerly  occupying 
southern  Mississippi  and  the  adjacent  coast  region,  are  called  Ani'- 
Tsa'ta  by  the  Cherokee,  who  appear  to  have  had  but  little  communica- 
tion with  them,  probably  because  the  intermediate  territory  was  held 
by  the  Creeks,  who  were  generally  at  war  with  one  or  the  other.  In 
1708  we  find  mention  of  a  powerful  expedition  by  the  Cherokee, 
Creeks,  and  Catawba  against  the  Choctaw  living  about  Mobile  bay.8 

Of  the  Indians  west  of  the  Mississippi  those  best  known  to  the 
Cherokee  were  the  Ani'-Wasa'si,  or  Osage,  a  powerful  predatory  tribe 
formerly  holding  most  of  the  country  between  the  Missouri  and  Arkan- 
sas'rivers,  and  extending  from  the  Mississippi  far  out  into  the  plains. 
The  Cherokee  name  is  a  derivative  from  Wasash'.  the  name  by  which 
the  Osage  call  themselves."  The  relations  of  the  two  tribes  seem  to 
have  been  almost  constantly  hostile  from  the  time  when  the  Osage 
refused  to  join  in  the  general  Indian  peace  concluded  in  1768  (see 
"The  Iroquois  Wars")  up  to  IS'2'2,  when  the  Government  interfered 
to  compel  an  end  of  the  bloodshed.  The  bitterness  was  largely  due  to 
the  fact  that  ever  since  the  first  Cherokee  treaty  with  the  United 
States,  made  at  Hopewell.  South  Carolina,  in  1785.  small  bodies  of 
Cherokee,  resenting  the  constant  encroachments  of  the  whites,  had 
been  removing  beyond  the  Mississippi  to  form  new  settlements  within 
the  territory  claimed  by  the  Osage,  where  in  1817  they  already  num- 
bered between  two  and  three  thousand  persons.  As  showing  how  new 
is  our  growth  as  a  nation,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Watford,  when 
a  boy.  attended  near  the  site  of  the  present  Clarkesville,  Georgia, 
almost  on  Savannah  river,  a  Cherokee  scalp  dance,  at  which  the  women 

1  Haywood,  Natural  and  Aboriginal  History  of  Tennessee,  p.  24, 1823.  From  a  contemporary  reference 
in  Rivers,  South  Carolina,  page  57.  it  appears  that  this  war  was  in  full  progress  in  1757. 
sjlargry,  quoted  in  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend,  i,  pp.  16,  87,  1884. 
3  Wasash,  French  Ouasage,  corrupted  by  the  Americans  into  Osage. 


uooney]  THE    LOST    CHEROKEE  391 

dancedoversoraeOsagescalpsse.nl  b}  their  relatives  in  the  west  as 
i  rophies  of  ;i  recent  \  ictorj . 

( )ther  old  ( iherokee  names  for  western  tribes  which  can  not  be  iden- 
tified are  Tayun'ksi,  the  untranslatable  name  of  a  tribe  described  sim- 

pi\  as  living  in  the  West;  Tsuniya'tiga,  "Naked  | pie,"  described  as 

living  in  the  far  West;  Gun'-tsuskwa'  11,  "Short-arrows,"  who  lived 
in  the  far  West,  and  were  small,  but  great  fighters;  i'un'wini'giski, 
"Man-eaters,"  a  hostile  tribe  west  or  north,  possibly  the  cannibal 
Atakapa  or  Tonkawa,  of  Louisiana  <>r  Texas.  Their  relations  with 
the  tribes  with  which  they  have  become  acquainted  since  the  removal 
to  Indian  Territory  do  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this  paper. 

106.   THE   GIANTS   FROM   THE  WEST 

dames  Warlord,  of  the  western  Cherokee,  who  was  born  in  Georgia 
in  L806,  says  thai  his  grandmother,  who  must  have  been  born  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  told  him  that  she  had  heard  from  the 
old  people  that  lone-  before  her  time  a  party  of  giants  had  come  once 
to  visit  the  Cherokee.  They  were  nearly  twice  as  tall  as  common 
men.  and  had  their  eyes  set  slanting  in  their  heads,  so  that  the  Chero- 
kee called  them  Tsunil'  kahY.  "The  Slant-eyed  people,"  because  they 
looked  like  the  giant  hunter  Tsulkalu'  (see  the  story).  They  said 
that  these  giants  lived  very  far  away  in  the  direction  in  which  the  sun 
goes  down.  The  Cherokee  received  them  as  friends,  and  they  stayed 
some  time,  and  then  returned  to  their  home  in  the  west.  The  story 
may  be  a  distorted  historical  tradition. 

107.    THE   LOST   CHEROKEE 

When  the  first  lands  were  sold  by  the  Cherokee,  in  1721,  a  part  of  the 
tribe  bitterly  opposed  the  sale,  saying  that  if  the  Indians  once  con- 
sented to  give  up  any  of  their  territory  tin  whites  would  never  be 
satisfied,  but  would  soon  want  a  little  more,  ami  a  little  again,  until 
at  last  there  would  be  none  left  tor  the  Indians.  Finding  all  they 
could  say  not  enough  to  prevent  the  treaty,  they  determined  to 
leave  their  old  homes  forever  and  go  far  into  the  West,  beyond  the 
Great  river,  where  the  white  men  could  never  follow  them.  They 
gave  no  heed  to  the  entreaties  of  their  friends,  but  began  preparations 
for  the  long  march,  until  the  others,  finding  that  they  could  not  pre- 
vent their  going,  set  to  work  and  did  their  best  to  lit  them  out  with 
pack  horses  loaded  with  bread,  dried  venison,  and  other  supplies. 

When  all  was  ready  they  started,  under  the  direction  of  their  chief. 
A  company  of  picked  men  was  sent  with  them  to  help  them  in  crossing 
the  (ireat  river,  and  every  night  until  they  reached  it  runners  were 
sent  back  to  the  tribe,  and  out  from  the  tribe  to  the  marching  band,  to 
carry  messages  and  keep  each  party  posted  as  to  how  the  other  was 
getting  alone-.      At  last  they  came  to  the  Mississippi,  and  crossed  it  by 


392  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE  [eth.ann.19 

the  help  of  those  warriors  wh<>  had  been  sent  with  them.  Those  then 
returned  to  the  tribe,  while  the  others  kept  on  to  the  west.  All  com- 
munication was  now  at  an  end.  No  more  was  heard  of  the  wanderers, 
and  in  time  the  story  of  the  lost  Cherokee  was  forgotten  or  remem- 
bered only  as  an  old  tale. 

Still  the  white  man  pressed  upon  the  Cherokee  and  one  piece  of 
land  after  another  was  sold,  until  as  years  went  on  the  dispossessed 
people  began  to  turn  their  faces  toward  the  west  as  their  final  resting 
place,  and  small  hands  of  hunters  crossed  the  Mississippi  to  learn 
what  might  be  beyond.  One  of  these  parties  pushed  on  across  the 
plains  and  there  at  the  foot  of  the  great  mountains — the  Rockies — 
they  found  a  tribe  speaking  the  old  Cherokee  language  and  living  still 
as  the  Cherokee  had  lived  before  they  had  ever  known  the  white  man 
or  his  ways. 

108.    THE    MASSACRE    OF    THE    ANI'-KUTA'Nl 

Among  other  perishing  traditions  is  that  relating  to  the  Ani'-Kuta'm 
or  Ani'-Kwata'm.  concerning  whom  the  modern  Cherokee  know  so 
little  that  their  very  identity  is  now  a  matter  of  dispute,  a  few  hold- 
ing that  they  were  an  ancient  people  who  preceded  the  Cherokee  and 
built  the  mounds,  while  others,  with  more  authority,  claim  that  they 
were  a  clan  or  society  in  the  tribe  and  were  destroyed  long  ago  by 
pestilence  or  other  calamity.  Fortunately,  we  are  not  left  to  depend 
entirely  upon  surmise  in  the  matter,  as  the  tradition  was  noted  by 
Haywood  some  seventy  years  ago.  and  by  another  writer  some  forty 
years  later,  while  the  connected  story  could  still  be  obtained  from 
competent  authorities.  From  the  various  statements  it  would  seem 
that  the  Ani'-Kuta'ni  were  a  priestly  clan,  having  hereditary  super- 
vision of  all  religious  ceremonies  among  the  Cherokee,  until,  in  con- 
sequence of  having  abused  their  sacred  privileges,  they  were  attacked 
and  completely  exterminated  by  the  rest  of  the  tribe,  leaving  the 
priestly  functions  to  be  assumed  thereafter  by  individual  doctors  and 
conjurers. 

Haywood  says,  without  giving  name  or  details,  "The  Cherokees  are 
addicted  to  conjuration  to  ascertain  whether  a  sick  person  will  recover. 
This  custom  arose  after  the  destruction  of  their  priests.  Tradition 
states  that  such  persons  lived  among  their  ancestors  and  were  deemed 
superior  to  others,  and  were  extirpated  long  ago,  in  consequence  of 
the  misconduct  of  one  of  the  priests,  who  attempted  to  take  the  wife 
of  a   man  who  was  the  brother  of  the  leading  chief  of  the  nation."1 

A  more  detailed  statement,  on  the  authority  of  Chief  John  Ross  and 
Dr  -T.  B.  Evans,  is  given  in  1S66  by  a  writer  who  speaks  of  the  mas- 
sacre as  having  occurred  about  a  century  before,  although  from  the 

ijiat.  ami  Aborig.  Hist.  Tenn.,  p.  266. 


moonkv]  THE     ANl'-KT  TANI  393 

dimness  of  the  tradition  ii  is  evident  that  it  must  have  been  much 
earlier: 

"Tin'  facts,  though  few,  are  interesting.  The  order  was  heredita rj  ; 
in  this  respect  peculiar,  for  among  [ndians  seldom,  and  among  the 
Cherokees  never,  does  power  pertain  to  any  family  as  a  matter  of 
right.  Yi'i  tin-  family  of  the  Nicotani  for  it  seems  to  have  been  a 
family  or  clan  enjoyed  this  privilege.  The  power  that  they  exer- 
cised was  not,  however,  political,  nor  does  it  appear  that  chiefs  were 
elected  from  among  them. 

•■The  Nicotani  were  a  mystical,  religious  body,  of  whom  the  people 
stood  in  great  awe,  and  seem  to  have  been  somewhat  like  the  Brahmins 
of  India.  By  what  means  they  attained  their  ascendancy,  or  how  lone- 
it  was  maintained,  can  never  be  ascertained.  Their  extinction  by  mas- 
sacre is  neatly  all  that  can  be  discovered  concerning  them.  They 
became  haughty,  insolent,  overbearing,  and  licentious  to  an  intoler- 
able degree.  Relying  on  their  hereditary  privileges  and  the  strange 
awe  which  they  inspired,  they  did  not  hestitate  by  fraud  or  violence 
to  rend  asunder  the  tender  relations  of  husband  and  wife  when  a 
beautiful  woman  excited  their  passions.  The  people  long  brooded  in 
silence  over  the  oppressions  and  outrages  of  this  high  caste,  whom 
they  deeply  hated  but  greatly  feared.  At  length  a  daring  yoiingjnan. 
a  member  of  an  influential  family,  organized  a  conspiracy  among  the 
people  for  the  massacre  of  the  priesthood.  The  immediate  provoca- 
tion was  the  abduction  of  the  wife  of  the  young  leader  of  the  con- 
spiracy. His  wife  was  remarkable  for  her  beauty,  and  was  forcibly 
abducted  and  violated  by  one  of  the  Nicotani  while  he  was  absent  on 
the  chase.  On  his  return  he  found  no  difficulty  in  exciting  in  others 
the  resentment  which  he  himself  experienced.  So  many  had  suf- 
fered in  the  same  way.  so  many  feared  that  they  might  lie  made  to 
suffer,  that  nothing  was  wanted  hut  a  leader.  A  leader  appearing  in 
the  person  of  the  young  brave  whom  we  have  named,  the  people  rose 
under  his  direction  and  killed  every  Nicotani.  young  and  old.  Thus 
perished  a  hereditary  secret  society,  since  which  time  no  hereditary 
privileges  have  been  tolerated  among  the  Cherokees."'1 

109.    THE    WAR    MEDICINE 

Some  warriors  had  medicine  to  change  their  shape  as  they  pleased, 
so  that  they  could  escape  from  their  enemies.  Once  one  of  these 
medicine  warriors  who  had  been  away  from  home  came  hack  and  found 
a  strong  party  of  the  enemy  attacking  the  settlement  while  nearly  all 
the  men  were  off  on  a  hunt.  The  town  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  but  his  grandmother  was  there,  so  he  made  up  his  mind  to  save 
her.     Going  down  the  stream  a  little  way.  he  hunted  until  he  found  a 

1  MacGon'an,  Dr  D.  J.,  Indian  Secret  Societies,  Historical  Magazine,  s  irrisania,  N.  Y. 


3V>4  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE  [eth. 


mussel  shell.  With  his  medicine  he  changed  this  to  a  canoe,  in  which 
he  crossed  over  to  his  grandmother's  house,  and  found  her  sitting 
there,  waiting  for  the  enemy  to  come  and  kill  her.  Again  he  made 
medicine  and  put  her  into  a  small  gourd  which  he  fastened  to  his  belt. 
Then  climbing  a  tree  he  changed  himself  to  a  swamp  woodcock,  and 
with  one  erj  he  spread  his  wings  and  flew  across  to  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  whei'e  both  took  their  natural  shape  again  and  made  their 
way  through  the  woods  to  another  settlement. 

There  was  another  great  Cherokee  warrior,  named  Dasi'giya'gi,  or 
Shoe-boots,  as  the  whites  called  him,  who  lived  on  Hightower  creek, 
in  Georgia,  lie  was  so  strong  that  it  was  said  he  could  throw  a  coru 
mortar  over  a  house,  and  with  his  magic  power  could  (dear  a  river  at 
one  jump.  His  war  medicine  was  an  uktena  scale  and  a  very  large 
turtle  shell  which  he  got  from  the  Shawano.  In  the  Creek  war  he  put 
this  scale  into  water  and  bathed  his  body  with  the  water,  and  also 
burned  a  piece  of  the  turtle  shell  and  drew  a  black  line  around  his  men 
with  the  coal,  and  he  was  never  wounded  and  never  had  a  man  killed. 

Some  great  warriors  had  a  medicine  by  the  aid  of  which  they  could 
dive  under  the  ground  as  underwater,  come  up  among  the  enenry  to 
kill  and  scalp  one,  then  dive  under  the  ground  again  and  come  up 
among  their  friends. 

Some  war  captains  knewT  how  to  put  their  lives  up  in  the  tree  tops 
during  a  fight,  so  that  even  if  they  were  struck  by  the  enemy  they 
could  not  be  killed.  Once,  in  a  battle  with  the  Shawano,  the  Chero 
kee  leader  stood  directly  in  front  of  the  enemy  and  let  the  whole  party 
shoot  at  him,  but  was  not  hurt  until  the  Shawano  captain,  who  knew 
this  war  medicine  himself,  ordered  his  men  to  shoot  into  the  branches 
above  the  head  of  the  other.  They  did  this  and  the  Cherokee  leader 
fell  dead. 

no.   INCIDENTS   OF   PERSONAL   HEROISM 

In  the  Cherokee  war  of  17»>o  when  small  bodies  of  the  enemy, 
according  to  Haywood,  were  pushing  their  inroads  eastward  almost  to 
Salisbury,  a  party  of  six  or  eight  warriors  was  discovered,  watched, 
and  followed  until  they  were  seen  to  enter  a  deserted  cabin  to  pass 
the  night.  The  alarm  was  given,  and  shortly  before  daylight  the 
whites  surrounded  the  house,  posting  themselves  behind  the  fodder 
stack  and  some  outbuildings  so  as  to  command  both  the  door  and  the 
wide  chimney  top.  They  then  began  to  throw  fire  upon  the  roof  to 
drive  out  the  Indians,  when,  as  the  blaze  caught  the  dry  shingles,  and 
death  either  by  fire  or  bullet  seemed  certain,  one  of  the  besieged 
warriors  called  to  his  companions  that  it  was  better  that  one  should  be 
a  sacrifice  than  that  all  should  die.  and  that  if  they  would  follow  his 
directions  he  would  save  them,  but  die  himself.  He  proposed  to  sally 
out  alone  to  draw  the  tire  of  the   besiegers,  while  his   friends  stood 


INCIDENTS    OF    HEROISM  395 

reach  to  make  for  the  woods  as  soon  as  the  gains  of  the  whites  were 
empty.  Thei  agreed,  and  the  door  was  opened,  when  he  suddenly 
rushed  forth,  dodging  and  running  in  a  zigzag  course,  so  thai  every 
gun  was  emptied  at  him  before  he  fell  dead,  covered  with  wounds. 
While  ili"  white-  were  reloading,  the  other  warriors  ran  out  and  sur- 
ceeded  iii  reaching  the  woods  before  the  besiegers  coul  1  recover  from 
their  surprise.  The  historian  adds.  ••How  greatly  it  is  to  be  regretted 
thai  the  name  of  this  hero  is  not  know  n  to  the  writer,  that  it  might  >»■ 
recorded  with  1 1 1 1  — -  specimen  of  Cherokee  bravery  and  patriotism, 
firmness  and  presence  of  mind  in  the  hour  of  danger." 

.Moii>  than  once  women  seem  to  have  shown  the  courage  of  warriors 
when  the  occasion  demanded.  At  the  beginning  of  the  last  centuiy 
then'  was  still  living  among  the  Cherokee  a  woman  who  had  killed  her 
husband's  slayer  in  one  of  the  Revolutionary  engagements.  For  this 
deed  she  was  treated  with  so  much  consideration  that  she  was  per- 
mitted to  join  the  warriors  in  the  war  dance,  carrying  her  gun  and 
tomahawk.  The  "Wahnenauhi  manuscript  has  a  tradition  of  an  attack 
upon  a  Cherokee  town  and  the  killing  of  the  chief  by  a  hostile  war 
party.  Hi-  wife,  whose  name  was  Cuhtahlatah  (Gatun'lati,  ^Wild- 
hemp"?),  on  seeing  her  husband  fall,  snatched  up  his  tomahawk, 
shouting,  ■"Kill!  Kill!"  and  rushed  upon  the  enemy  with  such  fury 
that  the  retreating  Cherokee  rallied  and  renewed  the  battle  with  so 
great  courage  as  to  gain  a  complete  victory.  This  may  he  a  different 
statement  of  the  same  incident. 

In  Rutherford's  expedition  against  the  Cherokee,  in  1 7 7 < '> .  the 
Indians  made  a  stand  near  Waya  gap,  in  the  Nantahala  mountains,  and 
a  hard-fought  engagement  took  place,  with  a  loss  to  the  Americans  of 
nineteen  men.  although  the  enemy  was  finally  driven  from  the  ground. 
After  the  main  body  had  retreated,  an  Indian  was  seen  looking  out 
from  behind  a  tree,  and  was  at  once  shot  and  killed  by  the  soldier-. 
who,  on  going  to  the  spot,  found  that  it  was  a  woman,  painted  and 
stripped  like  a  warrior  and  armed  with  bow  and  arrow-.  She  had 
already  been  -hot  through  the  thigh,  and  had  therefore  been  unable 
to  flee  with  tin-  rest. 

in.   THE    MOUNDS    AND    THE    CONSTANT    FIRE:    THE  OLD    SACRED 
THINGS 

Some  say  that  the  mounds  were  built  by  another  people.  Others 
-ay  they  were  built  bythe  ancestors  of  the  old  Ani'-Kitu'hwagi  for  town- 
house  foundation-,  so  that  the  townhouses  would  lie  safe  when  freshet- 
came.  The  townhouse  was  always  built  on  the  level  bottom  lands  by 
the  river  in  order  that  the  people  might  have  smooth  ground  for  their 
dame-  and  ballplays  and  might  be  able  to  go  down  to  water  during 
the  dance. 


■  Haywood,  Nat.  and  Aborig.  Hist.  Tenn 


396  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [kth.ann.19 

"When  they  were  ready  to  build  the  mound  they  began  by  laying  a 
circle  of  stones  on  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Next  they  made  a  fire 
in  the  center  of  the  circle  and  put  near  it  the  body  of  some  prominent 
chief  or  priest  who  had  lately  died — some  say  seven  chief  men  from 
the  different  clans — together  with  an  Ulunsu'ti  stone,  an  uktena  scale 
or  horn,  a  feather  from  the  right  wing  of  an  eagle  or  great  tla'nuwa, 
which  lived  in  those  days,  and  heads  of  seven  colors,  red,  white,  black. 
blue,  purple,  yellow,  and  gray -blue.  The  priest  then  conjured  all 
these  with  disease,  so  that,  if  ever  an  enemy  invaded  the  country,  even 
though  lie  should  burn  and  destroy  the  town  and  the  townhouse,  he 
would  never  live  to  return  home. 

Tlie  mound  was  then  built  up  with  earth,  which  the  women  brought 
in  baskets,  and  as  they  piled  it  above  the  stones,  the  bodies  of  their 
great  men,  and  the  sacred  things,  they  left  an  open  place  at-  the  fire  in 
the  center  and  letdown  a  hollow  cedar  trunk,  with  the  bark  on,  which 
fitted  around  the  tire  and  protected  it  from  the  earth.  This  cedar  log 
was  cut  long  enough  to  reach  nearly  to  the  surface  inside  the.  town- 
house  when  everything  was  done.  The  earth  was  piled  up  around  it. 
and  the  whole  mound  was  finished  off  smoothly,  and  then  the  town- 
house  was  built  upon  it.  One  man,  called  the  fire  keeper, stayed  always 
in  the  townhouse  to  feed  and  tend  the  tire.  When  there  was  to  be  a 
dance  or  a  council  he  pushed  long  stalks  of  the  ihy&'ga  weed,  which 
some  call aisil'-sun'tl,  "  the  fire  maker"  (Erig<  nm  canadt  nst  or  ileal >ane), 
down  through  the  opening  in  the  cedar  log  to  the  fire  at  the  bottom. 
He  left  the  ends  of  the  stalks  sticking'  out  and  piled  lichens  and  punk 
around,  after  which  he  prayed,  and  as  he  prayed  the  fire  climbed  up 
along  the  stalks  until  it  caught  the  punk.  Then  he  put  on  wood,  and 
by  the  time  the  dancers  were  ready  there  was  a  large  fire  blazing  in 
the  townhouse.  After  the  dance  he  covered  the  hole  over  again  with 
ashes,  but  the  fire  was  always  smoldering  below,  .lust  before  the 
Green-corn  dance,  in  the  old  times,  every  fire  in  the  settlement  was 
extinguished  and  all  the  people  came  and  got  new  fire  from  the  town- 
house.  This  was  called  ufsi'ln  gWffiifew''ti'yu,  "the  honored  or  sacred 
fire."  Sometimes  when  the  fire  in  a  house  went  out,  the  woman  came 
to  the  fire  keeper,  who  made  a  new  fire  by  rubbing  an  ihy&'ga  stalk 
against  the  under  side  of  a  hard  dry  fungus  that  grows  upon  locust 
trees. 

Some  say  this  everlasting  fire  was  only  in  the  larger  mounds  at 
Nikwasi',  Kitu'hwa.  and  a  few  other  towns,  and  that  when  the  new  fire 
was  thus  drawn  up  for  the  Green-corn  dance  it  was  distributed  from 
them  (o  the  other  settlements.  The  lire  burns  yet  at  the  bottom  id'  these 
great  mounds,  and  when  the  Cherokee  soldiers  were  camped  near 
Kitu'hwa  during  the  civil  war  they  saw  smoke  still  rising  from  the 
mound. 

The  Cherokee  once  had  a  wooden  box,  nearly  square  and  wrapped 
up   in  buckskin,  in    which  they    kepi  (he    most  sacred   things  of   their 


MISCELLANEOUS    MYTHS  397 

old  religion.  Upon  everj  important  expedition  two  priests  carried 
it  in  turn  and  watched  over  it  in  camp  so  that  nothing  could  come 
near  to  disturb  it.  The  Delawares  captured  it  more  than  a  hundred 
years  ago,  and  after  thai  the  old  religion  was  neglected  and  trouble 
game  to  the  Nation.  They  had  also  a  great  peace  pipe,  carved  from 
white  .-tone,  with  >e\  en  stem-holes,  so  that  seven  men  could  sit  around 
and  smoke  from  it  at  onee  at  their  peace  councils.  In  the  old  town  of 
Keowee  tiny  hail  a  drum  of  stone,  cut  in  the  shape  of  a  turtle. 
which  was  hungup   inside  the   townhouse  and   used  at   all  the   town 

dances.  Tin'  other  towns  of  the  Lower  Cherokee  used  to  borrow  it. 
too.  for  their  own  dances. 

All  the  old  things  are  gone  now  and  the  Indians  are  different. 

Miscellaneous  Myths  and  Legends 
112.  the  ignorant  housekeeper 

Ail  old  man  whose  wife  had  died  lived  alone  with  his  son.  One  day 
he  said  to  the  young  man.  "We  need  a  cook  here,  so  you  would  better 
get  married.'"  So  the  young  man  got  a  wife  and  brought  her  home. 
Then  his  father  said.  "Now  we  must  work  together  and  do  all  we  can 
to  help  her.  You  go  hunting  and  bring  in  the  meat  and  I'll  look  after 
the  corn  and  beans,  and  then  she  can  cook."  The  young  man  went 
into  the  woods  to  look  for  a  deer  and  his  father  went  out  into  the  field 
to  attend  to  the  corn.  When  they  came  home  at  night  they  wrvf  hun- 
gry, and  the  young  woman  set  out  a  bowl  of  walnut  hominy  {kand'ta- 
Ui'lii)  before  them.  It  looked  queer,  somehow,  and  when  the  old  man 
examined  it  he  found  that  the  walnuts  had  been  put  in  whole.  "Why 
didn't  you  shell  the  walnuts  and  then  beat  up  the  kernels."  said  he  to 
the  young  woman.  "I  didn't  know  they  had  to  he  shelled."  she 
replied.  Then  the  old  man  said.  "You  think  about  marrying  and  you 
don't  know  how  to  cook."  and  he  sent  her  away. 

113.   THE   MAN    IN   THE   STUMP 

A  man  who  had  a  field  of  growing  corn  went  out  one  day  to  see  how 
it  was  ripening  and  climbed  a  tall  stump  to  get  a  better  view.  The 
stump  was  hollow  and  a  hear  had  a  nest  of  cubs  in  the  bottom.  The 
man  slipped  and  fell  down  upon  the  cubs,  which  set  up  such  a  squeal- 
ing that  the  old  she-bear  heard  them  and  came  climbing  down  into  t  he 
stump  tail  first,  in  bear  fashion,  to  sec  what  was  the  matter.  The  man 
caught  hold  of  her  by  the  hind  legs  and  the  old  bear  was  so  frightened 
that  she  at  once  climbed  out  again,  dragging  the  man.  who  thus  got 
:  the  stump,  when  the  bear  ran  away. 

114.   TWO    LAZY    HUNTERS 

A  party  of  warriors  once  started  out  for  a  long  hunting  trip  in  the 
mountain-.      They  went    on    until    they  came   to  a   g 1   game    region. 


398  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


when  they  set  up  their  hark  hut  in  a  convenient  place  near  the  river 
.side.  Every  morning  after  breakfast  (hey  scattered  out,  each  man 
for  himself,  to  be  gone  all  day.  until  they  returned  at  night  with 
whatever  game  they  had  taken.  There  was  one  lazy  fellow  who  went 
out  alone  every  morning  like  the  others,  but  only  until  he  found  a 
sunny  slope,  when  he  would  stretch  out  by  the  side  of  a  rock  to  sleep 
until  evening,  returning  then  to  camp  empty-handed,  but  with  his 
moccasins  torn  and  a  long  story  of  how  he  had  tramped  all  day  and 
found  nothing.  This  went  on  until  one  of  the  others  began  to  suspect 
that  something  was  wrong,  and  made  it  his  business  to  find  it  out.  The 
next  morning  he  followed  him  secretly  through  the  woods  until  he 
saw  him  come  out  into  a  sunny  opening,  where  he  sat  down  upon  a 
large  rock,  took  off  his  moccasins,  and  began  rubbing  them  against  the 
rocks  until  he  had  worn  holes  in  them.  Then  the  lazy  fellow  loosened 
his  belt,  lay  down  beside  the  rock,  and  went  to  sleep.  The  spy  set 
fire  to  the  dry  leaves  and  watched  until  the  flame  crept  close  up  to 
the  sleeping  man.  who  never  opened  his  eyes. 

The  spy  went  back  to  camp  and  told  what  he  had  seen.  About 
supper  time  the  lazy  fellow  came  in  with  the  same  old  story  of  a  long 
day's  hunt  and  no  game  started.  When  he  had  finished  the  others  all 
laughed  and  called  him  a  sleepyhead.  He  insisted  that  he  had  been 
climbing  the  ridges  all  day,  and  put  out  his  moccasins  to  show  how 
worn  they  were,  not  knowing  that  they  were  scorched  from  the  fire, 
as  he  had  slept  on  until  sundown.  When  they  saw  the  blackened 
moccasins  they  laughed  again,  and  he  was  too  much  astonished  to  say 
a  word  in  his  defense;  so  the  captain  said  that  such  a  liar  was  not  fit  to 
stay  with  them,  and  he  was  driven  from  the  camp. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

There  was  another  lazy  fellow  who  courted  a  pretty  girl,  but  she 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him,  telling  him  that  her  husband  must 
be  a  good  hunter  or  she  would  remain  single  all  her  life.  One  morn- 
ing he  went  into  the  woods,  and  by  a  lucky  accident  managed  to  kill 
a  deer.  Lifting  it  upon  his  back,  he  carried  it  into  the  settlement, 
passing  right  by  the  door  of  the  house  where  the  girl  and  her  mother 
lived.  As  soon  as  he  was  out  of  sight  of  the  house  he  went  by  a  round- 
about course  into  the  woods  again  and  waited  until  evening,  when  he 
appeared  with  the  deer  on  his  shoulder  and  came  down  the  trail  past 
the  girl's  house  as  he  had  in  the  morning.  He  did  this  the  next  day, 
and  the  next,  until  the  girl  began  to  think  he  must  be  killing  all  the 
deer  in  the  woods.  So  her  mother — the  old  women  are  usually  the 
matchmakers— got  ready  and  went  to  the  young  man's  mother  to 
talk  it  over. 

When  she  arrived  and  the  greetings  were  done  she  said,  ''Your  son 
must  be  a  good  hunter."  "  No."  replied  the  old  woman,  "  he  seldom  kills 
anything."  "But  he  has  been  killing  a  great  many  deer  lately."  "I 
haven't  seen  any,"  said  his  mother.    "Why.  he  has  been  carrying  deer 


MISCELLANEOUS    MYTHS.  399 

past  our  house  twice  a  day  for  the  last  three  days. '"  '  1  don't  know 
what  he  did  with  them,"  said  the  young  man's  mother;  "he  never 
brought  them  here."  Then  the  girl's  mother  was  sure  there  was  some- 
thing wrong,  so  she  went  home  and  told  her  husband,  who  followed 
up  the  young  man's  trail  into  the  woods  until  it  brought  him  to  where 
the  body  of  the  deer  was  hidden,  now  SO  far  decayed  that  it  had  to  be 
thrown  away. 

115.  THE   TWO   OLD   MEN 
Two  old  men  went  hunting.      One  had  an   eye  drawn  down   and  was 

called  Uk-kwunagi'ta,  "Eye-drawn-down."  The  other  had  an  arm 
twisted  out  of  shape  and  was  called  Uk-ku'suntsuti.  "Bent- bow-shape." 
They  killed  a  deer  and  cooked  the  meat  in  a  pot.  The  second  old  man 
dipped  a  piece  of  bread  into  the  soup  and  smacked  his  lips  as  he  ate 
it.  "Is  it  good '."  said  the  first  old  man.  Said  the  other,  " Hnyvl ! 
uk-kioundgi'sU — Yes.  sir!   It  will  draw  down  one's  eye." 

Thought  the  first  old  man  to  himself,  "He  means  me."  So  he  dipped 
a  piece  of  bread  into  the  pot,  and  smacked  his  lips  as  he  tasted  it. 
"Do  you  rind  it  good?"  said  the  other  old  man.  Said  his  comrade. 
••  Hayti'i  uk-Jcu'suntsuteti' — Yes.  sir!  It  will  twist  up  one's  arm." 
Thought  the  second  old  man,  "He  means  me";  so  he  got  very  angry 
and  struck  the  rirst  old  man.  and  then  they  fought  until  each  killed  the 
other. 

116.   THE   STAR   FEATHERS 

A  longtime  ago  a  warrior  of  roving  disposition  went  down  into  the 
white  settlements  toward  the  east,  where  for  the  first  time  he  saw  a 
peacock.  The  beautiful  lone-  feathers  surprised  and  delighted  bun, 
and  by  trading  some  valuable  Indian  possession  of  his  own  he  managed 
to  buy  a  few  of  them,  which  he  took  with  him  to  the  mountains  and 
hid.  until  he  was  ready  to  use  them,  in  an  old  heaver  lodge  under  the 
river  bank.  To  get  into  the  beaver  lodge  he  had  to  dive  under  the 
water. 

Then  he  set  to  work  secretly  and  made  himself  a  headdress,  with 
the  long  peacock  feathers  in  the  front  and  trailing  out  behind  and  the 
shorter  ones  at  the  sides.  At  the  next  dance  he  wore  the  new  head 
dress,  and  asserted  that  he  had  been  up  to  the  sky  and  that  these  were 
star  feathers  (see  number  '.».  "What  the  stars  are  like").  He  made  a 
long  speech  also,  which  he  pretended  was  a  message  he  had  received 
from  the  star  spirits  to  deliver  to  the  people. 

Everyone  wondered  at  the  beautiful  feathers,  so  different  /from  any 
they  had  ever  seen  before.  They  made  no  doubt  that  he  had  been  up 
to  the  sky  and  talked  with  spirits.  He  became  a  great  prophet,  and 
used  to  keep  himself  hidden  all  day  in  the  beaver  hole,  and  whenever 
there  was  a  night  gathering  for  a  dance  or  a  council  he  would  sud- 
denly appear  among  them  wearing   hi-  feather  headdress   and  give 


4(10  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

the  people  a  new  message  from  the  sky.     Then  he  would  leave  them 
again,  pretending  that  he  went  up  ti>  heaven. 

He  grew  famous  and  powerful  among  all  the  medicine  men,  until  at 
last  it  happened  that  another  Cherokee  went  down  among  the  white 
settlements  and  saw  there  another  peacock,  and  knew  at  once  that  the 
prophet  was  a  fraud.  On  his  return  he  quietly  told  some  of  his 
friends,  and  they  decided  to  investigate.  When  the  next  night  dance 
came  around  the  prophet  was  on  hand  as  usual  with  a  new  message 
fresh  from  the  stars.  The  people  listened  reverently,  and  promised  to 
do  all  that  he  commanded.  Then  he  left  them,  saying-  that  he  must 
return  at  once  to  the  sky.  but  as  lie  went  out  from  the  circle  the  spies 
followed  him  in  the  darkness,  and  saw  him  go  down  to  the  river  and 
dive  under  the  water.  They  waited,  but  he  did  not  come  up  again, 
and  they  went  back  and  told  the  people.  The  next  morning  a  party 
went  to  the  spot  and  discovered  the  beaver  lodge  under  the  bank.  One 
man  dived  and  came  up  inside,  and  there  he  found  the  prophet  sitting 
with  the  peacock  feathers  by  his  side. 

117.  THE    MOTHER    BEAR'S    SONG 

A  hunter  in  the  woods  one  day  heard  singing  in  a  cave.  He  came 
near  and  peeped  in,  and  it  was  a  mother  bear  singing  to  her  cubs  and 
telling  them  what  to  do  when  the  hunters  came  after  them. 

Said  the  mother  bear  to  the  cubs,  "When  you  hear  the  hunters 
coming  down  the  creek,  then — 

Tg&'gX,  tsd'ffl,  hvVlaMf; 

Tsd'gi,  tsd'gX,  hiiu'luh'i. 
Upstream,  upstream,  you  (must)  go; 
Upstream,  upstream,  you  (must)  go. 

"  But  if  you  hear  them  coming  up  the  creek,  children,  then— 

'.'.';,  </.';,  hii-i'laW; 

'..';.  ge%  hwVlatil'. 

Downstream,  downstream,  you  (must)  go; 

Downstream,  downstream,  you  (must)  go." 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Another  hunter  out  in  the  woods  one  day  thought  he  heard  a  woman 

singing  to  a  baby.     He  followed  the  sound  up  to  the  head  of  the  branch 

until  he  came  to  a  cave  under  the  bushes,  and  inside  was  a  mother  bear 

rocking  her  cub  in  her  paws  and  singing  to  it  this  baby  song,  which 

the  Ani'-Tsa'guhi  used  to  know  before  they  were  turned  into  bears: 

Ilit'-iiitiiiiti',  ha'-mnma',  ha'-mama/,  ha'^mama/; 

Ud&'hcde'yl  hi'ldnnd,  hi'l&nnH; 

Udd'hale'y-t  hi'lfinnti,  hi'imnti. 

Let  me  carry  you  on  my  back  ( four  times)  ; 

On  the  sunny  side  >_">  to  sleep,  go  to  sleep; 

On  the  sunny  side  •_"  1  to  sleep.  <_'.>  to  sleep. 


m     mm  MISCELLANEOUS    MYTHS  401 

118.   BABY    SONG,  TO    PLEASE    THE    CHILDREN 

Hit' ii-iiji'-lniiiii-i  ',    Hn'irnj, '-lii/llli-i', 
Yii'iir-i/iiirrln'.   Ilit'iriiifliiitt'-itin1' — 
fii'lu'l   11  in-' 'ijlllli'  l.iiiinl'silni'; 

K'fi  iiiii'ijii/ii'  tsana'st hd'; 
Yii'nii  miili'iTui, lii'  tsa'nadiskd' '. 

Ha'wiye'-hyuwe',  Ha'wiye'-hyuwe', 

Yu'we-yiiwelie',   I  la'w  iyclivu'-uwe/ — 

The  Bear  is  very  bad,  bo  they  say; 

Long  time  ago  he  was  very  bad,  so  they  say; 

The  Bear  did  so  and  so,  they  say. 

119.   WHEN   BABIES   ARE   BORN:   THE   WREN   AND   THE  CRICKET 

The  little  Wren  is  the  messenger  of  th<'  birds,  and  pries  into  every- 
thing. She  gets  up  early  in  the  morning  and  goes  round  to  every 
house  in  the  settlemenl  to  gel  news  for  the  bird  council.  When  a  new 
bahy  is  horn  she  finds  out  whether  it  is  a  boy  or  girl  and  reports  to  the 
council.  If  it  is  a  hoy  the  birds  sine-  in  mournful  chorus:  "Alas!  the 
whistle  of  the  arrow!  my  shins  will  burn,"  because  the  birds  know 
that  when  the  boy  grows  older  he  will  hunt  them  with  his  blowgun 
and  arrows  and  roast  them  on  a  stick. 

But  if  the  baby  is  a  girl,  they  are  glad  and  sing:  "Thanks!  the 
sound  of  the  pestle!  At  her  home  I  shall  surely  be  able  to  scratch 
where  she  sweeps."  because  they  know  that  after  a  while  they  will  be 
able  to  pick  up  stray  grains  where  she  beats  the  corn  into  meal. 

When  the  Cricket  hears  that  a  girl  is  horn,  it  also  is  glad,  and  says, 
'•Thanks.  I  shall  sing  in  the  house  where  she  lives."  But  if  it  is  a  boy 
thi'  Cricket  laments:  Grwe-Ju  .'  He  will  shoot  me!  He  will  shoot  me! 
He  will  shoot  me!"  because  hoys  make  little  bows  to  shoot  crickets 
and  grasshoppers. 

When  inquiring  as  to  the  sex  of  the  new  arrival  the  Cherokee  asks, 
"Is  it  a  bow  or  a  (meal)  sifter?"  or,  "Is  it  ballsticks  or  bread?" 

120.   THE   RAVEN    MOCKER 

Of  all  the  Cherokee  wizards  or  witches  the  most  dreaded  is  the 
Raven  Mocker  ( Kd'lanii  A/n/*  U'sM),  the  one  that  robs  the  <l\  ing  man  of 
life.  They  are  of  either  sex  and  there  is  no  sure  way  to  know  one, 
though  they  usually  look  withered  and  old.  because  they  have  added 
so  many  lives  to  their  own. 

At  night,  when  some  one  is  sick  or  dying  in  the  settlement,  the 
Haven  Mocker  goes  to  the  place  to  take  the  life.  He  flies  through 
the  air  in  fiery  shape,  with  arms  outstretched  like  wines,  and  sparks 
trailing  behind,  and  a  rushing  sound  like  the  noise  of  a  strong  wind. 
Every  little  while  as  he  flies  he  makes  a  cry  like  the  cry  of  a  raven 
when  it  "dives"  in  the  air     not  like  the  common  raven  cry     and  those 

19  kth—  01 :.'») 


402  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

who  hear  arc  afraid,  because  they  know  that  some  man's  life  will  soon 
go  out.  When  the  Raven  Mocker  comes  to  the  house  he  finds  others 
of  his  kind  waiting  there,  and  unless  there  is  a  doctor  on  guard  who 
knows  how  to  drive  them  away  they  go  inside,  all  invisible,  and 
frighten  and  torment  the  sick  man  until  they  kill  him.  Sometimes  to 
do  this  they  even  lift  him  from  the  bed  and  throw  him  on  the  floor, 
but  his  friends  who  are  with  him  think  he  is  only  struggling  for 
breath. 

After  the  witcnes  kill  him  they  take  out  his  heart  and  eat  it,  and  so 
add  to  their  own  lives  as  many  days  or  years  as  they  have  taken  from 
his.  No  one  in  the  room  can  see  them,  and  there  is  no  scar  where  they 
take  out  the  heart,  but  yet  there  is  no  heart  left  in  the  body.  Only 
one  who  has  the  right  medicine  can  recognize  a  Raven  Mocker,  and  if 
such  a  man  stays  in  the  room  with  the  sick  person  these  witches  are 
afraid  to  come  in.  and  retreat  as  soon  as  they  see  him,  because  when 
one  of  them  is  recognized  in  his  right  shape  he  must  die  within  seven 
days.  There  was  once  a  man  named  Gunskali'ski,  who  had  this  medi- 
cine and  used  to  hunt  for  Raven  Mockers,  and  killed  several.  When 
the  friends  of  a  dying  person  know  that  there  is  no  more  hope  they 
always  try  to  have  one  of  these  medicine  men  stay  in  the  house  and 
watch  the  body  until  it  is  buried,  because  after  burial  the  witches  do 
not  steal  the  heart. 

The  other  witches  are  jealous  of  the  Raven  Mockers  and  afraid  to 
come  into  the  same  house  with  one.  Once  a  man  who  had  the  witch 
medicine  was  watching  by  a  sick  man  and  saw  these  other  witches  out- 
side trying  to  get  in.  All  at  once  they  heard  a  Raven  Mocker  cry 
overhead  and  the  others  scattered  '-like  a  flock  of  pigeons  when  the 
hawk  swoops."  When  at  last  a  Raven  Mocker  dies  these  other  witches 
sometimes  take  revenge  by  digging  up  the  body  and  abusing  it. 

The  following  is  told  on  the  reservation  as  an  actual  happening: 

A  young  man  had  been  out  on  a  hunting  trip  and  was  on  his  way 
home  when  night  came  on  while  he  was  still  a  long  distance  from  the 
settlement.  He  knew  of  a  house  not  far  off  the  trail  where  an  old  man 
and  his  wife  lived,  so  he  turned  in  that  direction  to  look  for  a  place  to 
sleep  until  morning.  When  he  got  to  the  house  there  was  nobody  in 
it.  He  looked  into  the  asi  and  found  no  one  there  either.  He  thought 
maybe  they  had  gone  after  water,  and  so  stretched  himself  out  in  the 
farther  corner  to  sleep.  Very  soon  he  heard  a  raven  cry  outside,  and 
in  a  little  while  afterwards  the  old  man  came  into  the  asi  and  sat  down 
by  the  fire  without  noticing  the  young  man,  who  kept  still  in  the  dark 
corner.  Soon  there  was  another  raven  cry  outside,  and  the  old  man 
said  to  himself,  "Now  my  wife  is  coming."  and  sure  enough  in  a 
little  while  the  old  woman  came  in  and  sat  down  by  her  husband. 
Then  the  young  man  knew  they  were  Raven  Mockers  and  he  was 
frightened  and  kept  very  quiet. 


THE    RAVEN    MOCKERS  103 

Said  the  old  man  to  his  wife,  "Well,  what  luck  did  you  have?" 
••  None,"  said  the  old  woman.  "  there  were  too  many  doctors  watching. 

What  luck  did  you  have?"  "I  got  what  I  went  for,"  said  the  old 
man.  "there  is  oo  reason  to  tail,  hut  yon  never  have  luck.  Take  this 
and  cook  it  and  lct*s  have  something  to  eat."  She  fixed  the  fire  and 
then  tin'  young  man  smelled  meat  roasting  and  thought  ii  smelled 
sweeter  than  any  meat  he  had  ever  tasted.  He  peeped  out  from  one 
eye.  and  it  looked  like  a  man's  heart   roasting  on  a  stick. 

Suddenly  the  old  woman  said  to  her  husband,  "  Who  is  over  in  the 
corner?"  "  Nobody,"  said  the  old  man.  "Yes,  there  is,"  said  the  old 
woman,  "I  hear  him  snoring,"  and  she  stirred  the  tire  until  it  blazed 
and  lighted  up  tin1  whole  place,  and  there  was  the  young  man  lying  in 
the  corner.  Hi'  kept  quiet  and  pretended  to  lie  asleep.  The  old  man 
made  a  noise  at  the  fire  to  wake  him.  hut  still  he  pretended  to  sleep. 
Then  the  old  man  came  over  and  shook  him.  and  he  sat  up  and  rubbed 
his  eyes  as  if  he  had  been  asleep  all  the  time. 

Now  il  was  near  daylight  and  the  old  woman  was  out  in  the  other 
house  getting  breakfast  ready,  hut  the  hunter  could  hear  her  crying 
to  herself.  "  Why  is  your  wife  crying  ? "  he  asked  the  old  man.  "Oh, 
she  has  lost  some  of  her  friends  lately  and  feels  lonesome,"  said  her 
husband;  but  the  young  man  knew-  that  she  was  crying  because  he  had 
heard  them  talking. 

When  they  came  out  to  breakfast  the  old  man  put  a  bowl  of  corn 
mush  before  him  and  said.  "This  is  all  we  have — we  have  had  no  meat 
for  a  lony  time."  After  breakfast  the  young  man  started  on  again, 
but  when  he  hail  gone  a  little  way  the  old  man  ran  after  him  with  a 
tine  piece  of  beadwork  and  gave  it  to  him,  saying.  "Take  this,  and 
don't  tell  anybody  what  you  heard  last  night,  because  my  wife  and  I 
are  always  quarreling  that  way."  The  young  man  took  the  piece,  hut 
when  he  came  to  the  first  creek  he  threw  it  into  the  water  and  then 
went  on  to  the  settlement.  There  he  told  the  whole  story,  and  a  party 
of  warrior-  started  back  with  him  to  kill  the  Raven  Mockers.  When 
they  reached  the  place  it  was  seven  days  after  the  first  night.  They 
found  the  old  man  and  his  wife  lying  dead  in  the  house,  so  they  set 
fire  to  it  and  burned  it  and  the  witches  together. 

121.    HERBERT'S    SPRING 

"From  the  head  of  the  southern  branch  of  Savannah  river  it  does 
not  exceed  half  a  mile  to  a  head  spring  of  the  Missisippi  water  that 
runs  through  the  middle  and  upper  parts  of  the  Cheerake  nation  about 
a  northwest  course,  and.  joining  other  rivers,  they  empty  themselves 
into  the  great  Missisippi.  The  above  fountain  is  called  'Herbert's 
spring,'  so  named  from  an  early  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs,  and 
it  was  natural  for  strangers  to  drink  thereof,  to  quench  thirst,  gratify 
their  curiosity,  and  have  it  to  say  they  had  drank  of  the  French  waters. 


404  MYTHS    OE    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.anh.19 

Some  of  our  people,  who  went  only  with  the  view  of  staying  a  short 
time,  but  by  some,  allurement  or  other  exceeded  the  time  appointed, 
at  their  return  reported,  either  through  merriment  or  superstition, 
that  the  spring  had  such  a  natural  bewitching  quality  that  whosoever 
drank  of  it  could  not  possibly  quit  the  nation  during  the  tedious  space 
of  seven  years.  All  the  debauchees  readily  fell  in  with  this  super- 
stitious notion  as  an  excuse  for  their  bad  method  of  living,  when  they 
had  no  proper  call  to  stay  in  that  country;  and  in  process  of  time  it 
became  as  received  a  truth  as  any  ever  believed  to  have  been  spoken 
by  the  Delphic  oracle.  One  cursed,  because  its  enchantment  had 
marred  his  good  fortune;  another  condemned  his  weakness  for  drink- 
ing down  witchcraft,  against  his  own  secret  suspicions;  one  swore  he 
would  never  taste  another  such  dangerous  poison,  even  though  he 
should  be  forced  to  go  down  to  the  Missisippi  for  water;  and  another 
comforted  himself  that  so  many  years  out  of  the  seven  were  already 
passed,  and  wished  that  if  ever  he  tasted  it  again,  though  under  the 
greatest  necessity,  he  might  be  confined  to  the  Stygian  waters.  Those 
who  had  their  minds  more  enlarged  diverted  themselves  much  at  their 
cost,  for  it  was  a  noted  favorite  place,  on  account  of  the  name  it  went 
by;  and,  being  a  well  situated  and  good  spring,  there  all  travelers  com- 
monly drank  a  bottle  of  choice.  But  now  most  of  the  pack-horse  men, 
though  they  be  dry,  and  also  matchless  sons  of  Bacchus,  on  the  most 
pressing  invitations  to  drink  there,  would  swear  to  forfeit  sacred 
liquor  the  better  part  of  their  lives  rather  than  basely  renew  or  con- 
firm the  loss  of  their  liberty,  which  that  execrable  fountain  occa- 
sions."— Adair.  American  Indians,  p.  231,  1775. 

122.   LOCAL    LEGENDS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA 

Owing  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  the  Cherokee  still  occupy  western 
North  Carolina,  the  existing  local  legends  for  that  section  are  more 
numerous  than  for  all  the  rest  of  their  ancient  territory.  For  the 
more  important  legends  see  the  stories:  Agan-unitsi's  Search  for 
the  Uktena,  Ataga'hi,  Hemp-carrier,  Herbert's  Spring,  Kana'sta,  The 
Great  Leech  of  Tlanusi'vi,  The  Great  Yellow-jacket,  The  Nuiine'hl, 
The  Raid  on  Tikwali'tsi,  The  Removed  Townhouses,  The  Spirit 
Defenders  of  Nikwasi',  The  Uw'tsun'ta,  Tsulkalu.',  Tsuwe'nahl, 
The  U'tlun'ta. 

Akwe  ti'ti:  A  spot  on  Tuckasegee  river,  in  Jackson  county,  between 
Dick's  creek  and  the  upper  end  of  Cowee  tunnel.  According  to  tra- 
dition there  was  a  dangerous  water  monster  in  the  river  there.  The 
meaning  of  the  name  is  lost. 

Atsi'la-wa'i:  "Fire's  relative,"  a  peak,  sometimes  spoken  of  as 
Rattlesnake  knob,  east  of  Oconaluftee  river  and  about  2  miles  north- 
east of  Cherokee  or  Yellow  Hill,  in  Swain  county.  So  called  from 
a  tradition  that  a  ballot  fire  was  once  seen  to  flv  through  the  air  from 


m.m'nky]  LOCAL    LEGENDS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA  405 

the  direction  of  Highlands,  in  Macon  county,  and  alight  upon  this 
mountai  The  Indians  believe  it  to  have  been  an  ulunsuti  (sec  num- 
ber ."in),  which  its  owner  had  kept  in  a  hiding  place  upon  the  summit, 
from  which,  after  his  death,  it  issued  nightly  to  search  for  him. 

Black  bock:  A  very  Inch  bald  peak  toward  the  head  of  Scott's 
creek,  northeast  of  Webster,  on  the  line  of  Jackson  and  Haywood 
counties.  Hither  this  peak  or  the  adjacent  Jones  knob,  of  equal 
height,  is  known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Un'wad&-tsufgilasfin',  "  Where  l  he 
storehouse  was  taken  off,"  from  a  large  flat  rock,  supported  by  four 
other  rocks,  so  as  to  resemble  a  storehouse  (ufiwddd'li)  raised  on  poles, 
which  was  formerly  in  prominent  view  upon  the  summit  until  thrown 
down  by  lightning  some  fifty  years  ago. 

Buffalo  creek,  Wf.st:  A  tributary  of  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham 
county.  The  Cherokee  name  is  Yunsa'i,  "  Buffalo  place."  from  a  tra- 
dition that  a  buffalo  formerly  lived  under  the  water  at  its  mouth  (see 
Tsuta'tsinasun'yi). 

Cheowa  Maximum:  A  bald  mountain  at  the  head  of  Cheowa  river, 
on  the  line  between  Graham  and  Macon  counties.  This  and  the 
adjoining  peak.  Swim  bald,  are  together  called  Sehwate'yi,  "Hornet 
place."  from  a  monster  hornet,  which,  according  to  tradition,  formerly 
had  its  nest  there,  and  could  be  seen  flying  about  the  tree  tops  or  sun- 
ning itself  on  the  bald  spots,  and  which  was  so  tierce  that  it  drove 
away  every  one  who  came  near  the  mountain.     It  finally  disappeared. 

Dakwa'i:  "Dakwa'  place,"  in  French  Broad  river,  about  ti  miles 
above  Warm  Springs,  in  Madison  county,  and  80  miles  below  Ashe- 
ville.  A  dakwa'  or  monster  fish  is  said  to  have  lived  in  the  stream 
at  that  point. 

Da'xawa-(a)  Sa'  tsunyi:  "War  crossing,"  a  ford  in  Cheowa  river 
about  8  miles  below  Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county.  A  hostile  war 
party  from  the  North,  probably  Shawano  or  Iroquois,  after  having 
killed  a  man  on  Cheowa.  was  pursued  and  crossed  the  river  at  this 
place. 

DATLE'rAsTA'f:  "Where  they  fell  down,"  on  Tuckasegee  river,  at 
the  bend  above  Webster,  in  Jackson  county,  where  was  formerly  the 
old  town  of  Gansa'gi  (Conasauga).     Two  large  uktenas,  twined  about 

each  other  as  though  in  combat,  were :e  seen  to  lift  themselves  from 

a  deep  hole  in  the  river  there  and  fall  back  into  the  water. 

Datsi'yi":  "Dsttsi  place,"  just  above  Eagle  creek,  on  Little  Tennes- 
see river,  between  Graham  and  Swain  counties.  So  called  from  a 
traditional  water  monster  of  that  name,  said  to  have  lived  in  a  deep 
hole  in  the  stream. 

Degal'oun'yi:  "  Where  they  are  piled  up."  a  series  of  cairns  on  both 
sides  of  the  trail  down  the  south  side  of  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham 
county.  They  extend  along  the  trail  for  several  miles,  from  below 
Sauteetla  creek  nearly  to  Slick  Rock  creek,  on  the  Tennessee  line  (the 


406  MYTHS    OE    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.i- 

first  being  just  above  Disg&'gisti'yi,  <l-  v.),  and  probably  murk  the 
site  of  an  ancient  battle.  One  at  least,  nearly  off  Yellow  creek,  is 
reputed  to  be  the  grave  of  a  Cherokee  killed  by  the  enemy.  Every 
passing  Indian  throws  an  additional  stone  upon  each  heap,  believing 
that  some  misfortune  will  befall  him  should  he  neglect  this  duty. 
Other  cairns  arc  on  the  west  side  of  Slick  Rock  creek  about  a  mile 
from  Little  Tennessee  river,  and  others  south  of  Robbinsville,  near 
where  the  trail  crosses  the  ridge  to  Valley  town,  in  Cherokee  county. 

Dida'skasti'yk  "Where  they  were  afraid  of  each  other,"  a  spot  on 
the  cast  side  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  near  the  mouth  of  Alarka 
creek,  in  Swain  county.  A  ball  game  once  arranged  to  take  place 
there,  before  the  Removal,  between  rival  teams  from  Qualla  and  Val- 
leytown,  was  abandoned  on  account  of  the  mutual  fear  of  the  two 
parties. 

Disga'gisti'yi:  "Where  they  gnaw."  a  spot  where  the  trail  down 
the  south  side  of  Cheowa  river  crosses  a  small  branch  about  half  way 
between  Cockram  creek  and  Yellow  creek,  in  Graham  count}'. 
Indians  passing  gnaw  the  twigs  from  the  laurel  bushes  here,  in  the 
belief  that  if  they  should  fail  to  do  so  they  will  encounter  some  mis- 
fortune before  crossing  the  next  ridge.  Near  by  is  a  cairn  to  which 
each  also  adds  a  stone  (see  Dcgafgun'yi). 

DuDUx'LEKsfN'Yi:  "Where  its  legs  were  broken  off,"  a  spot  on  the 
east  side  of  Tuckasegee  river,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Cullowhee  river, 
a  few  miles  above  Webster,  in  Jackson  county.  The  name  suggests 
a  tradition,  which  appears  to  be  lost. 

Dulastun'yi:  "Potsherd  place,"  a  former  settlement  on  Nottely 
river,  in  Cherokee  count}-,  near  the  Geoigia  line.  A  half-breed  Chero- 
kee ball  captain  who  formerly  lived  there,  John  Butler  or  Tsan-uga'sita 
(Sour  John),  having  been  defeated  in  a  ball  game,  said,  in  contempt  of 
his  men,  that  they  were  of  no  more  use  than  broken  pots. 

Duxmr'LALf  nyI:  "Where  they  made  arrows,"  on  Straight  creek,  a 
head-stream  of  Oconaluftee  river,  near  Cataluchee  peak,  in  Swain 
county.  A  Shawano  war  party  coming  against  the  Cherokee,  after 
baving  crossed  the  Smoky  mountains,  halted  there  to  prepare  arrows. 

French  Broad  river:  A  magazine  writer  states  that  the  Indians 
called  this  stream  "the  racing  river."  This  is  only  partially  correct. 
The  (  lierokee  have  no  name  for  the  river  as  a  whole,  but  the  district 
through  which  it  flows  about  Asheville  is  called  by  them  Un-ta'kiyas- 
ti'yi,  "  Where  they  race."  The  name  of  the  city  they  translate  as  Kas- 
du'yi,  "Ashes  place." 

Gakati'ti:  "Place  of  setting  free,"  a  south  bend  in  Tuckasegee  river 
about  3  miles  above  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county.  It  is  sometimes 
put  in  the  plural  form,  Diga'katiyi,  "Place  of  setting  them  free."  In 
one  of  their  old  wars  the  Cherokee  generously  released  some  pris- 
oners there. 


koonei  LOCAL    LEGENDS    <>K    NORTH    CAROLINA  407 

( !  Aii  Ti'vi:  "Town-building  place,"  near  the  In 'ail  of  Santeetla  creek, 
southwest  from  Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county.  High  up  on  the 
slopes  of  the  neighboring  mountain,  Si  ratton  bald,  is  a  wide  "  bench," 
where  the  people  once  started  to  build  a  settlement,  but  were  frightened 
oil'  by  a  strange  noise,  which  they  thought  was  made  by  an  uktena. 

(ii  i.i'-DiNKiif  n'i  i:  "Where  the  dogs  live,"  a  deep  place  in  Ocona- 

1  uft it  river,  Swain  county,  a  short  distance  above  Yellow  Hill  (Chero- 
kee) and  just  below  the  mound.  It  is  so  named  from  a  tradition  that 
two  "red  does"  were  once  seen  there  playing  on  the  bank.  They 
were  supposed  to  live  under  the  water. 

Gisehun'yi:  ••  Where  the  Female  lives,"  onTuckasegee  river,about 

2  miles  above  Bryson  City,  Swain  county.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
some  supernatural  "white  people"  were  seen  there  washing  clot  lies  in 
the  river  and  banging  them  out  upon  the  bank  to  dry.  They  were 
probably  supposed  to  lie  the  family  of  the  Agis'-e'gwa,  or  "Great 
Female,"  a  spirit  invoked  by  the  conjurers. 

Gregory  bald:  A  high  peak  of  the  Great  Smoky  mountains  on  the 
western  border  of  Swain  county,  adjoining  Tennessee.  The  Cherokee 
call  itTsistu'yl,  "Rabbit  place."  Here  the  rabbits  had  their  townhouse 
and  here  lived  their  chief,  the  Great  Rabbit,  and  in  the  old  times  the 
people  could  see  him.  lie  was  as  large  as  a  deer,  and  all  the  little 
rabbits  were  subject  to  him. 

Joanna  bald:  A  bald  mountain  near  the  head  of  Valley  river,  on 
the  line  between  Graham  and  Cherokee  counties.  Called  Diya'hali'yi, 
"Lizard  place,"  from  a  traditional  great  lizard,  with  glistening  throat, 
which  used  to  haunt  the  place  and  was  frequently  seen  sunning  itself 
on  the  rocky  slopes. 

Jutaculla  old  fields:  A  bald  spot  of  perhaps  a  hundred  acres  on 
the  slope  of  Tennessee  bald  (TsulkahY  Tsunegun'yi),  at  the  extreme 
head  of  Tuckasegee  river,  in  Jackson  county,  on  the  ridge  from  which 
the  lines  of  Haywood,  Jackson,  and  Transylvania  counties  diverge. 
The  giant  Tsui  kahY,  or  Jutaculla,  as  the  name  is  corrupted  by  the 
w  bites,  had  his  residence  in  the  mountain  (see  storj  ).  and  according  to 
local  legend  among  the  whites,  said  to  be  derived  from  the  Indians,  this 
bald  spot  was  a  clearing  which  he  made  for  a  farm.  Some  distance 
farther  to  the  west,  on  the  north  bank  of  Cany  fork,  about  1  mile  abo\  e 
Moses  creek  and  perhaps  In  miles  above  Webster,  in  the  same  county, 
is  the  Jutaculla  rock,  a  large  soapstone  slab  covered  with  rude  carvings, 
which,  according  to  the  same  tradition,  are  scratches  made  by  the  giant 
in  jumping  from  his  farm  on  the  mountain  to  the  creek  below. 

Jutaculla  rock:  See  Jutaculla  old  fields. 

Kax-Detsi'iunti:  "  Where  the  bones  are."  a  ravine  on  the  north  side 
of  Cheowa  river,  just  above  the  mouth  of  East  Buffalo  creek,  in 
Graham  county.      In  the  old  time  two  Cherokee  were  killed  here  by 


408  MYTHS    OF   THE    CHEROKEE  [ETH.Aira.19 

the  enemy,  and  their  fate  was  unknown  until,  long  afterward,  their 
friends  found  their  hones  scattered  about  in  the  ravine. 

N  wiaiiai.a:  A  river  and  ridge  of  very  steep  mountains  in  Macon 
county,  the  name  being  a  corruption  of  Nun'daye'  li.  applied  to  a  for- 
mer settlement  about  the  mouth  of  Briertown  creek,  the  townhouse 
heing  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  about  the  present  Jarretts.  The 
tvord  means  ■■middle  sun."  i.  e..  ■•midday  sun,"  from  niinda' ',  "sun,"' 
and  m/,  ''U,  "  middle."  and  refers  to  the  fact  that  in  places  along  the 
stream  the  high  cliffs  shut  out  the  direct  light  of  the  sun  until  nearly 
noon.  From  a  false  idea  that  it  is  derived  from  rnn'inti,  "milk,"  it 
has  been  fancifully  rendered.  "Center  of  a  woman's  breast,"  ''Maiden's 
bosom,"  etc.  The  valley  was  the  legendary  haunt  of  the  Uw'tsun'ta 
(see  number  45).  As  illustrating  the  steepness  of  the  cliffs  along  the 
stream  it  was  said  of  a  noted  hunter,  Tsasta'wL  who  lived  in  the  old 
town,  that  he  used  to  stand  on  the  top  of  the  bluff  overlooking  the 
settlement  and  throw  down  upon  the  roof  of  his  house  the  liver  of 
the  freshly  killed  deer,  so  that  his  wife  would  have  it  cooked  and 
waiting  for  him  by  the  time  he  got  down  the  mountain. 

Nugatsa'ni:  A  ridge  below  Yellow  Hill  (Cherokee),  on  Oconaluftee 
river,  in  Swain  county,  said  to  be  a  resort  of  the  Niiime'hi  fairies. 
The  word  is  an  archaic  form  denoting  a  high  ridge  with  a  long,  grad- 
ual slope. 

Qualla:  A  post-office  and  former  trading  station  in  Jackson  county. 
on  the  border  of  the  present  East  Cherokee  reservation,  hence  some- 
times called  the  Qualla  reservation.  The  Cherokee  form  is  Kwall,  or 
Kwalunyi  in  the  locative.  According  to  Captain  Terrell,  the  former 
trader  at  that  place,  it  was  named  from  Kwali,  i.  e.,  Polly,  an  old 
Indian  woman  who  lived  there  some  sixty  years  ago. 

Saligu'gi:  "Turtle  place."  a  deep  hole  in  Oconaluftee  river,  about 
half  a  mile  below  Adams  creek,  near  Whittier,  in  Swain  county,  said 
to  be  the  resort  of  a  monster  turtle. 

Skwax'-digu'gun'yi:  For  Askwan'-digugun'yi.  "Where  the  Span- 
iard is  in  the  water,"  on  Soco  creek,  just  above  the  entrance  of  Wright's 
creek,  in  Jackson  county.  According  to  tradition  a  party  of  Span- 
iards advancing  into  the  mountains  was  attacked  here  by  the  Chero- 
kee, who  threw  one  of  them  (dead;)  into  the  stream. 

Soco  gap:  Ahalu'na,  A'halunun'yi,  or  Uni'halu'na,  "Ambush,"  or 
"Where  they  ambushed";  at  the  head  of  Soco  creek,  on  the  line 
between  Swain  and  Haywood  counties.  The  trail  from  Pigeon  river 
ciosses  tliis  gap,  and  in  the  old  times  the  Cherokee  were  accustomed 
to  keep  a  lookout  here  for  the  approach  of  enemies  from  the  north. 
On  the  occasion  which  gave  it  the  name,  they  ambushed  here,  just 
below  the  gap,  on  the  Haywood  side,  a  large  party  of  invading  Sha- 
wano, and  killed  all  but  one,  whose  ears  they  cut  off.  after  which. 


ho     i.  LOCAL    LEGENDS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA  40'' 

according  to  a  common  custom,  they  released  him  to  carry  the  news 

hack  to  his  people. 

Standing  Indian:  A  high  bald  peak  al  the  extreme  head  of  Nanta- 
hala  river,  in  Macon  county.  The  name  is  a  tendering  of  the  Chero- 
kee name,  Yun'wi-tsulenun'yi,  "Where  the  man  stood"  (originally 
Yu'nwi-dlkatagun'j  i.  "  Where  the  man  -lands  "),  given  to  it  on  accouni 
of  a  peculiarly  shaped  rock  formerly  jutting  out  from  the  bald  sum- 
mit, but  now  broken  off.  A-  the  old  memory  faded,  a  tradition  grew 
up  of  a  mysterious  being  once  seen  standing  upon  the  mountain  top. 

Stekoa:  A  spot  on  Tuckasegee  river,  just  above  Whittier,  in  Swain 
county,  better  known  as  the  Thomas  farm,  from  its  being  the  former 
residence  of  Colonel  W.  II.  Thomas,  for  a  lone-  time  the  agent  of  the 
East  Cherokee.  Tin'  correct  form  is  Stika'yi,  the  name  of  an  ancient 
settlement  at  the  place,  as  also  of  another  on  a  creek  of  the  same  name 
in  Rabun  county,  Georgia.  The  word  has  been  incorrectly  rendered 
"little  grease,"  from  usdi'ga  or  usdi',  •"little."  and  ka'i,  "grease"  or 
"oil,"  lint  the  true  meaning  is  lost. 

Swannanoa:  A  river  joining  the  French  Broad  at  Asheville,  and  the 
gap  in  the  Blue  ridge  at  its  head.  A  magazine  writer  has  translated 
this  name  ••the  beautiful."  The  word,  however,  is  a  corruption  of 
Suwa'li-nunna'(dii).  "Suwali  trail."  the  Cherokee  name,  not  of  the 
stream,  hut  of  the  trail  crossing  the  gap  toward  the  country  of  the 
Ani'-Suwa'li  or  Cheraw  (see  number  L04,  "The  Eastern  Tribes"). 

Swim  bald  ok  Wolf  Creek  bald.     See  Cheowa  Maximum. 

Tsi'skwunsdi'-adsisti'yi:  "Where  they  killed  Little-bird,"  a  place 
near  the  head  of  West  Buffalo  creek,  southwest  of  Robbinsville,  in 
Graham  county.  A  trail  crosses  the  ridge  near  this  place,  which  takes 
its  name  from  a  man  who  was  killed  here  by  a  hostile  war  party  in  the 
old  fighting  days. 

Tsu'dinunti'yi:  "Throwing  down  place,"  the  site  of  a  former  set 
tlement  in  a  bend  on  the  wesl  side  of  Xantahala  river,  just  within  the 
limits  of  Macon  county.  So  called  from  a  tradition  that  a  Cherokee 
pursued  by  the  enemy  threw  away  his  equipment  there. 

TsuKii.rxxt  x'vi:  "Where  he  alighted,"  two  small  bald  spots  on  the 
side  of  the  mountain  at  the  head  of  Little  Snowbird  creek,  southwest 
of  Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county.  A  mysterious  being,  having  the 
form  of  a  giant,  with  head  blazing  like  the  sun.  was  once  seen  to  fly 
through  the  air.  alight  at  this  place,  and  stand  for  some  time  looking 
out  over  the  landscape.  It  then  flew  away,  and  when  the  people  came 
afterward  to  look,  they  found  the  herbage  burned  from  the  ground 
where  it  had  stood.  They  do  not  know  who  it  was,  but  some  think  it 
may  have  been  the  Sun. 

Tsula'sinGn'yi:  "  Where  the  footprint  is,"  on  Tuckasegee  river, 
about  a  mile  above  Deep  creek,  in  Swain  county.     From  a  rock  now 


410  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [ethannW 

blasted  out  to  make  way  for  the  railroad,  on  which  were  impressions 
said  tn  have  been  the  footprints  of  the  giant  Tsulkalu'  (see  story)  and 
a  deer. 

Tsinoa  mi.ti'yi:  "  Where  they  demanded  the  debt  from  him,"  a  tine 
camping  ground,  on  the  north  side  of  Little  Santeetla  creek,  about  lialf- 
way  up,  west  from  Robbinsville,  Graham  county.  Here  a  hunter  once 
killed  a  deer,  which  the  others  of  the  party  demanded  in  payment  of  a 
debt  due  them.     TheCherokee  commonly  give  the  creek  thesame  name. 

Tsita'oa  I'wf.yun'i:  "Chicken  creek.'* 'an  extreme  eastern  head- 
stream  of  Nantahala  river,  entering  about  4  miles  above  Clear  branch, 
in  Macon  county.  So  called  from  a  story  that  some  hunters  camping 
there  for  the  night  once  heard  a  noise  as  of  chickens  constantly  crow- 
ing- upon  a  high  rock  farther  up  the  stream. 

Tsuta'tsinasun'yi:  ••Where  it  eddies.'"  a  deep  hole  at  the  mouth  of 
Cockram  creek  of  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham  county,  where  is  an  eddy 
said  to  l»e  caused  by  a  buffalo  which  lives  under  the  water  at  this  spot, 
and  which  anciently  lived  at  the  mouth  of  West  Buffalo  creek,  farther 
up  the  river. 

Tusquittee  baud:  A  bald  mountain  at  the  head  of  Tusquittee  creek, 
eastward  from  Hayesville,  in  Clay  county.  The  Cherokee  name  is 
Tsinva'-uniyetsufi'vi,  •"Where  the  water-dogs  laughed,"  the  water-dog 
of  the  southern  Alleghenies,  sometimes  also  called  mud-puppy  or  hell- 
bender, being  a  large  amphibious  lizard  or  salamander  of  the  genus 
Menopoma,  frequenting  muddy  waters.  According  to  the  story,  a 
hunter  once  crossing  over  the  mountain  in  a  very  dry  season,  heard 
voices,  and  creeping  silently  toward  the  place  from  which  the  sound 
proceeded,  peeped  over  a  rock  and  saw  two  water-dogs  walking 
together  on  their  hind  legs  along  the  trail  and  talking  as  they  went. 
Their  pond  had  dried  up  and  they  were  on  the  way  over  to  Nantahala 
river.  As  he  listened  one  said  to  the  other.  "  Where's  the  water?  I'm 
so  thirsty  that  my  apron  (gills)  hangs  down."  and  then  both  water-dogs 
laughed. 

[Jkte'na-tsuganun'tatsun'yi:  '■Where  the  uktenagot  fastened,"  a 
spot  on  Tuckasegee  river,  about  2  miles  above  Deep  creek,  near  Bryson 
City,  in  Swain  county.  There  is  a  tradition  that  an  uktena,  trying  to 
make  his  way  upstream,  became  fastened  here,  and  in  his  struggles 
pried  up  some  large  rocks  now  lying  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  left 
deep  scratches  upon  other  rocks  along  the  bank. 

Ukte'na-TJTANSi'nastun'yi:  "  Where  the  uktena  crawled,"  a  large 
rock  on  the  Hyatt  farm,  on  the  north  bank  of  Tuckasegee  river,  about 
four  miles  above  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county.  In  the  rock  bed  of  the 
stream  and  along  the  rocks  on  the  side  are  wavy  depressions  said  to 
have  been  made  by  an  uktena  in  going  up  the  river. 

Untlasgasti'yi":  "  Where  they  scratched."  at  the  head  of  Hyatt 
creek,  of  Valley  river,  in  Cherokee   county.     According  to   hunting 


v       '  Local    LEGENDS    <>F    NORTH    ciK  'i.INA  411 

tradition,  every  animal  on  arriving  at  tins  spot  was  accustomed  to 
scratch  the  ground  like  a  turkey. 

Vengeance  creek:  A  south  tributary  of  Valley  river,  in  Cherokee 
countj .  So  called  by  the  lir-t  settlers  from  an  old  Indian  woman  who 
lived  there  and  whom  they  nicknamed  "  Vengeance,"  on  account  <>!' 
hercross  looks.  The  Cherokee  call  the  district  G&nsa"ti'yi,  "Robbing 
place,"  from  their  having  fobbed  a  trader  there  in  the  Revolution. 

W  iya  gap:  A  gap  in  the  Nantahala  mountains,  in  Macon  county, 
where  the  trail  crosses  from  Laurel  creek  of  Nantahala  river  t<>  Car- 
toogaja  creek  of  the  Little  Tennessee.  The  Cherokee  call  it  A  tahi'ta, 
"Shouting  place."  For  the  tradition  see  number  13.  It  was  the 
scene  of  a  stubborn  encounter  in  the  Revolution  (see  page  -J-'.n.  The 
name  Wa.va  appears  to  be  from  the  Cherokee  wd''ya,  "wolf." 

Webster:  The  county  seat  of  Jackson  county,  on  Tuckasegee  river. 
Known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Unadanti'yi,  "Where  they  conjured." 
The  name  properly  belongs  to  a  gap  3  miles  east  of  Webster,  on  the 
trail  going  up  Scotts  creek.  According  to  tradition,  a  war  party  of 
Shawano,  coming  from  the  direction  of  Pigeon  river,  halted  here  to 
"make  medicine"*  against  the  Cherokee,  but  while  thus  engaged  were 
surprised  by  the  latter,  who  came  up  from  behind  and  killed  several, 
including  the  conjurer. 

Ya'ni -pixehi  n'yi:  "Where  the  bears  live.**  on  Oconaluftee  river, 
about  a  mile  above  its  junction  with  Tuckasegee.  in  Swain  county. 
A  family  of  "water  hears""  is  said  to  live  at  the  bottom  of  the  river 
in  a  deep  hole  at  this  point. 

Ya'nu-tj'natawasti'yi:  "Where  the  bears  wash,"  a  small  pond  of 
very  cold,  purple  water,  which  has  no  outlet  and  is  now  nearly  dried 
up,  in  a  gap  of  the  Great  Smoky  mountains,  at  the  extreme  head  of 
Raven  fork  of  Oconaluftee.  in  Swain  county.  It  was  said  to  be  a 
favorite  bear  wallow,  and  according  to  some  accounts  its  waters  had 
the  same  virtues  ascribed  to  those  of  Atagfi'hi  (see  number  69). 

Yawa'i:  "  Yawa  place.*"  a  spot  on  the  south  side  of  Yellow  creek  of 
Cheowa  river,  in  Graham  county,  about  a  mile  above  the  trail  cross 
ing  near  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  The  legend  is  that  a  mysterious 
personage,  apparently  a  human  being,  formerly  haunted  a  round  knob 
near  there,  and  was  sometimes  seen  walking  about  the  top  of  the 
knoli  and  crying,  Yiin-ii' !  Yawd'/  while  the  sound  of  invisible  guns 
came  from  the  hill,  so  that  the  people  were  afraid  to  o-<>  near  it. 

123.  LOCAL  LEGENDS  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

As  the  Cherokee  withdrew  from  all  of  South  ( larolina  except  a  small 
strip  in  the  extreme  wot  as  early  as  1777.  the  memory  of  the  old 
legends  localized  within  the  state  has  completely  faded  from  the  tribe. 
There  remain,  however,  some  local  names  upon  which  the  whites  who 


412  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

succeeded  to  the  inheritance  have  built  traditions  of  more  or  less 
doubtful  authenticity. 

In  Pickens  and  Anderson  counties,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
state,  is  a  series  of  creeks  joining  Keowee  river  and  named,  respectively 
in  order,  from  above  downward.  Mile,  Six-mile,  Twelve-mile,  Eighteen- 
mile,  Twenty -three-mile,  and  Twenty-six-mile.  According  to  the  local 
stoiy,  they  were  thus  christened  by  a  young  woman,  in  one  of  the 
early  Indian  wars,  as  she  crossed  each  ford  on  a  rapid  horseback 
tiight  to  the  lower  settlements  to  secure  help  for  the  beleaguered  gar- 
rison of  Fort  Prince  George.  The  names  really  date  back  almost  to 
the  first  establishment  of  the  colony,  and  were  intended  to  indicate 
roughly  the  distances  along  the  old  trading  path  from  Fort  Ninety-six, 
on  Henlevs  creek  of  Saluda  river,  to  Keowee,  at  that  time  the  frontier 
town  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  the  two  points  being  considered  96  miles 
apart  as  the  trail  ran.  Fort  Prince  George  was  on  the  east  bank  of 
Keowee  river,  near  the  entrance  of  Crow  creek,  and  directly  opposite 
the  Indian  town. 

Coxxeross:  The  name  of  a  creek  which  enters  Keowee  (or  Seneca) 
river  from  the  west,  in  Anderson  county;  it  is  a  corruption  of  the 
Lower  Cherokee  dialectic  form.  Kawan'-ura'siinyi  or  Kawan'-tsura'- 
sufiyi,  •""Where  the  duck  fell  off."  According  to  the  still  surviving 
Cherokee  tradition,  a  duck  once  had  her  nest  upon  a  cliff  overlooking 
the  stream  in  a  cave  with  the  mouth  so  placed  that  in  leaving  the  nest 
she  appeared  to  fall  from  the  cliff  into  the  water.  There  was  proba- 
bly an  Indian  settlement  of  the  same  name. 

Toxaway:  The  name  of  a  creek  and  former  Cherokee  settlement  at 
the  extreme  head  of  Keowee  river;  it  has  been  incorrectly  rendered 
•"Place  of  shedding  tears,"  from  dakxtlwu'lhu,  "he  is  shedding  tears." 
The  correct  Cherokee  form  of  the  name  is  Duksa'i  or  Dukw'sa'i,  a 
word  which  can  not  be  analyzed  and  of  which  the  meaning  is  now  lost. 

124.  LOCAL  LEGENDS  OF  TENNESSEE 

For  the  more  important  legends  localized  in  Tennessee  see  the  stories 
The  Hunter  in  the  Dakwa',  The  Nest  of  the  Tla'nuwa,  The  Removed 
Townhouses,  The  Haunted  Whirlpool,  Untsaiyi',  and  U'tliiii'ta. 

Buffalo  Track  rock:  This  rock,  of  which  the  Indian  name  is  now 
lost,  is  indefinitely  mentioned  as  located  southwest  from  Cumberland 
gap,  on  the  northern  border  of  the  state.  According  to  Watford,  it 
was  well  known  some  eighty  years  ago  to  the  old  Cherokee  hunters, 
who  described  it  as  covered  with  deep  impressions  made  by  buffalo 
running  along  the  rock  and  then  butting  their  heads,  as  though  in 
mad  fury,  against  a  rock  wall,  leaving  the  prints  of  their  heads  and 
horns  in  the  stone. 

Chattaxooga:  This  city,  upon  Tennessee  river,  near  the  entrance 


LOCAL    LEGENDS    OF    TENNESSEE  413 

of  the  creek  of  the  same  name  in  Hamilton  county,  was  incorporated 
in  L848.  So  far  as  is  known  there  was  no  ( !herokee  settlement  at  the 
place,  although  some  prominent  men  of  the  tribe  lived  in  the  vicinity. 
The  name  originally  belonged  to  some  location  upon  the  creek.  The 
Cherokee  pronounce  it  Tsatanu'gi,  l>ut  say  that  it  is  not  a  Cherokee 
word  and  has  no  meaning  in  their  language.  The  best  informants 
express  the  opinion  that  it  was  from  the  Chickasaw  (Choctaw)  lan- 
guage, which  seems  possible,  as  the  Chickasaw  country  anciently 
extended  a  considerable  distance  up  the  Tennessee,  the  nearest  settle- 
ment being  within  80  miles  of  the  present  city.  The  Cherokee  some- 
time- call  the  city  Atla'nuwa'.  "Tla'nuwa  (Hawk)  hole.'"  that  being 
their  old  name  for  a  bluff  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  at  the  foot  of 
the  present  Market  street.  From  this  circumstance  probably  origin- 
ated the  statement  by  a  magazine  writer  that  the  name  Chatta ga 

signifies  "The  crow's  nest." 

Ciiicka.m.u  i.a:  The  name  of  two  creeks  in  Hamilton  county,  enter- 
ing Tennessee  river  from  opposite  sides  a  few  miles  above  Chatta- 
nooga. A  creek  of  the  same  name  is  one  of  the  head-streams  of  Chat- 
tahoochee river,  in  White  county.  <  reorgia.  The  ( !herokee  pronounce 
it  Tsikama'gi,  applying  the  name  in  Tennessee  to  the  territory  about 
the  mouth  of  the  southern,  or  principal,  stream,  where  they  formerly 
had  a  town,  from  which  they  removed  in  1782.  They  state,  however, 
that  it  is  not  a  Cherokee  word  and  has  no  meaning  in  their  language. 
Filson.  in  17(.*3,  erroneously  states  that  it  is  from  the  Cherokee  language 
and  signifies  "Boiling  pot."  referring  to  a  dangerous  whirlpool  in 
the  river  near  by,  and  later  writers  have  improved  upon  this  by  trans- 
lating it  to  mean  "Whirlpool."  The  error  arises  from  confound- 
ing this  place  with  The  Suck,  a  whirlpool  in  Tennessee  river  15  miles 
farther  down  and  known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Untiguhi',  "Pot  in  the 
water"  (see  number  63,  "  Untsaiyi',  the  Gambler").  On  account  of  the 
hard  fighting  in  the  neighborhood  during  the  Civil  war.  the  stream  was 
sometimes  called,  poetically.  "The  River  of  Death."  the  term  being 
frequently  given  as  a  translation  of  the  Indian  word.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  name  is  derived  from  an  Algonquian word  referring  to 
a  fishing  or  fish-spearing  place,  in  which  case  it  may  have  originated 
with  the  Shawano,  who  formerly  occupied  middle  Tennessee,  and  some 
of  whom  at  a  later  period  resided  jointly  with  the  Cherokee  in  the 
settlement-  along  this  part  of  the  river.  If  not  Shawano  it  is  prob- 
ably from  the  Creek  or  Chickasaw. 

Concerning  "Chickamauga  gulch,"  a  canyon  on  the  northern  stream 
of  that  name,  a  newspaper  writer  gives  the  following  so-called  legend, 
which  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  is  not  genuine: 

The  Cherokees  were  a  tribe  singularly  rich  in  tradition,  ami  of  course  >■>  wild, 
gloomy,  and  remarkable  a  spot  was  not  without  its  legend.  The  descendants  ol  the 
expatriated  semi-barbarians  believe  t..  this  day  that  in  ages  gone  a  great  serpent  made 


414  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

its  den  in  the  gulch,  and  that  yearly  he  demanded  of  the  red  men  ten  of  their  moat 
beautiful  maidens  as  a  sacrificial  offering.  Fearful  of  extermination,  the  demand 
was  always  complied  with  by  the  tribe,  amid  weeping  and  wailing  by  the  women. 
On  the  day  before  the  tribute  was  due  the  serpent  announced  its  presence  by  a 
demoniacal  hiss,  and  the  next  morning  the  fair  ones  who  hail  been  chosen  to  save  the 
tribe  were  taken  to  the  summit  of  a  cliff  and  left  to  be  swallowed  by  the  scaly 
Moloch. 

Chixhowee:  A  mountain  and  station  on  the  north  side  of  Little 
Tennessee  river,  in  Blount  county.  The  correct  Cherokee  form  is 
Tsulunwe'i,  applied  to  the  lower  part  of  Abrams  creek,  which  enters 
the  river  from  the  north  just  above.  The  meaning  of  the  word  is 
lost,  although  it  may  possibly  have  a  connection  with  tstild,  "  king- 
fisher."  It  has  been  incorrectly  rendered  "  fire  deer,"  an  interpretation 
founded  on  the  false  assumption  that  the  name  is  compounded  from 
atsi'la,  "lire,"  and  «W,  '"deer,"  whence  Chil-howee.  For  legends 
localized  in  this  vicinity,  see  the  stories  noted  above.  Chilhowee 
occurs  also  as  the  name  of  a  stream  in  the  mountains  of  southwestern 
Virginia. 

Lenoir:  On  the  north  bank  of  the  main  Tennessee,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Little  Tennessee,  in  Loudon  county.  The  Cherokee  name  is 
Wa'ginsi',  of  which  the  meaning  is  lost,  and  was  applied  originally  to 
an  eddy  in  the  stream,  where,  it  was  said,  there  dwelt  a  large  serpent, 
to  see  which  was  an  omen  of  evil.  On  one  occasion  a  man  crossing 
the  river  at  this  point  saw  the  snake  in  the  water  and  soon  afterward 
lost  one  of  his  children. 

Morganton:  On  a  rocky  hill  on  the  old  Indian  trail  on  the  west  side 
of  Little  Tennessee  river,  above  and  nearly  opposite  Morganton,  in 
Loudon  county,  are,  or  were  a  few  years  ago,  four  trees  blazed  in  a 
peculiar  manner,  concerning  which  the  Indians  had  several  unsatisfac- 
tory stories,  the  most  common  opinion  being  that  the  marks  were  very 
old  and  had  been  made  by  Indians  to  indicate  the  position  of  hidden 
mines. 

Nashville:  The  state  capital,  in  Davidson  county.  The  Cherokee 
name  is  Dagu'nawel&'hi,  "Mussel-liver  place,"  which  would  seem  to 
have  originated  in  some  now  forgotten  legend. 

Nickajack:  A  creek  entering  Tennessee  river  from  the  south  about 
15  miles  below  Chattanooga.  Near  its  mouth  is  a  noted  cave  of  the 
same  name.  The  Cherokee  form  is  Nikutse'gi,  the  name  of  a  former 
settlement  of  that  tribe  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek:  but  the  word  has 
no  meaning  in  that  language,  and  is  probably  of  foreign,  perhaps 
Chickasaw,  origin.  The  derivation  from  a  certain  "  Nigger  Jack," 
said  to  have  made  the  cave  his  headquarters  is  purely  fanciful. 

Savannah:  A  farm  on  the  north  bank  of  Hiwassee  river  at  a  ford 
of  the  same  name,  about  5  miles  above  Conasauga  creek  and  Columbus, 
in  Polk  county.  Here  are  extensive  remains  of  an  ancient  settlement, 
including  mounds,  cemetery,  and  also,  some  seventy  years  ago,  a  small 


mooney]  GEORGIA    LEGENDS  415 

square  inclosure  or  "fort"  of  undressed  stone.  According  to  a  tradi- 
tion given  to  Wafford,  the  Cherokee  once  prepared  an  ambush  here 
for  a  hostile  war  party  which  they  were  expecting  to  come  up  the 
river,  hut  were  themselves  defeated  by  the  enemy,  who  made  a  detoui 
around  the  Black  mountain  and  came  in  upon  their  rear. 

Tennessee:  The  Cherokee  form  is  Tanasi',  and  was  applied  to  sev 
era!  localities  within  the  old  territory  of  the  tribe.  The  mosl  impor 
tant  town  of  this  name  was  on  the  south  bank  of  Little  Tennessee  river, 
halfway  between  Citico  and  Toco  creeks,  in  .Monroe  county,  Tennes- 
see. Another  was  on  the  south  side  of  Hiwassee,  just  above  the  junction 
of  Ocoee,  in  Polk  county,  Tennessee.  A  third  district  of  the  same 
name  was  on  Tennessee  creek,  the  extreme  easterly  head  of  Tucka- 
segee  river,  in  Jackson  county.  North  Carolina.  The  meaning  of  the 
name  is  lost.  It  was  not  the  Indian  name  of  the  river,  and  does  not 
mean  "Big  spoon."  as  lias  been  incorrectly  asserted. 

125.  LOCAL  LEGENDS  OF  GEORGIA 

For  more  important  legends  localized  in  Georgia  see  the  stories 
Yahula,  The  Nunnehi.  The  Ustu'tli,  Agan-uni'tsi's  Search  for  the 
Cktena,  and  The  Man  who  Married  the  Thunder's  Sister.  White's 
Historical  Collections  of  Georgia  is  responsible  for  a  number  of 
pseudo-myths. 

Chopped  oak:  A  noted  tree,  scarred  with  hundreds  of  hatchet  marks, 
formerly  in  Habersham  county.  6  miles  east  of  Clarkesville,  on  the 
summit  of  Chattahoochee  ridge,  and  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  from 
Clarkesville  to  Toccoa  creek.  The  Cherokee  name  is  Digalu'yatuH'yi, 
••  Where  it  is  gashed  with  hatchets."  It  was  a  favorite  assembly  place 
for  the  Indians,  as  well  as  for  the  early  settler-,  according  to  whom 
the  gashes  were  tally  marks  by  means  of  which  the  Indians  kept  the 
record  of  scalps  taken  in  their  forays.  The  tradition  is  thus  given  by 
"White  (Historical  Collections  of  Georgia,  ]>.  489,  L855)  on  some  earlier 
authority: 

Among  the  curiosities  of  this  country  was  the  Chopped  Oak,  a  tree  famous  in 
Indian  history  and  in  the  traditions  of  the  early  settlers.  This  tree  stood  about  6 
miles  southeast  of  Clarke-vibe,  and  was  noted  as  being  the  Law  Ground,  or  place  of 
holding  company  musters  and  magistrates'  courts.  According  to  tradition,  the 
Chopped  Oak  was  a  celebrated  rendezvous  of  the  Indians  in  their  predatory  excur- 
sions, it  being  at  a  point  where  a  number  of  trails  met.  Here  their  plans  of  war- 
fare were  laid;  here  the  several  parties  separated;  and  here,  on  their  return,  they 
awaited  each  other;  and  then,  in  their  brief  language,  the  result  of  their  enterprise 
»;t-  stated,  and  for  every  scalp  taken  a  gasli  cut  in  the  tree.  If  tradition  tells  the 
truth,  and  every  Bear  en  the  blasted  oat  counts  for  a  scalp,  the  success  of  their  scout- 
ing parties  must  have  been  great.  This  tree  was  alive  a  few  years  Bince  when  a  young 
n  Kin.  possessing  all  the  prejudices  of  his  countrymen,  ami  caring  less  for  the  traditions 

of  the  Indian-  than  his  ..«  11  revenge,  killed  the  tree  by  girdling  it.  that  it  might  be  no 

longer  a  living  monument  of  the  cruelties  of  the  savages      The  stump  is  -till  standing. 


416  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [ETH.i.vN.19 

Dead  Man's  gap:  One  mile  below  Tallulah  falls,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  railroad,  in  Habersham  county.  So  called  from  a  former  reputed 
Indian  grave,  now  almost  obliterated.  According  to  the  story,  it  was 
the  grave  of  an  Indian  who  was  killed  here  while  eloping  with  a  white 
woman,  whom  he  had  stolen  from  her  husband. 

Frogtown:  A  creek  at  the  head  of  Chestatee  river,  north  of  Dah- 
lonega,  in  Lumpkin  county.  The  Cherokee  name  is  Walasi'yi,  "Frog 
place."  The  name  was  originally  applied  to  a  mountain  to  the  north- 
east {Hock  mountain  '?).  from  a  tradition  that  a  hunter  had  once  seen 
there  a  frog  as  large  as  a  house.  The  Indian  settlement  along  the 
creek  bore  the  same  name. 

I  Iiwassek:  A  river  having  its  source  in  Towns  county,  of  northern 
Georgia,  and  flowing  northwestward  to  join  the  Tennessee.  The  cor- 
rect Cherokee  form,  applied  to  two  former  settlements  on  the  stream,  is 
Ayuhwa'sl  (meaning  "A  savanna").  Although  there  is  no  especial 
Cherokee  story  connected  with  the  name.  White  (Historical  Collections 
of  Georgia,  p.  660)  makes  it  the  subject  of  a  long  pseudo-myth,  in 
which  Hiwassee.  rendered  ''The  Pretty  Fawn,"  is  the  beautiful 
daughter  of  a  Catawba  chief,  and  is  wooed,  and  at  last  won,  by  a 
young  Cherokee  warrior  named  Notley,  ''The  Daring  Horseman," 
who  finally  becomes  the  head  chief  of  the  Cherokee  and  succeeds  in 
making  perpetual  peace  between  the  two  tribes.  The  story  sounds 
very  pretty,  but  is  a  pure  invention. 

Nacoochee:  A  village  on  the  site  of  a  former  Cherokee  settlement, 
in  a  beautiful  and  fertile  valley  of  the  same  name  at  the  head  of  Chat- 
tahoochee river,  in  White  county.  The  Cherokee  form  is  Nagu  tsi', 
but  the  word  has  no  meaning  in  that  language  and  seems  to  be  of  for- 
eign, perhaps  Creek,  origin.  About  2  miles  above  the  village,  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  river,  is  a  large  mound.  White  (Historical  Collec- 
tions of  Georgia,  p.  486)  quotes  a  fictitious  legend,  according  to  which 
Nacoochee,  "The  Evening  Star,"  was  a  beautiful  Indian  princess,  who 
unfortunately  fell  in  love  with  a  chieftain  of  a  hostile  tribe  and  was 
killed,  together  with  her  lover,  while  fleeing  from  the  vengeance  of 
an  angry  father.  The  two  were  buried  in  the  same  grave  and  the 
mound  was  raised  over  the  spot.  The  only  grain  of  truth  in  the  story 
is  that  the  name  has  a  slight  resemblance  to  ?uikwlsi',  the  Cherokee 
word  for  "star." 

Nottely:  A  river  rising  in  Union  county  and  flowing  northwest- 
ward into  Hiwassee.  The  Cherokee  form  is  Na'dii'li',  applied  to  a 
former  settlement  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  in  Cherokee  county, 
North  Cai'olina,  about  a  mile  from  the  Georgia  line.  Although  sug- 
gestive of  mi' full,  "  spicewood,"  it  is  a  different  word  and  has  no  mean- 
ing in  the  Cherokee  language,  being  apparently  of  foreign,  perhaps 
Creek,  origin.  For  a  pseudo-myth  connected  with  the  name,  see  the 
preceding  note  on  Hiwassee. 


LOCAL    LEGENDS    OF    GEORGIA  417 

T.w.kim.  Rock:  A  creek  in  upper  Georgia  flowing  northward  to 
join  Coosawatee  river.  The  Indian  settlements  upon  it  were  consid- 
ered as  belonging  to  Sanderstown,  on  the  lower  part  of  the  creek,  the 
townhouse  being  located  about  a  mile  above  the  present  Talking  Rock 
station  on  the  west  side  of  the  railroad.  The  name  is  a  translation  of 
the  Cherokee  Nunyu'-gunwani'skl,  ""  Rock  that  talks,"  and  refers, 
according  to  one  informant,  to  an  echo  rock  somewhere  upon  the  stream 
below  the  present  railroad  station.  An  old-time  trader  among  the 
Cherokee  in  (  reorgia  says  that  the  name  was  applied  to  a  roek  at  which 
the  Indians  formerly  held  their  councils,  hut  the  etymology  of  the 
word  is  against  this  derivation. 

Tallulah:  A  river  in  Rabun  county,  northeastern  Georgia,  which 
(low-  into  the  Tugaloo,  and  has  a  beautiful  fall  about  2  miles  above  its 
mouth.  The  Cherokee  form  is  TaJulu'  (TariiiT  in  the  lower  Cherokee 
dialect),  the  name  of  an  ancient  settlement  some  distance  above  the  falls, 
as  also  of  a  creek  and  district  at  the  head  of  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham 
county.  North  Carolina.  The  name  can  not  he  translated.  A  maga- 
zine writer  has  rendered  it  "The  Terrible,"  for  which  there  is  no 
authority.  Schoolcraft,  on  the  authority  of  a  Cherokee  lady,  renders 
it  "There  lies  your  child,"  derived  from  a  story  of  a  child  having 
been  carried  over  the  falls.  The  name,  however,  was  not  applied  to 
the  falls,  hnt  to  a  district  on  the  stream  above,  as  well  as  to  another 
in  North  Carolina.  The  error  arises  from  the  fact  that  a  word  of 
somewhat  similar  sound  denotes  "having  children"  or  "  being  preg- 
nant," used  in  speaking  of  a  woman.  One  informant  derives  it  from 
fnliiln' '.  the  cry  of  a  certain  species  of  frog  known  as  dulusl,  which  is 
found  in  that  neighborhood,  hut  not  upon  the  reservation,  and  which 
was  formerly  eaten  as  food.  A  possible  derivation  is  from  a'tdhtlti', 
"unfinished,  premature,  unsuccessful."  The  tall  was  called  Ugun'yl, 
a  name  of  which  the  meaning  is  lost,  and  which  was  applied  also  to  a 
locality  on  Little  Tennessee  river  near  Franklin,  North  Carolina. 
For  a  myth  localized  at  Tallulah  falls,  see  number  84,  "The  Man  who 
Married  the  Thunder's  Sister." 

In  this  connection  Lanman  gives  the,  following  story,  which,  not- 
withstanding its  white  man's  dress,  appears  to  he  based  upon  a  gen- 
uine Cherokee  tradition  of  the  Nufine'hi: 

During  my  stay  at  the  Kails  of  Tallulah  I  made  every  effort  to  obtain  an  Indian 
legend  or  two  connected  with  them,  and  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  hear  one  which 
has  never  yet  been  printed.  It  was  originally  obtained  by  the  white  man  who  first 
discovered  tin-  falls  from  the  Cherokees,  who  lived  in  the  region  at  the  time.  It  is 
in  substance  as  follows:  Many  generations  a^">  it  si.  happened  that  several  famous 

hunters,  who   hail  wandered  from  the  West  toward  what  is  now  the  Savannah  river, 

in  search  of  game,  never  returned  to  their  camping  grounds.  In  process  of  time  the 
Quriositj  as  well  as  the  fears  of  the  nation  were  excited,  and  an  effort  was  made  to 
ascertain  the  cause  of  their  singular  disappearance,  whereupon  a  party  of  medicine 
men  were  deputed  t..  make  a  pilgrimage  toward  the  great  river.  They  were  absent 
a  whole  m and,  on  returning  t..  their  friends,  they  reported  that  they  had  dis- 

l'.t    KTII— 01 27 


418  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.  ass.  19 

covered  a  dreadful  fissure  in  an  unknown  part  of  the  country,  through  which  a 
mountain  torrent  took  its  way  with  a  deafening  noise.  They  said  that  it  was  an 
exceedingly  wild  place,  and  that  its  inhabitants  were  a  species  of  little  men  and 
women,  who  dwelt  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks  and  in  grottoes  under  the  waterfalls. 
They  had  attempted  by  every  artifice  in  their  power  to  hold  a  council  with  the  little 
people,  but  all  in  vain;  and,  from  the  shrieks  they  frequently  uttered,  the  medicine 
men  knew  that  they  were  the  enemies  of  the  Indian  race,  and,  therefore,  it  was  con- 
cluded in  the  nation  at  large  that  the  long-lost  hunters  had  been  decoyed  to  their 
death  in  the  dreadful  gorge,  which  they  called  Tallulah.  In  view  of  this  little  legend, 
it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  Cherokee  nation,  previous  to  their  departure  for  the 
distant  West,  always  avoided  the  Falls  of  Tallulah,  and  were  seldom  found  hunting 
or  fishing  in  their  vicinity.1 

Toccoa:  (1)  A  creek  flowing  into  Tugaloo  river,  in  Habersham 
county,  with  ;i  fall  upon  its;  upper  course,  near  the  village  of  the  same 
name.  (2)  A  river  in  upper  Georgia,  flowing  northwestward  into 
Hiwassee.  The  correct  Cherokee  form  applied  to  the  former  settlement 
on  both  streams  is  Tagwa'hi.  "Catawba  place,''  implying  the  former 
presence  of  Indians  of  that  tribe.  The  lands  about  Toccoa  falls  were 
sold  by  the  Cherokee  in  1TS3  and  were  owned  at  one  time  by  Watford's 
grandfather.  According  to  Wafford,  there  was  a  tradition  that  when 
the  whites  first  visited  the  place  they  saw,  as  they  thought,  an  Indian 
woman  walking  beneath  the  surface  of  the  water  under  the  falls,  and 
on  looking  again  a  moment  after  they  saw  her  sitting  upon  an  over- 
hanging rock  200  feet  in  the  air,  with  her  feet  dangling  over.  Said 
Watford,   "She  must  have  been  one  of  the  Nunne'hi." 

Track  Rock  gap:  A  gap  about  5  miles  east  of  Blairsville.  in  Union 
county,  on  the  ridge  separating  Brasstown  creek  from  the  waters  of 
Nottely  river.  The  micaceous  soapstone  rocks  on  both  sides  of  the 
trail  are  covered  with  petroglyphs,  from  which  the  gap  takes  its 
name.  The  Cherokee  call  the  place  Datsu'nalasgun'yi,  "  Where  there  are 
tracks,"  or  Degayeluii'ha,  "Printed  (Branded)  place."  The  carvings 
are  of  many  and  various  patterns,  some  of  them  resembling  human 
or  animal  footprints,  while  others  are  squares,  crosses,  circles,  "bird 
tracks,"  etc.,  disposed  without  any  apparent  order.  On  the  authority 
of  a  Doctor  Stevenson,  writing  in  1834,  White  (Historical  Collections 
of  Georgia,  p.  658, 1855),  and  after  him  Jones  (Antiquities  of  the  South- 
ern Indians,  1873),  give  a  misleading  and  greatly  exaggerated  account 
of  these  carvings,  without  having  taken  the  trouble  to  investigate  for 
themselves,  although  the  spot  is  easily  accessible.  No  effort,  either 
state  or  local,  is  made  to  preserve  the  pictographs  from  destruction, 
and  many  of  the  finest  have  been  cut  out  from  the  rock  and  carried  ofl 
by  vandals,  Stevenson  himself  being  among  the  number,  by  his  own 
confession.  The  illustration  (plate  xx)  is  from  a  rough  sketch  made 
by  the  author  in  1890. 

The  Cherokee  have  various  theories  to  account  for  the  origin  of  the 
carvings,  the  more  sensible    Indians   saying  that    they  were   made   by 


!  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  pages  41-42. 


BUREAU  OF  AMERICAN   ETHNOLOGY 


NINETEENTH    ANNUAL   REPORT      PL.    XX 


PETROGLYPHS    AT    TRACK-ROCK    GAP,    GEORGIA 
From  sketches  by  the  author,  1889.     Portions  cut  out  bj  vandals  are  indicated  bj  lightei 


LOCAL  LEGENDS  OF  GEORGIA  411) 

hunters  for  their  own  amusement  while  resting  in  the  gap.  Another 
tradition  is  thai  they  wore  made  while  the  surface  of  the  newly  cre- 
ated earth  \\a^  Mill  soft  by  a  greal  army  tit'  birds  and  animals  fleeing 
through  the  gap  to  escape  some  pursuing  danger  from  the  west — some 
say  a  great  "drive  hunt"  of  the  Indians.  Haywood  confounds  them 
with  other  petroglyphs  in  North  Carolina  connected  with  the  story  of 
the  giant  Tsui  kahV  (see  number  81). 

The  following  florid  account  of  the  carvings  and  ostensible  Indian 
tradition  of  their  origin  is  from  White,  on  the  authority  of  Stevenson: 

The  numbei  visible  or  defined  is  L36,  some  of  them  quite  natural  and  perfect,  and 
others  rattier  rode  imitations,  ami  most  of  them  from  the  effects  of  time  have  become 
in. ire  nr  less  obliterated.  Tiny  comprise  human  feet  from  those  4  inches  in  length 
to  those  of  great  warriors  which  measure  17J  inches  in  length  and  7f  in  breadth 
across  the  toes.  What  is  a  hole  curious,  all  the  human  feet  are  natural  except  this, 
which  has  6  toes,  proving  him  to  have  been  a  descendant  of  Titan.  There  are  *_'(>  of 
these  impressions,  all  hare  except  one.  which  has  the  appearance  of  having  worn 
moccasins.  A  fine  turned  hand,  rather  delicate,  occupied  a  place  near  the  great 
warrior,  and  probably  the  impression  of  his  wife's  hand,  who  no  doubt  accompanied 
her  husband  in  all  his  excursions,  sharing  his  toils  and  soothing  his  cares  away. 
Many  horse  tracks  are  to  be  seen.  One  seems  to  have  been  shod,  some  are  very 
small,  and  one  measures  121  inches  by  9i  inches.  This  the  Cherokee  say  was  the 
footprint  of  the  great  war  horse  which  their  chieftain  rode.  The  tracks  of  a  great 
many  turkeys,  turtles,  terrapins,  a  large  bear's  paw,  a  snake's  trail,  and  the  foot- 
prints of  two  deer  are  tn  In-  seen.  The  tradition  respecting  these  impressions  varies. 
One  asserts  that  the  world  was  once  deluged  with  water,  and  men  with  all  animated 
beings  were  destroyed,  except  one  family,  together  with  various  animals  necessary 
to  replenish  the  earth:  that  the  Great  Spirit  before  the  floods  came  commanded 
them  tn  embark  in  a  hit.'  canoe,  which  after  long  sailing  was  drawn  to  this  spot  by  a 
bevy  of  swans  and  rested  there,  and  here  the  whole  troop  of  animals  was  disem- 
barked, leaving  the  impressions  as  they  passed  over  the  rock,  which  being  softened 
h\  reason  of  long  submersion  kindly  received  and  preserved  them. 

War  Woman's  creek:  Enters  Chattooga  river  in  Rabun  county, 
northeastern  Georgia,  in  the  heart  of  the  old  Lower  ( Jherokee  country. 
The  name  seems  to  be  of  Indian  origin,  although  the  Cherokee  name 
is  lost  and  the  story  has  perished.  A  writer  quoted  by  White  (His- 
torical Collections  of  Georgia,  p.  ±44)  attempts  to  show  its  origin  from 
the  exploit  of  a  certain  Revolutionary  amazon,  in  capturing  a  party 
of  Tories,  hut  the  name  occurs  in  Adair  (note,  p.  185)  as  early  as  177.">. 
There  is  some  reason  for  believing  that  it  refers  to  a  former  female 
dignitary  among  the  Cherokee,  described  by  Haywood  under  the  title 
of  the  •■  Pretty  Woman"  as  having  authority  to  decide  the  fate  of 
prisoners  of  war.  Waflord once  knew  an  old  woman  whose  name  was 
Da  na-ga'sta.  an  abbreviated  form  for  Da'nawa-g&sta'ya,  •"Sharp 
war."  understood  to  mean  ""  Sharp  (i.,  e.,  Fierce)  warrior."  Several 
cases  of  women  acting  the  part  of  warriors  tire  on  record  among  the 
Cherokee. 


420  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.asn.18 

126.    PLANT    LORE 

The  Cherokee  have  always  been  an  agricultural  people,  and  their  old 
country  is  a  region  of  luxuriant  flora,  with  tall  trees  and  tangled  under- 
growth on  the  slopes  and  ridges,  and  myriad  bright-tinted  blossoms 
and  sweet  wild  fruits  along  the  running  streams.  The  vegetable  king- 
dom consequently  holds  a  far  more  important  place  in  the  mythology 
and  ceremonial  of  the  tribe  than  it  does  among  the  Indians  of  the 
treeless  plains  and  arid  sage  deserts  of  the  West,  most  of  the  beliefs 
and  customs  in  this  connection  centering  around  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine, as  expounded  by  the  priests  and  doctors  in  every  settlement.  In 
general  it  is  held  that  the  plant  world  is  friendly  to  the  human  species. 
and  constantly  at  the  willing  service  of  the  doctors  to  counteract  the 
jealous  hostility  of  the  animals.  The  sacred  formulas  contain  many 
curious  instructions  for  the  gathering  and  preparation  of  the  medicinal 
roots  and  barks,  which  are  selected  chiefly  in  accordance  with  the 
theory  of  correspondences. 

The  Indians  are  close  observers,  and  some  of  their  plant  names  are 
peculiarly  apt.  Thus  the  mistletoe,  which  never  gi-ows  alone,  but  is 
found  always  with  its  roots  fixed  in  the  bark  of  some  supporting  tree 
or  shrub  from  which  it  draws  its  sustenance,  is  called  by  a  name  which 
signifies  "it  is  married"  (uda'  It).  The  violet  is  still  called  by  a  plural 
name.  di '  mln  'xj.-intt,  'xki.  ••they  pull  each  other's  heads  off,"  showing  that 
the  Cherokee  children  have  discovered  a  game  not  unknown  among 
our  own.  The  bear-grass  (  Eryngium),  with  its  long,  slender  leaves  like 
diminutive  blades  of  corn,  is  called  sdlikwd'yi,  "greensnake,"  and  the 
larger  grass  known  as  Job's  tears,  on  account  of  its  glossy,  rounded 
grains,  which  the  Indian  children  use  for  necklaces,  is  called  sel-utsi', 
"  the  mother  of  corn."  The  black-eyed  Susan  ( limlh,  chid)  of  our  chil- 
dren is  the  "deer-eye"  (</  wi'-ccktd')  of  the  Cherokee,  and  our  lady- 
sb  pper  ( Oypripedmm)  is  their  "  partridge  moccasin"  (gfigw&'-'idasu'la). 
The  May-apple  {Podophyllum),  with  its  umbrella-shaped  top.  is  called 
a' itislir,  tn'  t/i.  meaning  "  it  wears  a  hat,"  while  the  white  puffball  fungus 
is  n&kwisi'-usdi',  "the  little  star."  and  the  common  rock  lichen  bears 
the  musical,  if  rather  unpoetic,  name  of  utsdldta,  "pot  scrapings." 
Some  plants  are  named  from  their  real  or  supposed  place  in  the  animal 
economy,  as  the  wild  rose,  tsist-uni'gisti,  "the  rabbits  eat  it" — refer- 
ring to  the  seed  berries — and  the  shield  fern  (Aspidiwri),  i/an-nts,  'stu, 
"  the  bear  lies  on  it."  Others,  again,  are  named  from  their  domestic  or 
ceremonial  uses,  as  the  fleabane (JErigeron  canad^  nst ).  called  atsil'-si&n  //', 
"fire  maker."  because  its  dried  stalk  was  anciently  employed  in  pro- 
ducing fire  by  friction,  and  the  bugle  weed  (Lycopus  virginicus),  known 
as  aniwani'ski,  "talkers."  because  the  chewed  root,  given  to  children  to 
swallow,  or  rubbed  upon  their  lips,  is  supposed  to  endow  them  with 
the  gift  of  eloquence.  Some  few,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  term  in 
use  among  the  common  people,  have  a  sacred  or  symbolic  name,  used 


PLANT    LOBE  4'_»1 

onh  bj  the  priests  and  doctors  in  the  prayer  formulas.  Thus  gin- 
seng, or  '"sail":'."  as  it  is  more  often  called  by  the  white  mountaineers, 
is  known  to  the  laity  as  A'taU-guW,  "the  mountain  climber,"  but  is 
addressed  in  the  formula"  as  YUnvA  Ubdi',  "Little  Man."  while  selu 
(corn)  is  invoked  under  the  name  of  Agawt  'la,  ""The*  )ld  Woman."  One 
or  two  plant  names  have  their  origin  in  myths,  as,  for  instance,  that  of 

Prosartes  lanuginosa,  which  bears  the  curious  nai f  wdlds' -until' sti, 

"frogsfight  with  it,"  from  a  story  that  inthelongago  Mlahi'yu  two 
quarrelsome  frogs  once  fought  a  duel,  using  its  stalks  as  lances.  In 
the  locative  form  this  was  the  name  of  a  former  Cherokee  settlement 
in  Georgia,  called  by  the  whites  Fighting-town,  from  a  misapprehen- 
sion of  the  meaning  of  the  word.  Of  the  white  clover,  the  Cherokee 
sa\   that  "'it  follows  the  white  man.'" 

The  division  of  trees  into  evergreen  and  deciduous  is  accounted  for 
by  a  myth,  related  elsewhere,  according  to  which  the  loss  of  their 
leaves  in  winter  time  is  a  punishment  visited  upon  the  latter  for  their 
failure  to  endure  an  ordeal  to  the  end.  With  the  Cherokee,  as  with 
nearly  all  other  tribes  east  and  west,  the  cedar  is  held  sacred  above 
other  trees.  The  reasons  for  this  reverence  are  easily  found  in  its 
ever-living  green,  its  balsamic  fragrance,  and  the  beautiful  color  of  its 
fine-grained  wood,  unwarpingand  practically  undecaying.  The  small 
green  twigs  are  thrown  upon  the  fire  as  incense  in  certain  ceremonies, 
particularly  to  counteract  the  effect  of  asgina  dreams,  as  it  is  believed 
that  the  anisgi'na  or  malevolent  ghosts  can  not  endure  the  smell;  hut 
the  wood  itself  is  considered  too  sacred  to  be  used  as  fuel.  In  the  war 
dance,  the  scalp  trophies,  stretched  on  small  hoops,  were  hung  upon  a 
cedar  sapling  trimmed  and  decorated  for  the  occasion.  According  to 
a  myth  the  red  color  comes  originally  from  the  blood  of  a  wicked 
magician,  whose  severed  head  was  hung  at  the  top  of  a  tall  cedar. 
The  story  is  now  almost  forgotten,  hut  it  was  probably  nearly  iden- 
tical with  one  still  existing  among  the  Yuchi,  former  neighbors  of  the 
Cherokee.  According  to  the  Yuchi  myth,  a  malevolent  magician  dis- 
turbed the  daily  course  of  the  sun  until  at  last  two  brave  warriors 
sought  him  out  and  killed  him  in  his  cave.  They  cut  off  his  head  and 
brought  it  home  with  them  to  show  to  the  people,  but  it  continued 
still  alive.  To  make  it  die  they  were  advised  to  tie  it  in  the  topmost 
branches  of  a  tree.  This  they  did.  trying  one  tree  after  another,  hut 
each  morning  the  head  was  found  at  the  foot  of  the  tree  and  still  alive. 
At  last  they  tied  it  in  a  cedar,  and  there  the  head  remained  until  it  was 
dead,  while  the  blood  slowly  trickling  down  alone-  the  trunk  gave  the 
wood  its  red  color,  and  henceforth   the  cedar  was  a  ••medicine"  tree.1 

The  linn  or  basswood  (  Tilda)  is  believed  never  to  be  struck  by  light- 
ning, and  the  hunter  caught  in  otic  of  the  frequent  thunderstorms  of 

'Gate  hel  Some  Mythic  Stories  of  the  Yuchi  Indians,  in  American  Anthropologist,  vi,  p.  281,  ■Inly, 
1893, 


422  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


the  southern  mountains  always  seeks  its  shelter.  From  its  stringy 
bark  are  twisted  the  hunting  belts  worn  about  the  waist.  Sourwood 
((Irt/il, mlriiiii)  is  used  by  the  hunters  for  barbecue  sticks  to  roast  meat 
before  the  fire,  on  account  of  the  acid  flavor  of  the  wood,  which  they 
believe  to  lie  thus  communicated  to  the  meat.  Spoons  and  combs  are 
also  carved  from  the  wood,  but  it  is  never  burned,  from  an  idea  that 
lye  made  from  the  ashes  will  bring  sickness  to  those  who  use  it  in  pre- 
paring their  food.  It  is  said  also  that  if  one  should  sleep  beside  a  fire 
containing  sourwood  sticks  the  sourwood  "will  barbecue  him."  which 
may  possibly  mean  that  he  will  have  hot  or  feverish  pains  thereafter. 

The  laurel,  in  its  two  varieties,  large  and  small  {Hhododend/ron  and 
Kill  miii.  or  ■"ivy"),  is  much  used  for  spoons  and  combs,  on  account  of 
its  close  grain,  as  also  in  medicine,  but  is  never  burned,  as  it  is  believed 
that  this  would  bring  on  cold  weather,  and  would  furthermore  destroy 
the  medicinal  virtues  of  the  whole  species.  The  reason  given  is  that 
the  Leaves,  when  burning,  make  a  hissing  sound  suggestive  of  winter 
winds  and  falling  snow.  When  the  doctor  is  making  up  a  compound 
in  which  any  part  of  the  laurel  is  an  ingredient,  great  precautions  are 
taken  to  prevent  any  of  the  leaves  or  twigs  being  swept  into  the  fire, 
as  this  would  render  the  decoction  worthless.  Sassafras  is  tabued  as 
fuel  among  the  Cherokee,  as  also  among  their  white  neighbors,  per- 
haps for  the  practical  reason  that  it  is  apt  to  pop  out  of  the  tire  when 
heated  and  might  thus  set  the  house  on  fire. 

Pounded  walnut  bark  is  thrown  into  small  streams  to  stupefy  the  fish, 
so  that  they  may  be  easily  dipped  out  in  baskets  as  they  float  on  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Should  a  pregnant  woman  wade  into  the  stream 
at  the  time,  its  effect  is  nullified,  unless  she  has  first  taken  the  precau- 
tion to  tie  a  strip  of  the  bark  about  her  toe.  A  fire  of  post-oak  and 
the  wood  of  the  telun'lutl  or  summer  grape  (  Vitis  aestivalis)  is  believed 
to  bring  a  spell  of  warm  weather  even  in  the  coldest  winter  season. 

Mysterious  properties  attach  to  the  wood  of  a  tree  which  has  been 
struck  by  lightning,  especially  when  the  tree  itself  still  lives,  and  such 
wood  enters  largely  into  the  secret  compounds  of  the  conjurers.  An 
ordinary  person  of  the  laity  will  not  touch  it,  for  fear  of  having  cracks 
come  upon  his  hands  and  feet,  nor  is  it  burned  for  fuel,  for  fear  that  lye 
made  from  the  ashes  will  cause  consumption.  In  preparing  ballplayers 
for  the  contest,  the  medicine-man  sometimes  burns  splinters  of  it  to 
coal,  which  he  gives  to  the  players  to  paint  themselves  with  in  order 
that  they  may  be  able  to  strike  their  opponents  with  all  the  force  of  a 
thunderbolt.  Bark  or  wood  from  a  tree  struck  by  lightning,  but  still 
green,  is  beaten  up  and  put  into  the  water  in  which  seeds  are  soaked 
before  planting,  to  insure  a  good  crop,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  any 
lightning-struck  wood  thrown  into  the  field  will  cause  the  crop  to 
wither,  and  it  is  believed  to  have  a  bad  effect  even  to  go  into  the  field 
immediately  after  having  been  near  such  a  tree. 


PLANT    LOBE  423 

Among  all  vegetables  the  one  which  holds  first  place  in  the  house- 
hold economy  and  ceremonial  observance  of  the  tribe  is  selu,  "corn," 
invoked  in  the  sacred  formulas  under  the  name  of  Agawe'la,  "The 
Old  Woman,"  in  allusion  to  its  mythic  oxdgin  from  the  blood  of  an 

old  woman  killed  by  her  disobedient  sons  (sec  number  '■'>.  "  Kana'ti 
and  Selu").  In  former  times  the  annual  thanksgiving  ceremony  of  the 
Green-corn  dance,  preliminary  to  eating  the  lirst  new  com.  was  the 
most  solemn  tribal  function,  a  propitiation  and  expiation  for  the  sins 
of  the  past  year,  an  amnesty  for  public  criminals,  and  a  prayer  for 
happiness  and  prosperity  for  the  year  to  come.  Only  those  who  had 
properly  prepared  themselves  bj  prayer,  fasting,  and  purification  were 
allowed  to  take  part  in  this  ceremony,  and  no  one  dared  to  taste  the 
new  corn  until  then.  Seven  ears  from  the  last  year's  crop  were  always 
put  carefully  aside,  in  order  to  attract  tin  corn  until  the  new  crop  was 
ripened  and  it  was  time  for  the  dance,  when  they  were  eaten  with  the 
rest.  In  eating  the  lirst  new  corn  after  the  Green  Corn  dance,  care  was 
observed  not  to  blow  upon  it  to  cool  it,  for  fear  of  causing  a  wind 
storm  to  heat  down  the  standing  crop  in  the  field. 

Much  ceremony  accompanied  the  planting  and  tending  of  the  crop. 
Seven  grains,  the  sacred  number,  were  put  into  each  hill,  and  these 
were  not  afterward  thinned  out.  After  the  last  working  of  the  crop, 
tlte  priest  and  an  assistant — generally  the  owner  of  the  field — went 
into  the  field  and  built  a  small  inclosure  (detsdmdfl'li)  in  the  center. 
Then  entering  it.  they  seated  themselves  upon  the  ground,  with  heads 
bent  down,  and  while  the  assistant  kept  perfect  silence  the  priest,  with 
rattle  in  hand,  sang  songs  of  invocation  to  the  spirit  of  the  corn.  Soon. 
according  to  the  orthodox  belief,  a  loud  rustling  would  be  heard  out- 
side, which  they  would  know  was  caused  by  the  "Old  Woman"  bring- 
ing the  corn  into  the  field,  but  neither  must  look  up  until  the  song 
was  finished.  This  ceremony  was  repeated  on  four  successive  nights, 
after  which  no  one  entered  the  field  for  seven  other  nights,  when  the 
priest  himself  went  in,  and,  if  all  the  sacred  regulations  had  been  prop- 
erly observed,  was  rewarded  by  rinding  young  ears  upon  the  stalks. 
The  corn  ceremonies  could  be  performed  by  the  owner  of  the  field 
himself,  provided  he  was  willing  to  pay  a  sufficient  fee  to  the  priest  in 
order  to  learn  the  songs  and  ritual.  Care  was  always  taken  to  keep  a 
clean  trail  from  the  field  to  the  house,  so  that  the  corn  might  be 
encouraged  to  stay  at  home  and  not  go  wandering  elsewhere.  Most 
of  these  customs  have  now  fallen  into  disuse  excepting  among  the 
old  people,  by  many  of  whom  they  are  -till  religiously  observed. 

Another  curious  ceremony,  of  which  even  the  memory  is  now  almost 
forgotten,  was  enacted  after  the  first  working  of  the  corn,  when  the 
owner  or  priest  stood  in  succession  at  each  of  the  four  corners  of  the 
field  and  wept  and  wailed  loudly.  Even  the  priests  are  now  unable, 
to  give  a  reason  for  this  performance,  which  may  have  been  a   lament 


424  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

for  the  bloody  death  of  Selu,  as  the  women  of  Byblos  were  wont  to 
weep  for  Adonis. 

Next  to  corn,  the  bean  [tuya)  is  the  most  important  food  plant  of  the 
Cherokee  and  other  southern  Indians,  with  whom  it  is  probably  native, 
but  there  docs  not  appear  to  be  much  special  ceremony  or  folklore 
in  connection  with  it.  Beans  which  crack  open  in  cooking  are  some- 
times rubbed  by  mothers  on  the  lips  of  their  children  in  order  to 
make  them  look  smiling  and  good-tempered.  The  association  of  ideas 
seems  to  be  the  same  as  that  which  in  Ireland  causes  a  fat  meal}' 
potato,  which  cracks  open  in  boiling,  to  be  called  a  "laughing"  potato. 
Melons  and  squashes  must  not  be  counted  or  examined  too  closely, 
while  still  growing  upon  the  vine,  or  they  will  cease  to  thrive; 
neither  must  one  step  over  the  vine,  or  it  will  wither  before  the  fruit 
ripens.  One  who  has  eaten  a  May-apple  must  not  come  near  the  vines 
under  any  circumstances,  as  this  plant  withers  and  dries  up  very 
quickly,  and  its  presence  would  make  the  melons  wither  in  the  same  way. 

Tobacco  was  used  as  a  sacred  incense  or  as  the  guarantee  of  a  solemn 
oath  in  nearly  every  important  function — in  binding  the  warrior  to 
take  up  the  hatchet  against  the  enemy,  in  ratifying  the  treaty  of  peace, 
in  confirming  sales  or  other  engagements,  in  seeking  omens  for  the 
hunter,  in  driving  away  witches  or  evil  spirits,  and  in  regular  medical 
practice.  It  was  either  smoked  in  the  pipe  or  sprinkled  upon  the  fire, 
never  rolled  into  cigarettes,  as  among  the  tribes  of  the  Southwest, 
neither  was  it  ever  smoked  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  the  sensation.  Of 
late  years  white  neighbors  have  taught  the  Indians  to  chew  it,  but 
the  habit  is  not  aboriginal.  It  is  called  tsdlu,  a  name  which  has  lost 
its  meaning  in  the  Cherokee  language,  but  is  explained  from  the 
cognate  Tuscarora,  in  which  charhu',  "tobacco,"  can  still  be  analyzed 
as  "fire  to  hold  in  the  mouth,"  showing  that  the  use  is  as  old  as 
the  knowledge  of  the  plant.  The  tobacco  originally  in  use  among 
the  Cherokee,  Iroquois,  and  other  eastern  tribes  was  not  the  common 
tobacco  of  commerce  {Nicotiana  tabacum),  which  has  been  introduced 
from  the  West  Indies,  but  the  Nicotioma  rustica,  or  wild  tobacco,  now 
distinguished  by  the  Cherokee  as  tsdl-agaytin'M,  "  old  tobacco,"  and  by 
the  Iroquois  as  "real  tobacco."  Its  various  uses  in  ritual  and  medi- 
cine are  better  described  under  other  headings.  For  the  myth  of 
its  loss  and  recovery  see  number  6,  "How  They  Brought  Back  the 
Tobacco."  The  cardinal  flower  (Lobdia),  mullein  ( T'<  rbascvm),  and  one 
or  two  related  species  are  called  ts&liyu'sU,  "like  tobacco,"on  account 
of  their  general  resemblance  to  it  in  appearance,  but  they  were  never 
used  in  the  same  way. 

The  poisonous  wild  parsnip {Pt  itcedanum  '.)  bears  an  unpleasant  rep- 
utation on  account  of  its  frequent  use  in  evil  spells,  especially  those 
intended  to  destroy  the  life  of  the  victim.  In  one  of  these  conjura- 
tions seven  pieces  of  the  root  are  laid  upon  one  hand  and  rubbed  gently 


moonei  PLANT    LOBE  125 

with  the  other,  the  omen  being  taken  from  the  position  of  the  pieces 

when   the  hand    is  removed.     It   is   said  also  that  puis rs  mix   it 

secretly  with  the  food  of  their  intended  victim,  when,  if  he  eats,  hesoon 
becomes  drowsy,  and.  unless  kept  in  motion  until  the  effect  wears  off, 
falls  asleep,  never  to  wake  again.  Suicides  are  said  to  eat  it  topro- 
cure death.  Before  starting  on  a  journey  a  small  piece  of  the  root  is 
sometimes  chewed  and  blown  upon  the  body  to  prevent  sickness,  but 
the  remedy  is  almost  as  bad  as  the  disease,  for  the  snakes  are  said  to 
resent  the  offensive  smell  by  biting  the  one  who  carries  it.  In  spite 
of  its  poisonous  qualities,  a  decoction  of  the  root  is  much  used  for 
steaming  patients  in  the  sweat  bath,  the  idea  seeming  to  lie  that  the 
smell  drives  away  the  disease  spirits. 

The  poison  oak  or  poison  ivy  (Shus  radieans),  so  abundant  in  the 
damp  eastern  forests,  is  feared  as  much  by  Indians  as  by  whites. 
When  obliged  to  approach  it  or  work  in  its  vicinity,  the  Cherokee 
strives  to  conciliate  it  by  addressing  it  as  "My  friend"  (M'ginalii). 
If  poisoned  by  it.  he  rubs  upon  the  affected  part  the  beaten  flesh  of  a 
crawfish. 

One  variety  of  brier  (  Smilax)  is  called  di  nu'sM,  "  the  breeder."  from 
a  belief  that  a  thorn  of  it.  if  allowed  to  remain  in  the  tlesh.  will  breed 
others  in  a  day  or  two. 

Ginseng,  which  is  sold  in  large  quantities  to  the  local  traders,  as 
well  as  used  in  the  native  medical  practice,  is  called  t"tt<il}-<j>'ili' ',  "the 
mountain  climber,"  hut  is  addressed  by  the  priests  as  Yunwi  Usdi', 
"Little  Man,"  or  Yunwi  Usdi'ga  Ada'wehi'vu.  "Little  Man,  Most 
Powerful  Magician,"  the  Cherokee  sacred  term,  like  the  ( Jhinese  name, 
having  its  origin  from  the  frequent  resemblance  of  the  root  in  shape 
to  the  body  of  a  man.  The  beliefs  and  ceremonies  in  connection  with 
its  gathering  and  preparation  are  very  numerous.  The  doctor  speaks 
constantly  of  it  as  of  a  sentient  being,  and  it  is  believed  to  be  able 
to  make  itself  invisible  to  those  unworthy  to  gather  it.  In  hunting- 
it,  the  first  three  plants  found  are  passed  by.  The  fourth  is  taken, 
after  a  preliminary  prayer,  in  which  the  doctor  addresses  it  as  the 
"Great  Ada'wehi,"  and  humbly  asks  permission  to  take  a  small  piece 
of  its  tlesh.  On  digging  it  from  the  ground,  he  drops  into  the  hole 
a  bead  and  covers  it  over,  leaving  it  there,  by  way  of  payment  t<>  the 
plant  spirit.  After  that  he  takes  them  as  they  come  without  further 
ceremony. 

The  catgut  or  devil's  shoestring  (  Tephrosid)  is  called  distai'yi,  k'they 
are   tough."  in   allusion   to    its  stringy   roots,   from   which  Cherokee 

u ii  prepare  a  decoction  with  which  to  wash  their  hair  in  order  to 

impart  to  it  the  strength  ami  toughness  of  the  plant,  while  a  prepara- 
tion of  the  leaves  is  used  by  ballplayers  to  wash  themselves  in  order  to 
toughen  their  limb-.  To  enable  them  to  spring  quickly  to  their 
feet  if  thrown  to  the  ground,  the  players   bathe  their  limbs  also  with 


42<i  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.akn.19 

a  decoction  of  the  small  rush  (Jtmcus  tenuis),  which,  they  say.  always 

recovers  its  erect  position,  no  matter  how  often  trampled  down.  The 
white  seeds  of  the  viper's  bugloss  (  Echium  vulgan  )  were  formerly  used 
in  many  important  ceremonies  of  which  the  purpose  was  to  look  into 
the  future.  l>ut  have  now  been  superseded  by  the  ordinary  glass  beads 
of  the  traders.  The  culver  root  (Leptcmdrd)  is  used  in  love  conjura- 
tions, the  omen  being  taken  from  the  motion  of  the  root  when  held  in 
the  hand.  The  campion  (Silent  stellata),  locally  known  as  •■rattle- 
snake's master."  is  called  gcmidawd'ski,  "it  disjoints  itself."  because  the 
dried  stalk  is  said  to  break  off  by  joints,  beginning  at  the  top.  As 
among  the  white  mountaineers,  the  juice  is  held  to  he  a  sovereign 
remedy  for  snake  bites,  and  it  is  even  believed  that  the  deadliest  snake 
will  flee  from  one  who  carries  a  small  portion  of  the  root  in  his  mouth. 

Almost  all  varieties  of  burs,  from  the  Spanish  needle  Up  to  the 
cocklebur  and  Jimsonweed,  are  classed  together  under  the  generic 
name  of  u'nistilun'isM,  which  may  be  freely  rendered  as  "stickers." 
From  their  habit  of  holding  fast  to  whatever  object  they  may  happen 
to  touch,  they  are  believed  to  have  an  occult  power  for  improving  the 
memory  and  inducing  stability  of  character.  Very  soon  after  a  child 
is  born,  one  of  the  smaller  species,  preferably  the  Lespedeza  repens,  is 
beaten  up  and  a  portion  is  put  into  a  bowl  of  water  taken  from  a  fall 
or  cataract,  where  the  stream  makes  a  constant  noise.  This  is  given  to 
the  child  to  drink  on  four  successive  days,  with  the  intention  of 
making  him  quick  to  learn  and  retain  in  memory  anything  once  heard. 
The  noise  of  the  cataract  from  which  the  water  is  taken  is  believed  to 
be  the  voice  of  Yitnwi  Gunahi'ta,  the  "Long  Man,"  or  river  god, 
teaching  lessons  which  the  child  may  understand,  while  the  stream 
itself  is  revered  for  its  power  to  seize  and  hold  anything  cast  upon  its 
surface.  A  somewhat  similar  ceremony  is  sometimes  used  for  adults, 
but  in  this  case  the  matter  is  altogether  more  difficult,  as  there  are 
tabus  for  four  or  seven  clays,  and  the  mind  must  be  kept  fixed  upon 
the  purpose  of  the  rite  throughout  the  whole  period,  while  if  the  sub- 
ject so  far  forgets  himself  as  to  lose  his  temper  in  that  time  he  will 
remain  of  a  quarrelsome  disposition  forever  after. 

A  flowering  vine,  known  as  nuniyu'sU,  "potato-like,"  which  grows 
in  cultivated  fields,  and  has  a  tuberous  root  somewhat  resembling  a 
potato,  is  used  in  hunting  conjurations.  The  bruised  root,  from  which 
a  milk}-  juice  oozes,  is  rubbed  upon  the  deer  bleat,  dwi'-ahyeli'sM,  with 
which  the  hunter  imitates  the  bleating  of  the  fawn,  under  the  idea 
that  the  doe,  hearing  it,  will  think  that  her  offspring  desires  to  suck, 
and  will  therefore  come  the  sooner.  The  putty-root  (Adam-and-Eve, 
.[/>!< (tram  /u'emale),  which  is  of  an  oily,  mucilaginous  nature,  is  car- 
ried by  the  deer  hunter,  who,  on  shooting  a  deer,  puts  a  small  piece 
of  the  chewed  root  into  the  wound,  expecting  as  a  necessary  result  to 
find  the  animal  unusually  fat  when  skinned.     Infants  which  seem  to  pine 


boone>  PLANT    LORE  127 

and  grow  thin  are  bathed  with  a  decoction  of  the  same  root  in  order 
to  fatten  them.  The  rool  of  the  rare  plant  known  as  Venus'  flytrap 
(Dioncea),  which  has  the  remarkable  property  of  catching  and  digest- 
ing insects  which  alight  upon  it.  is  chewed  by  the  fisherman  and  spit 
upon  the  bail  that  no  fish  may  escape  him,  and  the  plant  is  tied  upon 
the  fish  trap  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  root  of  a  plant  called  unatMmwe' Mm,  "  having  spirals,"  is  used 
in  conjurations  designed  to  predispose  strangers  in  Eavorof  thesubject. 
The  priest  "'takes  it  to  water"  i.  e.,  says  certain  prayers  over  it 
while  standing  close  to  the  running  stream,  then  chews  a  small  piece 
and  rubs  and  Mows  it  upon  the  body  and  anus  of  the  patient,  who  is 
supposed  to  he  about  tostart  upon  a  journey,  or  to  take  part  in  a  coun- 
cil, with  the  result  that  all  who  meet  him  or  listen  to  his  words  are  at 
once  pleased  with  his  manner  and  appearance,  and  disposed  to  give 
ever)'  assistance  to  his  projects. 


NOTES  AND  PARALLELS  TO  MYTHS 

In  the  preparation  of  the  following  notes  and  parallels  the  pur- 
pose has  been  to  incorporate  every  Cherokee  variant  or  pseudomyth 
obtainable  "from  any  source,  and  to  give  some  explanation  of  tribal 
customs  and  beliefs  touched  upon  in  the  myths,  particularly  among 
the  Southern  tribes.  A  certain  number  of  parallels  have  been  incor- 
porated, but  it  must  be  obvious  that  this  field  is  too  vast  for  treat- 
ment within  the  limits  of  a  single  volume.  Moreover,  in  view  of 
the  small  number  of  tribes  that  have  yet  been  studied,  in  comparison 
with  the  great  number  still  unstudied,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  the 
time  has  arrived  for  any  extended  treatment  of  Indian  mythology. 
The  most  complete  index  of  parallels  that  has  yet  appeared  is  that 
accompanying  the  splendid  collection  by  Dr  Franz  Boas,  Indianische 
Sagen  von  der  nordpaciiischen  Kiiste  Amerikas.1  In  drawing  the  line 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  restrict  comparisons,  excepting  in  a 
few  special  cases,  to  the  territory  of  the  United  States  or  the  imme- 
diate border  country,  although  this  compels  the  omission  of  several 
of  the  best  collections,  particularly  from  the  northwest  coast  and  the 
interior  of  British  America.  Enough  has  been  given  to  show  thatour 
native  tribes  had  myths  of  their  own  without  borrowing  from  other 
races,  and  that  these  were  so  widely  and  constantly  disseminated  by 
trade  and  travel  and  interchange  of  ceremonial  over  wide  areas  as  to 
make  the  Indian  myth  system  as  much  a  unit  in  this  country  as  was 
the  Aryan  myth  structure  in  Europe  and  Asia.  Every  additional 
tribal  study  may  be  expected  to  corroborate  this  result. 

A  more  special  study  of  Cherokee  myths  in  their  connection  with 
the  medical  and  religious  ritual  of  the  tribe  is  reserved  for  a  future 
paper,  of  which  preliminary  presentation  has  been  given  in  the 
author's  Sacred  Formulas  of  the  Cherokees,  in  the  Seventh  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology. 

Stories  and  story  tellers  (p.  229):  Migration  legend — In  Buttrick's  Antiqui- 
ties2 we  find  some  notice  of  this  migration  legend,  which,  as  given  by  the  mission- 
ary, is  unfortunately  so  badly  mixed  up  with  the  Bible  story  that  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  isolate  the  genuine.  He  starts  them  under  the  leadership  of  their  "greatest 
prophet,"  Wast — who  is  simply  Moses — in  search  of  a  far  distant  country  where 
they  may  be  safe  from  their  enemies.  Who  these  enemies  are,  or  in  what  quarter 
they  live,  is  not  stated.     Soon  after  setting  out  they  come  to  a  great  water,  which 

1  Asher  &  Co.,  Berlin,  1895. 

-'Antiquities  of  the  Cherokee  Indians, compiled  from  the  collection  of  Reverend Sabin  Buttrick, 
their  missionary  from  1817  to  1S47.  its  presented  in  the  Indian  Chieftain;  Vinita,  Indian  Territory,  lsx.4. 


koonei  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  4-_",) 

Wast  strikes  with  his  staff;  the  water  divides  so  that  they  pass  through  safely,  and 
then  rolls  back  and  prevents  pursuit  by  their  enemies.  They  then  enter  a  wilder- 
oess  and  come  to  a  mountain,  and  we  are  treated  to  the  Bible  story  of  Sinai  and  the 
tables  of  stone.  Here  also  they  receive  sacred  fire  from  heaven,  which  thereafter 
they  carry  with  them  until  the  house  in  which  ii  is  kepi  is  at  Ias1  destroyed  by  a 
hostile  invasion.  This  portion  of  the  myth  seems  to  be  genuine  Italian  <*■*■  notes  to 
number  111.  "  The  Mounds  and  the  Constant  Fire") . 

In  this  journey  "the  tribes  marched  separately  and  also  the  elans.  The  elans 
were  distinguished  by  having  leathers  of  different  colors  fastened  to  their  ears.  They 
had  two  great  standards,  one  white  and  one  red.  The  white  standard  was  under 
the  control  of  the  priests,  and  used  for  civil  purposes;  l>nt  the  red  standard  was 
under  the  direction  of  the  war  priests,  for  purposes  of  war  and  alarm.  These  were 
carried  when  they  journeyed,  and  the  white  standard  erected  in  front  of  the  build- 
ing above  mentioned  [the  ark  or  palladium],  when  they  rested." 

They  cross  four  rivers  in  all — which  ai 'ds  with  the   Indian   idea  of  the  sacred 

four — and  -it  down  at  last  beyond  the  fourth,  after  having  been  for  many  years  on 

the  march.  'Their  whole  journey  through  this  wilderness  was  attended  with  great 
distress  and  danger.  At  one  time  they  were  l>eset  by  the  most  deadly  kind  of  ser- 
pents, which  destroyed  a  great  many  of  the  people,  hut  at  length  their  leader  shot 
one  with  an  arrow  and  drove  them  away.  Again,  they  were  walking  along  in  .single 
tile,  when  the  ground  cracked  open  and  a  number  of  people  sank  down  and  were 
destroyed  by  the  earth  closing  upon  them.  At  another  time  they  came  nigh  perish- 
ing tor  water.  Their  head  men  dug  with  their  staves  in  all  the  low  places,  hut  could 
find  no  water.  At  length  their  leader  found  a  most  beautiful  spring  coming  out  of  a 
rock."1 

At  one  point  in  this  migration,  a. rding   to  a   tradition   given   to   Schoolcraft   by 

Stand  Watie,  they  encountered  a  large  river  or  other  great  body  of  water,  which 
they  crossed  upon  a  bridge  made  by  tying  grapevines  together.2  This  idea  of  a  vine 
bridge  or  ladder  occurs  also  in  the  traditions  of  the  Iroquois,  .Mandan.  and  other 
tribes. 

Farther  on  the  missionary  already  quoted  says:  "Shield-eater  once  inquired  if 
I  ever  heard  of  houses  with  tlat  roofs.  saying  that  his  father's  great  grandfather  used 
to  say  that  once  their  people  had  a  great  town,  with  a  high  wall  about  it;  that  ona 
certain  occasion  their  enemies  broke  down  a  part  of  this  wall;  that  the  houses  in  this 
town  had  tlat  roofs — though,  he  used  to  say.  this  was  so  long  ago  it  is  not  worth 
talking  about  now."  3 

/•'./.  of  cant  splints — Bartraro  thus  describes  the  method  as  witnessed  by  him  at 
Attasse  (Autossee)  among  the  Creeks  about  1775.  The  fire  which  .blazed  up  so  mys- 
teriously may  have  been  kept  constantly  smoldering  below,  as  described  in  number  111: 

"As  their  virgils  [sic]  and  manner  of  conducting  their  vespers  and  mystical  fire  in 
this  rotunda,  are  extremely  singular,  ami  altogether  different  from  the  customs  and 
usages  of  any  other  people,  1  shall  proceed  to  describe  them.  In  the  first  place,  the 
governor  or  officer  who  has  tie-  management  of  this  business,  with  his  servants 
attending,  orders  the  black  drink  to  be  brewed,  which  is  a  decoction  or  infusion  of 
the  leaves  and  tender  shoots  of  the  cassine.      This   is  done   under  an   open   shed   or 

pavilion,  at  twenty  or  thirty  yards  distance,  directly  opposite  the  door  of  the  council- 
house.  Next  he  orders  bundles  of  dry  canes  to  be  brought  in:  these  are  previously 
split  and  broken  in  pieces  to  about  the  length  of  two  feet,  and  then  placed  obliquely 
CrOSSWayS  upon  one  another  on  the  floor,  forming  a  spiral  circle  round  about  the 
great  centre  pillar,  rising  to  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  in  height  from  the  ground;  and 
this  circle  spreading  as  it  proceeds  round  and  round,  often  repeated  from  tight  to 

1  Buttrick,  Antiquities  of  tin-  Cherokee  Iii<li:m*.  pp.  y-10. 

troq  lois,  p.  359,  1st;. 
3Buttrick.  ..p.  cit..  p.  10. 


430  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

left,  every  revolution  increases  its  diameter,  and  at  length  extends  to  the  distance  of 
ten  or  twelve  feet  from  the  centre,  more  or  less,  according  to  the  length  of  time,  the 
assembly  or  meeting  is  to  continue.  By  the  time  these  preparations  are  accom- 
plished, it  is  night,  and  the  assembly  have  taken  their  seats  in  order.  The  exterior 
or  outer  end  of  the  spiral  circle  takes  fire  and  immediately  rises  into  a  bright  flame 
(but  how  this  is  effected  I  did  not  plainly  apprehend;  I  saw  no  person  set  fire  to  it; 
there  might  have  been  fire  left  on  the  earth;  however  I  neither  sawnor  smelt  fire  or 
smoke  until  the  blaze  instantly  ascended  upwards),  which  gradually  and  slowly 
creeps  round  the  centre  pillar,  with  the  course  of  the  sun,  feeding  on  the  dry  canes, 
and  affords  a  cheerful,  gentle  and  sufficient  light  until  the  circle  is  consumed,  when 
the  council  breaks  up."1 

1.  How  the  world  was  MADE  (p.  239) :  From  decay  of  the.  old  tradition  and  admix- 
ture of  Bible  ideas  the  Cherokee  genesis  myth  is  too  far  broken  down  to  be  recovered 
excepting  in  disjointed  fragments.  The  completeness  of  the  destruction  may  be 
judged  by  studying  the  similar  myth  of  the  Iroquois  or  the  Ojibwa.  What  is  here 
preserved  was  obtained  chiefly  from  Swimmer  and  John  Ax,  the  two  most  compe- 
tent authorities  of  the  eastern  band.  The  evergreen  story  is  from  Ta'gwadihl'.  The 
incident  of  the  brother  striking  his  sister  with  a  fish  to  make  her  pregnant  was  given 
by  Ayasta,  and  may  have  a  phallic  meaning.  John  Ax  says  the  pregnancy  was 
brought  about  by  the  "Little.  People,"  Yufiwi  Tsunsdi',  who  commanded  the  woman 
to  rub  spittle  (of  the  brother?)  upon  her  back,  and  to  lie  upon  her  breast,  with  her 
body  completely  covered,  for  seven  days  and  nights,  at  the  end  of  which  period  the 
child  was  born,  and  another  thereafter  every  seven  days  until  the  period  was  made 
longer.  According  to  Wafford  the  first  man  was  created  blind  and  remained  so  for 
sometime.  The  incident  of  the  buzzard  shaping  the  mountains  occurs  also  in  the 
genesis  myth  of  the  Creeks1  and  Yuchi,3  southern  neighbors  of  the  Cherokee,  but 
by  them  the  first  earth  is  said  to  have  been  brought  up  from  under  the  water  by  the 
crawfish.  Among  the  northern  tribes  it  is  commonly  the  turtle  which  continues  to 
suj i] « irt  the  earth  upon  its  back.  The  water  beetle  referred  to  is  the  Gyrin us,  1<  ically 
known  as  mellow  ling  or  apple  beetle.  One  variant  makes  the  dttsta'ydft,  water- 
spider  ("scissors,"  Dolomedes) ,  help  in  the  work.  Nothing  is  said  as  to  whence  the 
sun  is  obtained.  By  some  tribes  it  is  believed  to  be  a  gaming  wheel  stolen  from  a 
race  of  superior  beings.     See  also  number  7.  "The  Journey  to  the  Sunrise." 

The  missionaries  Buttrick  and  Washburn  give  versions  of  the  Cherokee  genesis, 
both  of  which  are  so  badly  warped  by  Bible  interpretation  as  to  be  worthless. 
No  native  cosmogonic  myth  yet  recorded  goes  back  to  the  first  act  of  creation,  but 
all  start  out  with  a  world  and  living  creatures  already  in  existence,  though  not  in 
their  final  form  and  condition. 

Hand-breadth — The  Cherokee  word  is  utana'hih'i,  from  uwdyi,  hand.  This  is  not 
to  be  taken  literally,  but  is  a  figurative  expression  much  used  in  the  sacred  formulas 
to  denote  a  serial  interval  of  space.  The  idea  of  successive  removals  of  the  sun,  in 
order  to  modify  the  excessive  heat,  is  found  with  other  tribes.  Buttrick,  already 
quoted,  says  in  his  statement  of  the  Cherokee  cosmogony:.  "When  God  created  the 
world  he  made  a  heaven  or  firmament  about  as  high  as  the  tops  of  the  mountains, 
but  this  was  too  warm.  He  then  created  a  second,  which  was  also  too  warm.  He 
thus  proceeded  till  he  had  created  seven  heavens  and  in  the  seventh  fixed  His  abode. 
During  some  of  their  prayers  they  raise  their  hands  to  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth, 
fifth,  sixth  and  seventh  heaven,"  etc.4 

i  Travels,  pp.  449-450. 

-\\.  ii.  Tuggle,  Myths  of  the  Crooks,  lis,  lss7.  Copy  in  archives  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Eth- 
nologj 

aA.  S.  Gatschet,  Some  Mythic  Stories  of  the  Yuchi  Indians,  in  American  Anthropologist,  vi,  p. 
281,  .Inly.  1893. 

4  Antiquities. 


hooney]  NOTES    AM)    PARALLELS  4.'il 

In  Hindu  cosmogony  also  we  find  seven  heavens  or  stages,  increasing  in  sanctity 
as  they  ascend;  the  Aztecs  bad  nine,  as  bad  also  theancienl  Scandinavians.'    Some 

Polynesian  tribes  have  ten,  each  built  of  azure  stone,  with  apertures  for  inten 

munication.  The  low  est  originally  almost  touched  the  earth  and  was  elevated  to  its 
present  position  b)  successive  pushes  from  the  gode  Ru  and  Mai t i,  resting  first  pros- 
trate upon  the  ground,  then  upon  their  knees,  then  lifting  with  their  shoulders,  their 
hands,  and  their  finger  tips,  until  a  last  supreme  effort  sent  it  toils  present  place.2 

Seven.  Th  sacred  numbers — In  every  tribe  and  cult  throughout  the  world  we  find 
sacred  numbers.  Christianity  and  the  Christian  world  have  three  and  seven.  The 
Indian  has  always  four  as  the  principal  sacred  number,  with  usually  another  only 
slightly  subordinated.  The  two  sacred  numbers  of  the  ( Iherokee  are  lour  and  seven, 
the  latter  being  the  actual  number  of  the  tribal  clans,  the  formulistic  number  of 

upper  world-  or  heavens,  and  the  ceremonial  number  of  paragraphs  or  repetitions  in 
the  principal  formulas.  Thus  in  the  prayers  tor  long  life  the  priest  raises  his  client 
by  successive  stages  to  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  and  finally  to  the  seventh 
heaven  before  the  end  is  accomplished.  The  sacred  four  has  direct  relation  to  the 
four  cardinal  points,  while  seven,  besides  these,  includes  also  "above,"  "below," 
and  "  here  in  the  center."  In  many  tribal  rituals  color  and  sometimes  sex  are 
assigned  to  each  point  of  direction.  In  the  sacred  Cherokee  formulas  the  spirits  of 
the  East,  South.  West,  and  North  are,  respectively,  lied.  White,  Black,  and  Blue, 
and  each  color  has  also  its  own  symbolic  meaning  of  Power  (War),  Peace,  Death, 
and  Defeat. 

•_'.  The  first  fire  i  p.  240) :  This  myth  was  obtained  from  Swimmer  and  John  Ax, 
It  is  noted  also  in  Fos  er's  "Sequoyah"3  and  in  the  Wahnenauhi  manuscript.4  The 
uksu'hland  the  gule'g)  are,  respectively,  tin'  Colubt  robsoh  his  and  Bascanion  constrictor. 
The  water-spider  is  the  large  hairy  species  Argyroneta. 

Iti  the  version  given  in  the  Wahnenauhi  manuscript  the  Possum  and  the  Buzzard 
first  make  the  trial,  hut  come  hack  unsuccessful,  one  losing  the  hair  from  his  tail, 
while  the  Other  has  the  feathers  scorched  from  his  head  and  neck.  In  another  ver- 
sion the  Dragon-fly  assists  the  Water-spider  by  pushing  the  tusti  from  behind.  In 
the  corresponding  ('reek  myth,  as  given  in  the  Tuggle  manuscript,  the  Rabbit 
obtains  tire  by  the  stratagem  of  touching  to  the  blaze  a  cap  trimmed  with  sticks  of 
rosin,  while  pretending  to  bend  low  in  the  dance.  In  the  Jicarilla  myth  the  Fox 
steals  tire  by. wrapping  cedar  hark  around  his  tail  and  thrusting  it  into  the  blaze 
while  dancing  around  the  circle.5 

3.  Kana'ti  and  Self:  Origin  of  corx  and  game  (p.  242):  This  story  was  obtained  \n 
nearly  the  same  form  from  Swimmer  and  John  Ax  (east)  and  from  Wafford  (west),  and 
aversion  is  also  given  in  the  Wahnenauhi  manuscript.  Hagar  notes  it  briefly  in  his 
manuscript  Stellar  Legends  of  the  Cherokee.  So  much  of  belief  and  custom 
depend  upon  the  myth  of  Kana'ti  that  references  to  the  principal  incidents  are  con- 
stant in  the  songs  and  formulas.  It  is  one  of  those  myths  held  so  sacred  that  in  the 
old  days  one  who  wished  to  hear  it  from  the  priest  of  the  tradition  must  first  purify 
himself  by  "going  to  water,"  i.  e.,  bathing  in  the  running  stream  before  daylight 
when  still  fasting,  while  the  priest  performed  his  mystic  ceremonies  upon  the  bank. 

In  his  Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  written  more  than  fifty  years  ago, 
Lanman  gives  (pp.  136, 137)   a  very   fair  synopsis  of  this  myth,  locating  the  game 

IE.  G  Squier,  The  Serpent  Symbol  and  the  Worship  of  the  Reciprocal  Principles  of  Nature  in  Amer- 
ica i  Am.  Archaeological  Researches,  1 1;  New  York,  1851. 

*Rei  Wm.  W.  Gill,  Myths  and  Songs  from  the  South  Pacific,  with  a  preface  bj  K  Max  Miiller; 
London,  1876,  pp.  18,  21,  -S\  71. 

G  I  Foster,  Sequoyah,  the  American  Cadmus  and  Modern  Moses;  Philadelphia,  [ndian  Rights 
Association,  1885. 

4  Historical  sketches  of  ii  ogether  with  some  of  their  Customs,  Traditions,  and  Super- 
stitions, by  Wahnenauhi,  a  Cherokee  Indian;  MS  in  archives  of  the  Burei t  American  Ethnology. 

5  Frank  Russell,  Myth-  ..i  the  Jicarilla  Apaches,  In  Journal  of  Am.  Folklore,  October,  1898. 


432  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

preserve  of  Kana'ti,  whom  he-  makes  an  old  Cherokee  chief,  in  a  (traditional)  cave 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Black  mountain,  now  Mount  Mitchell,  in  Yancey  county, 
North  Carolina,  tin-  highest  peak  cast  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  Alter  his  father  had 
disappeared,  and  could  not  be  found  by  long  search,  "The  boy  fired  an  arrow 
towards  the  north,  but  it  returned  and  fell  at  his  feet,  and  he  knew  that  his  father 
had  nnt  travelled  in  that  direction.  He  also  fired  one  towards  the  east  and  the  south 
and  the  west,  but  they  all  came  back  in  the  same  manner.  He  then  thought  that  he 
would  tin-  one  directly  above  his  head,  and  it  so  happened  that  this  arrow  never 
returned,  and  so  the  hoy  knew  that  his  father  had  gone  to  the  spirit  land.  The 
Greal  Spirit  was  angry  with  the  Cherokee  nation,  and  to  punish  it  for  the  offense  of 
the  foolish  boy  he  tore  away  the  cave  from  the  side  of  the  Black  mountain  and  left 
only  a  large  cliff  in  its  place,  which  is  now  a  conspicuous  feature,  and  he  then 
declared  that  the  time  would  come  when  another  race  of  men  should  possess  the 
mountains  where  the  Cherokees  had  flourished  for  many  generations." 

The  story  has  numerous  parallels  in  Indian  myth,  so  many  in  fact  that  almost 
every  important  concept  occurring  in  it  is  duplicated  in  the  North,  in  the  South,  and 
on  the  plains,  and  will  probably  be  found  also  west  of  the  mountains  when  sutticient 
material  of  that  region  shall  have  been  collected.  The  Ojibwa  story  of  "The  YVeen- 
digoes,"1  in  particular,  has  many  striking  points  of  resemblance;  so,  also,  the  <  hnaha 
myth,  "Two-faces  and  the  Twin  Brothers,"  as  given  by  Dorsey.2 

His  wife  was  Srln,  •'Com"— In  Cherokee  belief,  as  in  the  mythologies  of  nearly 
every  eastern  tribe,  the  corn  spirit  is  a  woman,  and  the  plant  itself  has  sprung  origi- 
nally from  the  blood  drops  or  the  dead  body  of  the  Corn  Woman.  In  the  Cherokee 
sacred  formulas  thecorn  is  sometimes  invoked  as  Agawe'la,  "The  Old  Woman."  and 
one  myth  (number  72,  "The  Hunter  and  Selu"  I  tells  how  a  hunter  once  witnessed 
the  transformation  of  the  growing  stalk  into  a  beautiful  woman. 

In  the  Creek  myth  "Origin  of  Indian  Corn,"  as  given  in  the  Tuggle  manuscript, 
the  corn  plant  appears  to  be  the  transformed  body  of  an  old  woman  whose  only  son, 
endowed  with  magic  powers,  has  developed  from  a  single  drop  of  her  (menstrual?) 
blood. 

In  Iroquois  legend,  according  to  Morgan,  the  corn  plant  sprang  from  the  bosom 
of  the  mother  of  the  Great  Spirit  (gic  i  after  her  burial.  The  spirits  of  corn.  Lean,  and 
squash  are  represented  as  three  sisters.  "They  are  supposed  to  have  the  forms  of 
beautiful  females,  to  he  very  fond  of  each  other,  and  to  delight  to  dwell  together^. 
This  last  belief  is  illustrated  by  a  natural  adaptation  of  the  plants  themselves  to  grow 
up  together  in  the  same  field  and  perhaps  from  the  same  hill."  3 

Sprang  from  U<><>il — This  concept  of  a  child  born  of  blood  drops  reappears  in  the 
Cherokee  story  of  Tsul'kalu'  I  see  number  si  ).  Its  occurrence  among  the  Creeks  has 
just  been  noted.  It  is  found  also  among  the  Dakota  (Dorsey,  "The  Blood-clots  Boy," 
in  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  ix,  1893),  Omaha  (Dorsey,  "The 
Rabbit  and  the  Grizzly  Bear,"  Cont.  to  X.  A.  Eth.,  vi,  1890),  Blackfeet  (  "Kutoyis," 
in  Grinnell,  " Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales" ;  New  York,  1892),  and  other  tribes.  Usually 
the  child  thus  born  is  of  wilder  and  more  mischievous  nature  than  is  common. 

Dei  r  shut  up  in  hob: — The  Indian  belief  that  the  game  animals  were  originally  shut 
up  in  a  cave,  from  which  they  were  afterward  released  by  accident  or  trickery,  is 
very  widespread.  In  the  Tuggle  version  of  the  Creek  account  of  the  creation  of 
the  earth  we  rind  the  deer  thus  shut  up  and  afterward  set  free.  The  Iroquois 
"believed  that  the  game  animals  were  not  always  free,  but  were  enclosed  in  a  cavern 

1  H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  Comprising  Inquiries  Respecting  the  Mental  Characteristics  of 
Hi-  North  American  Indians;  first  series,  Indian  Tales  and  Legends  (two  volumes);  New  York,  1.S39. 

-  Tlie  Dhegiha  Language,  in  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  vi  (Department  of  the  Inte- 
rior,  I",  S.  Geographical  and  Geological  Survey  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Region.  J.  W.  Powell  in 
charge),  Washington,  I>.  C. 

A  League  of  tile  Iroquois,  pp.  161,  102,  and  199. 


NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  433 

where  they  had  Itch  concealed  by  Tawiskara' ;  but  that   they  might   increase  and 

rill  the  forest  Yoskeha'  gave  them  freedom.'"    The  same  idea  occurs  in  the  Omaha 

'Ictinike,   the   Brothers  and  Sister"  (Dorsey,  in  Contributions  to  North 

American   Ethnology,  m.   1890).     The  Kiowa  tell  how  the  buffalo  were  kept  thus 

imprisoned  l>\  the  Crow  until  released  by  Sinti  when  the  | pie  were  all  starving 

for  want  of  meat.  When  the  buffalo  so  suddenly  and  completely  disappeared  from 
tlic  plains  about  twenty-five  years  ago,  the  prairie  tribes  were  unable  to  realize  that 
it  had  been  exterminated,  but  for  a  long  time  cherished  the  belief  that  it  had  been 
again  shut  up  by  the  superior  power  of  the  whites  in  some  underground  prison,  from 
w  hich  the  spells  of  their  own  medicine  men  would  yet  bring  it  back  i  see  references 
iu  the  aiithiu's  Calendar  History  of  the  Kiowa  Indians,  in  Seventeenth  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  part  I.  1901).  TheKiowa  tradition  is 
almost  exactly  paralleled  among  the  Jicarilla  |  Russell,  Myths  of  the  Jicarilla  Apaches, 
in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  Oct.,  L898). 

Storehousi  -Theunwada'll,  or  storehouse  for  corn,  beans,  dried  pumpkins,  andothei 
provisions,  was  a  feature  of  every  Cherokee  homestead  and  was  probably  common 
to  all  the  southern  tribes.  Lawson  thus  describes  it  among  the  Santee  in  South 
Carolina  about  the-  year  1700: 

" They  make  themselves  cribs  alter  a  very  curious  manner,  wherein  they  secure 
their  corn  from  vermin,  which  are  more  frequent  in  these  warm  climates  than  in 
countries  more  distant  from  the  sun.  These  pretty  fabrics  are  ci  immonly  supported 
with  eight  feet  or  posts  about  seven  feet  high  from  the  ground,  well  daubed  within 
and  without  upon  laths,  with  loam  or  clay,  which  makes  them  tight  and  tit  to  keep 
out  the  smallest  insert,  there  being  a  small  door  at  the  gable  end.  which  is  made  of 

the  same  composition  and  to  be  removed  at  pleasure,  being  no  bigger  than  that 
a  -lender  man  may  creep  in  at.  cementing  the  door  up  with  the  same  earth  when 
they  take  the  corn  out  of  the  crib  and  are  going  from  home,  always  finding  their 
granaries  in  the  same  posture  they  left  them — theft  to  each  other  being  altogether 
mvpracticed 

Rubh( d  h,  r  stomach — This  miraculous  procuring  of  provisions  by  rubbing  the  body 
ocriii-  also  in  number  7ii,  "The  Bear  Man." 

Knew  their  thoughts — Mind  reading  is  a  frequent  concept  in  Indian  myth  and  occurs 
in  more  than  one  Cherokee  story. 

S,r,  n  In, to — The  idea  of  sacred  numbers  has  already  been  noted,  and  the  constant 
recurrence  of  seven  in  the  present  myth  exemplifies  well  the  importance  of  that 
number  in  Cherokee  ritual. 

.1  tuft  of down — In  the  Omaha  story,  "The  Corn  Woman  and  the  Buffalo  Woman" 
i  Dorsey,  <  lontribiitions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  vi,  1890),  the  magician  changes 

himself  into  a  feather  and  allows  himself  to  he  blown  about  by  the  wind  in  order  to 

accomplish  hi- purpose.     The  wolf  does  the  same  in  a  Thompson  Rivermyth.8     The 

self-transformation  of  the  hero  into  a  tuft  of  bird's  down,  a  feather,  a  leal,  or  some 
Other  light  object,  which  is  then  carried  by  the  wind  wherever  he  wishes  to  go,  is 
very  conn l   in    Indian  myth. 

PlaybaU  against  them — This  is  a  Cherokee  figurative  expression  for  a  contest  of  any 
kind,  more  particularly  a  battle. 

Left  'in  open  space — When  the  Cherokee  conjurer,  by  his  magic  spells,  coils  tin- 
great  i  invisible  i  serpent  around  the  house  of  a  sick  man  to  keep  off  the  witches,  he 
is  always  careful  to  leave  a  small  space  between  the  head  and  tail  of  the  snake,  so 
that  the  members  of  the  family  can  go  down  to  the  spring  to  get  water. 

1  Hewitt.  Cosmogonic  Gods  of  the  Iroquois,  in  Proc.  Am.  Ass.  Adv.  Sci.,  xliv.  1895. 

!  History  of  Carolina,  ed.  I860,  p.  35. 

;  Traditions  of  the  Thompson  River  Indians  of  British  Columbia,  collected  and  annotated  by  James 
Teit.  with  introduction  by  Franz  Boas  (Memoirs  of  the  American  Folk  I.i.n  Society,  VI);  Huston 
and  New  York,  1898,  p.  74. 

1!'    ETH— 01 28 


434  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Wolves — The  wolf  is  regarded  as  the  servant  and  watchdog  of  Kana'tT.  See 
number  15,  "The  Fourfooted  Tribes." 

Prom  these  havi  comeatt — In  nearly  every  Indian  mythology  we  find  the  idea  of 
certain  animal  tribes  being  descended  from  a  single  survivor  of  some  great  slaughter 
by  an  early  hero  god  or  trickster.  Thus  the  Kiowa  say  that  all  the  prairie  dogs  on 
the  plains  are  descended  from  a  single  little  fellow  who  was  too  wary  to  close  his  eyes, 
as  his  companions  did,  when  the  hungry  vagrant  Sinti  was  planning  to  capture  them 
all  for  his  dinner  under  pretense  of  teaching  them  a  new  dance. 

.1  gaming  wheel — This  was  the  stone  wheel  or  circular  disk  used  in  the  wheel-and- 
stick  game  called  by  the  Cherokee  gatayustl,  and  which  in  one  form  or  another 
was  practically  universal  among  the  tribes.  It  was  the  game  played  by  the  great 
mythic  gambler  I'fitsaiyi'  (see  number  63).  It  has  sometimes  been  known  in  the 
north  as  the  "snow-snake,"  while  to  the  early  southern  traders  it  was  known  as 
chunki  or  chungkey,  a  corruption  of  the  Greek  name.  Timberlake  (page  77)  men- 
tions it  under  the  name  of  iirttcatintir — for  which  there  seems  to  he  no  other 
authority — as  he  saw  it  among  the  Cherokee  in  1762.1  It  was  also  noted  among  the 
Carolina  tribes  by  Lederer  in  1670  and  Lawson  in  1701.  John  Ax,  the  oldest  man 
now  living  among  the  East  Cherokee,  is  the  only  one  remaining  in  the  tribe  who  has 
ever  played  the  game,  having  been  instructed  in  it  when  a  small  boy  by  an  old  man 
who  desired  to  keep  up  the  memory  of  the  ancient  things.  The  sticks  used  have 
long  since  disappeared,  but  the  stones  remain,  being  frequently  picked  up  in  the 
plowed  fields,  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of  mounds.  The  best  description  of 
the  southern  game  is  given  by  Adair: 

"They  have  near  their  state  house  a  square  piece  of  ground  well  cleaned,  and  line 
sand  is  carefully  strewed  over  it,  when  requisite,  to  promote  a  swifter  motion  to  what 
they  throw  along  the  surface.  Only  one,  or  two  on  a  side,  play  at  this  ancient  game. 
They  have  a  stone  about  two  fingers  broad  at  the  edge  and  two  spans  round.  Each 
party  has  a  pole  of  about  eight  feet  long,  smooth,  and  tapering  at  each  end,  the  points 
flat.  They  set  off  abreast  of  each  other  at  6  yards  from  the  end  of  the  playground; 
then  one  of  them  hurls  the  stone  on  its  edge,  in  as  direct  a  line  as  he  can,  a  considera- 
ble distance  toward  the  middle  of  the  other  end  of  the  square.  When  they  have  ran 
[sif]  a  few  yards  each  darts  his  pole,  anointed  with  bear's  oil,  with  a  proper  force,  as 
near  as  he  can  guess  in  proportion  to  the  motion  of  the  stone,  that  the  end  may  lie 
close  to  the  stone.  When  this  is  the  case,  the  person  counts  two  of  the  game,  and  in 
proportion  to  the  nearness  of  the  poles  to  the  mark,  one  is  counted,  unless  by  meas- 
uring both  are  found  to  be  at  an  equal  distance  from  the  stone.  In  this  manner  the 
players  will  keep  running  most  part  of  the  day  at  half  speed,  under  the  violent  heat 
of  the  sun,  staking  their  silver  ornaments,  their  nose,  finger  and  ear  rings;  their 
breast,  arm  and  wrist  plates,  and  even  all  their  wearing  apparel  except  that  which 
barely  covers  their  middle.  All  the  American  Indians  are  much  addicted  to  this 
game,  which  to  us  appears  to  be  a  task  of  stupid  drudgery.  It  seems,  however,  to  be 
of  early  origin,  when  their  forefathers  used  diversions  as  simple  as  their  manners. 
The  hurling  stones  they  use  at  present  were  time  immemorial  rubbed  smooth  on  the 
rocks,  and  with  prodigious  labour.  They  are  kept  with  the  strictest  religious  care 
from  one  generation  to  another,  and  are  exempted  from  being  buried  with  the  dead. 
They  belong  to  the  town  where  they  are  used,  and  are  carefully  preserved."  2 

In  one  version  of  the  Kana'ti  myth  the  wheel  is  an  arrow,  which  the  wild  boy 
shoots  toward  the  four  cardinal  points  and  finally  straight  upward,  when  it  comes 
back  no  more.  When  they  get  above  the  sky  they  find  Kana'ti  and  Selu  sitting 
together,  with  the  arrow  sticking  in  the  ground  in  front  of  them.  In  the  Creek 
story,  "The  Lion  [Panther?]  and  the  Little  Girl,"  of  the  Tuggle  collection,  the  lion 
has  a  wheel  "which  could  find  anything  that  was  lost." 


1  Memoirs,  p.  77. 

2  History  of  the  American  Indians,  p.  401. 


NOTES     \M>    PARALLELS  135 

The  twilight  land — I'sunhi'vl,  "Where  it  is  alwaj  -  gro^  ing  'lark."  the  spirit  land  in 
the  west.    Tliis  i-  the  word  constantly  used  in  the  sacred  formulas  to  denote  the 

west,  instead  of  th< linarj  word  Wude'ligun'yl,  "Where  it  sets."    In  the  same  way 

Nufida'yl,  or  Nftndagufi'yl,  the  "Sun  place,  or  region,"  is  the  formulistic  name  for  the 
easl  instead  of  DigiilunguiVyl,  "Where  il  [i.e.,  the  sun]  comes  up,"  the  ordinary 
term.  These  archaic  expressions  give  to  myths  and  formulas  a  peculiar  beaut j  which 
is  lost  in  the  translation.  As  the  interpreter  once  said,  "I  love  t"  bear  these  old 
words." 

Struck  l'ii  lightning — With  tin-  American  tribes,  as  in  Europe,  a  mysterious  potency 

attaches  to  the  Vi 1  of  a  tree  which  has  been  struck  by  lightning.     The  Cherokee 

conjurers  claim  to  do  wonderful  things  by  means  of  such  wood.     Splinb  i 
frequently  buried  in  tin-  field  to  make  the  corn  grow.     It  must  not  )«■  forgotten  that 
the  boys  in  this  myth  an-  Thunder  Boys. 

The  •  ml  oflhi  world — See  note-  to  number  7.  "The  Journey  to  the  Sunrise." 

Anisga'ya  Tsunsdi' — Abbreviated  from  ^nisga'ya  Tsunsdi'ga,  "Little  Men." 
These  two  sons  of  Kana'ti,  «  ho  are  sometimes  called  Thunder  Boys  and  who  live  in 
in  Osuflhi'yl  above  the,  sky  vault,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Yunwl  Tsunsdi', 
or  "Little  People,"  who  are  also  Thunderers,  but  who  live  in  caves  of  the  rocks  and 
cause  the  short,  sharp  claps  of  thunder.  There  is  also  the  Great  Thunderer,  the 
thunder  of  the  whirlwind  and  the  hurricane,  who  seen  is  to  be  identical  with  Kana'ti 
himself. 

Deer  songs — The  Indian  hunters  of  the  "Men  time  had  many  songs  intended  to 
call  up  the  deer  and  the  hear.  Must  of  these  have  perished,  but  a  tew  are  still 
remembered.  They  were  sung  by  the  hunter,  with  some  accompanying  ceremony,  to 
a  sweetly  plaintive  tune,  either  before  starting  out  or  on  reaching  the  hunting  ground. 

One  Cherokee  deer  song,  sung  with  repetition,  may  he  freely  rendered: 

O  Deer,  you  stand  close  by  the  tree. 

You  sweeten  your  saliva  with  acorns. 

Now  you  are  standing  near. 

You  have  conic  win-re  your  food  rests  on  the  ground. 

Gatechet,  in  his  Creek  Migration  Legend  I  i.  p.  79),  gives  the  following  translation 
of  a  Hichitee  deer  hunting  song: 

Somewhere  'the  deer)  lies  on  tin-  ground,  I  think;  I  walk  about. 

Awake,  arise,  stand  up! 
It  is  raising  up  its  head.  1  believe;  I  walk  about 

Awake,  arise,  stand  up! 

It  attempts  to  rise,  I  believe;  I  walk  about. 

Awake,  arise,  stand  up! 
Slowly  it  raises  its  body,   I  think;   1  walk  about. 

Awake,  arise,  stand  up! 
It  has  now  risen  on  its  feet.  I  presume;   I  walkabout. 

Awake,  arise,  stand  up! 

4.  Origin  of  disease  and  medicine  i  p.  250):  This  myth  was  obtained  first  from 
Swimmer,  as  explaining  the  theory  upon  which  i-  based  the  medical  practiceof  the 

Cherokee  doctor.       It    was  afterward    heard,  with    less  detail,  from   John    Ax     easl 
and   James   Wafford    (west).      It  was  originally  published   in   the  author's  Sacred 
Formulas  of   the   Cherokees,    in    the   Seventh    Annual    Report    of    the    Bureau  of 
Ethnology. 

In  the  mythology  of  most  Indian  tribes,  as  well  as  of  primitive  peoples  generally, 
disea-e  is  caused  bj  animal  spirits,  ghosts,  or  witchcraft,  and  the  doctor's  efforts  are 
directed  chiefly  to  driving  out  the  malevolent  spirit.  In  Creek  belief,  according  to 
the  Tuggle  manuscript,  "all  disease  is  caused  by  the  winds,  which  are  horn  in  the 
air  and  then  descend   to  the  earth."      It   i.s  doubtful,  however,  if  this  .statement  is 


436  MYTHS    OF    THK    CHEROKEE  [Era- 


intended  to  apply  to  more  than  a  few  classes  of  disease,  and  another  myth  in  the 
same  collection  recites  that  "once  upon  a  time  the  beasts,  birds,  and  reptiles  held  a 
council  to  devise  means  to  destroy  the  enemy,  man."  For  an  extended  discussion  of 
the  Indian  medical  theory,  see  the  author's  paper  mentioned  above. 

Animal  chiefsand  tribes — For  an  exposition  of  the  Cherokee  theory  of  the  tribal 
organization  of  the  animals,  with  townhouses  and  councils,  under  such  chiefs  as  the 
White  Bear,  the  Little  Deer,  etc.,  see  number  15,    •The  Fourfooted  Tribes." 

Kwicd'hH  mountain — "The  Mulberry  place,"  one  of  the  high  peaks  in  the  Great 
Smoky  mountains,  on  the  dividing  line  between  Swain  county,  Xorth  Carolina,  and 
Sevier  county,  Tennessee.     The  bears  have  a  townhou.se  under  it. 

Ask  thi  bear's  pardon — See  number  15,  "The  Fourfooted  Tribes,"  and  notes. 

The  ground  squirrel' s  stripes — According  to  a  Creek  myth  in  the  Tuggle  collection 
the  stripes  on  the  back  of  the  ground  squirrel  wen-  made  by  the  bear,  who  scratched 
the  little  fellow  in  anger  at  a  council  held  by  the  animals  to  decide  upon  the  proper 
division  of  day  and  night.  Precisely  the  same  explanation  is  given  by  the  Iroquois 
of  New  York  state1  and  by  the  Thompson  River  Indians  of  British  Columbia. - 

5.  The  Daughteb  of  the  Sun:  Origin  of  death  (p.  252):  This  is  one  of  the 
principal  myths  of  the  Cherokee,  and  like  most  of  its  class,  has  several  variants. 
The  sequel  has  an  obvious  resemblance  to  the  myth  of  Pandora.  It  was  obtained  in 
whole  or  in  part  from  Swimmer,  John  Ax,, James  Blythe,  and  others  of  the  eastern 
band.  The  version  mainly  followed  is  that  of  Swimmer,  which  differs  in  important 
details  from  that  of  John  Ax. 

As  told  by  John  Ax,  it  is  the  Sun  herself,  instead  of  her  daughter,  who  is  killed, 
the  daughter  having  been  assigned  the  duty  of  lighting  the  earth  after  the  death  of 
her  mother,  the  original  Sun.  The  only  snakes  mentioned  are  the  Spreading  Adder 
and  the  Rattlesnake,  the  first  being  a  transformed  man,  while  the  other  is  a  stick, 
upon  which  the  Little  Men  cut  seven  rings  before  throwing  it  in  the  pathway  of  the 
Sun,  where  it  becomes  a  rattlesnake.  The  seven  rods  or  staves  of  the  Swimmer  ver- 
sion are  with  John  Ax  seven  corncobs,  which  are  thrown  at  the  girl  as  she  passes 
in  the  dance  (ef.  Hagar  variant  of  number  8  in  notes) .  The  Little  Men  (see  number  3, 
"  Kana'tl  and  Selu,"  and  other  stories)  belong  to  the  John  Ax  version.  The  others 
have  only  a  conjurer  or  chief  to  direct  proceedings. 

This  myth  is  noted  in  the  Payne  manuscript,  of  date  about  1835,  quoted  in  Squier, 
Serpent  Symbol,  page  67:  ''The  Cherokees  state  that  a  number  of  beings  were 
engaged  in  the  creation.  The  Sun  was  made  first.  The  intention  of  the  creators 
was  that  men  should  live  always.  But  the  Sun,  when  he  passed  over,  told  them 
that  there  was  not  land  enough  and  that  people  had  better  die.  At  length  the 
daughter  of  the  Sun,  who  was  with  them,  was  bitten  by  a  snake  and  died.  The 
Sun.  on  his  return,  inquired  for  her  and  was  told  that  she  was  dead.  He  then  con- 
sented that  human  beings  might  live  always,  ami  told  them  to  take  a  box  and  go 
where  the  spirit  of  his  daughter  was  and  bring  it  back  to  her  body,  charging  them 
that  when  they  got  her  spirit  they  should  not  open  the  box  until  they  had  arrived 
where  her  body  was.  However,  impelled  by  curiosity,  they  opened  it,  contrary  to 
the  injunction  of  the  Sun,  and  the  spirit  escaped;  and  then  the  fate  of  all  men  was 
decided,  that  they  must  die."  This  is  copied  without  credit  by  Foster,  Sequoyah, 
page  241. 

Another  version  is  thus  given  by  the  missionary  Buttrick,  who  died  in  1847,  in 
his  Antiquities  of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  page  3:  "Soon  after  the  creation  one  of  the 
family  was  bitten  by  a  serpent  and  died.  All  possible  means  were  resorted  to  to 
bring  back  life,  but  in  vain.  Being  overcome  in  this  first  instance,  the  whole  race 
was  doomed  to  follow,  not  only  to  death,  but  to  misery  afterwards,  as  it  was  supposed 


1  Ercnimtie  Smith,  Mythsof  the  Iroquois,  in  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
2Teit,  Thompson  River  Traditions,  p.  61. 


moosey]  NOTES    ami    PAEALLELS  4.'57 

thai  i hat  person  w.-iit  t isery.      Another  tradition  saj  s  that  -.ion  after  tin-  creation 

a  young  woman  «a-  bitten  bj  a  serpent  ami  died,  and  her  spirit  went  to  a  certain 
place,  and  the  people  were  told  that  if  they  would  get  her  spirit  back  to  her  body 
that  the  body  would  live  again,  ami  they  would  prevent  the  general  mortality  of  the 
bod\  Some  young  men  therefore  started  with  a  box  to  catch  the  spirit.  They 
went  to  a  place  ami  saw  it  dancing  about,  an. I  at  length  caught  it  in  the  box  and 
shut  the  lid,  so  as  to  confine  it.  an. I  started  hack.  But  tin-  spirit  kept  constantlj 
pleading  with  them  to  ..pen  the  box,  so  as  to  afford  a  little  light,  hut  they  hurried 
on  until  they  arrived  near  the  place  H  here  the  ho.lv  was,  an. I  then,  on  account  of  her 

peculiar  urgencj .  the)  re ved  the  li'l  a  very  little,  and  out   flew  the  spirit  and  was 

gone,  and  with  it  all  their  hopes  of  immortality." 

In  a  variant  noted  by  II  agar  the  messengers  cany  tour  staves  and  are  seven  .lays 
traveling  to  the  ghost  country.  "They  found  her  dancing  in  the  land  <.i  spirits. 
They  struck  her  with  the  first  'stick.'  it  produced  no  effect  — with  the  second,  and  she 
ceased  to  .lance — with  the  third,  and  she  looked  around — with  the  fourth,  and  she 
came  to  them.  They  made  a  l>ox  and  placed  her  in  it."  He  was  told  by  one 
informant:  "(Inly  one  man  ever  returned  from  the  land  of  souls.  He  went  there  in 
a  dream  after  a  snake  had  struck  him  in  the  forehead.  He,  Turkey-head,  came  hack 
seven  days  after  and  described  it  all.  The  dead  go  eastward  at  first,  then  westward 
to  the  Land  of  Twilight.  It  is  in  the  west  in  the  sky,  but  not  amongst  the  stars" 
(Stellar  Legends  of  the  Cherokee,  Ms,  1898). 

In  a  Shawano  myth  a  girl  dies.  and.  after  grieving  long  for  her.  her  brother  sets 
out  to  bring  her  hack  from  the  land  of  shadows.  He  travels  west  until  he  reaches 
the  place  w  here  the  earth  and  sky  meet;  then  he  goes  through  and  climbs  up  on  the 
other  side  until  he  comes  t..  the  house  ..I  a  great  beneficent  spirit,  who  is  designated, 
according  to  the  Indian  system  of  respect,  as  grandfather.  On  learning  his  errand 
this  helper  gives  him  " medicine "  by  which  he  will  he  able  to  enter  the  spirit 
world,  and  instructs  him  how  and  in  what  direction  to  proceed  to  tin. 1  his  sister. 
'■  He  -aid  she  would  he  at  a  dance,  and  when  she  rose  to  join  in  the  movement  he 
must  seize  and  ensconce  her  in  the  hollow  of  a  reed  with  which  he  was  furnished, 
and  cover  the  orifice  with  the  end  of  his  linger.''  lie  does  as  directed,  secures  his 
sister,  and  returns  to  the  house  of  hi-  instructor,  who  transforms  both  into  material 
beings  again,  an. I,  after  giving  them  sacred  rituals  to  take  hack  to  their  tribe,  dis- 
misses them  by  a  shorter  route  through  a  trapdoor  in  the  sky.1 

In  an  Algonquian my th  of  New  Brunswick  a  bereaved  fatherseeks  his  son's  soul  in 
the  spirit  domain  of  Papkootpawut,  the  Indian  Pluto,  who  gives  it  to  him  in  the  shape 
..I  a  nut.  which  he  is  told  to  insert  in  his  son's  body,  when  the  hoy  will  come  to 
lit.-,  lie  puts  it  into  a  pouch. and  returns  with  the  friends  who  had  accompanied 
him.      Preparations  are  made  for  a  dance  of  rejoicing.      "The  father,  wishing  to  take 

part  in  it.  gave  his  son's  soul  to  the  keeping  of  a  squaw  who  st 1  by.      Being  curious 

to  see  it.  she  opened  the  bag,  on  which  it  escaped  at  once  and  took  its  flight  for  the 
realms  ..f  Papkootpawut."  ■'  In  a  myth  from  British  <  lolumbia  two  brothers  go  upon 
a  similar  errand  to  bring  hack  their  mother's  soul.  After  crossing  over  a  great  lake 
they  approach  the  shore  ..f  the  spirit  world  ami  hear  tin-  sound  of  singing  and  danc- 
ing in  the  distance,  hut  are  stopped  at  the  landing  by  a  sentinel,  who  tells  them: 
''Your  mother  is  here,  hut  you  cannot  enter  alive  to  see  her.  neither  can  you  take 
her  away."  One  of  them  said,  "1  must  see  her!"  Then  the  man  took 'his  body  or 
mortal  part  away  fr him  and  he  entered.      The  other  brother  came  back.' 

i  hi  i., urn:.:  ol  .1  Santa  1  e  I  radi  r  During  Eight 
Expeditions  across  the  Great  Western  Prairiesand  .1  Residence  ■■<  Nearl;  Nine  Veais  In  Northern 
Mexico;  vol.  11,  pp.  289-240;  New  Yorkand  I...111I..11,  1844. 

Parkman,  The  Jesuits  in  North  v rics  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  second  edition,  p. 

lxxxiii  (qu  Le  1  B       »n,  1867. 

»Teit,  Thompson  River  Truditiom 


438  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.anx.19 

In  the  ancient  Egyptian  legend  of  Ici  and  Isis,  preserved  in  a  Turin  papyrus  dating 
from  the  twentieth  dynasty,  the  goddess  Isis,  wishing  to  force  from  the  great  god 
Ra,  the  sun.  the  secret  of  his  power,  sends  a  serpent  to  bite  him,  with  the  intention 
of  demanding  the  secret  for  herself  as  the  price  of  assistance.  Taking  some  of  her 
spittle,  "Isis  with  her  hand  kneaded  it  together  with  the  earth  that  was  there.  She 
made  thereof  a  sacred  serpent  unto  which  she  gave  the  form  of  a  spear.  She  .  .  . 
cast  it  mi  the  way  which  the  great  god  traversed  in  his  double  kingdom  whenever 
he  would.  The  venerable  god  advanced,  the  gods  who  served  him  as  their  Pharaoh 
followed  him,  he  went  forth  as  on  every  day.  Then  the  sacred  serpent  hit  him. 
The  divine  god  opened  Ids  mouth  and  his  cry  reached  unto  heaven  .  .  .  The  poison 
seized  on  his  flesh,"  etc.' 

77c  sky  vault— See  other  references  in  number  1,  "  How  the  AVorld  was  Made;" 
number  :;,  "  Kanati  ami  Selu,"  and  number  7,  "The  Journey  to  the  Sunrise." 

My  grandchildren — The  Sun  calls  the  people  tsufigili'si,  "my  grandchildren,"  this 
being  the  term  used  by  maternal  grandparents,  the  corresponding  term  used  by 
paternal  grandparents  being  tsungini'si.  The  Moon  calls  the  people  tsunkina'ttt,  "  my 
younger  brothers,"  the  term  used  by  a  male  speaking,  the  Moon  being  personified 
as  a  man  in  Cherokee  mythology.  The  corresponding  term  used  by  a  female  is 
MnkitcV. 

Tin  Little  Mi  a — The  Thunder  Boys,  sons  of  Kana'ti  (see  number  :J.,  "  Kana'tl  ami 
Selu  "  I.      They  are  always  represented  as  beneficent  wonder  workers,  of  great  power. 

Changed  In  makes — The  Cherokee  names  of  the  rattlesnake  (Crotalus),  copper- 
head i  Trigonocephalus),  and  spreading  adder  (Helerodon)  are,  respectively,  utsa'nati, 
"  lie  has  a  bell  "  ('.');  wd'dige'i  askd'U,  "  red-brown  head";  and  da'tlksW,  "  vomiter," 
from  its  habit  of  vomiting  yellow  slime,  as  is  told  in  the  story.  For  more  concerning 
the  Uktena  see  number  50,  "The  Dktena  and  the  Ulunsu'ti." 

Hand-breadth — See  note  to  number  1,  "How  the  World  was  Made." 

6.   How  they  brought  back  the  tobacco  {p.  254) :  The  first  version  of  this  myth 

as  here  given  was  obtained  fr Swimmer,  and  agrees  with  that  of  John  Ax,  except 

that  for  the  humming  bird  the  latter  substitutes  the  wamHJ,,  or  large  red-brown  moth, 
which  flies  about  the  tobacco  flower  in  the  evening,  and  states  that  it  was  selected 
because  it  could  fly  so  quietly  that  it  would  not  be  noticed.  The  second  version  was 
obtained  from  Watford,  in  the  Cherokee  Nation  west,  who  heard  it  from  his  great- 
uncle  nearly  ninety  years  ago,  and  differs  so  much  from  the  other  that  it  has  seemed 
best  to  give  it  separately.  The  incident  of  the  tree  which  grows  taller  as  the  man 
climbs  it  has  close  parallels  in  the  mythology  of  the  Kiowa  and  other  Western 
tribes,  but  has  no  obvious  connection  with  the  story,  and  is  probably  either  one  of 
a  series  of  adventures  originally  belonging  to  tin-  trip  or  else  a  fragment  from  some 
otherwise  forgotten  myth.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  Watford  was  a  man  of  rather 
practical  character,  with  but  little  interest  or  memory  I'm'  stories,  being  able  to  till  in 
details  of  but  few  of  the  large  number  which  he  remembered  having  heard  when 
a  1  loy . 

In  his  Letters  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  pages  1 19-121 ,  Lanman  gives  the  story 

asl btained  it  in  1848  from  Chief  Kalahu  (see  p.  17.". ),  still  well  remembered  by  those 

who  knew  him  as  an  authority  upon  tribal  traditions  and  ritual.  In  the  Kalahu 
version  the  story  is  connected  with  Hiekorynut  gap,  a  remarkable  pass  in  the  Blue 
ridge  southeast  from  Asheville.  North  Carolina,  and  a  comparison  with  the  later 
versions  shows  clearly  how  much  has  been  lost  in  fifty  years.  The  whole  body  of 
Cherokee  tradition  has  probably  suffered  a  proportionate  loss. 

"Before  visiting  this  remarkable  passage  through  the  mountains  [Hiekorynut  gap], 
I  endeavored  to  ascertain,  from  the  Cherokees  of  Qualla  town,  its  original   Indian 


1  Alfred  Wiedemann,  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians;  New  Yurk,  1897,  p. 


NOTES     \NI>    PABALLELS  4:i'.l 

aame,  bu1  without  succeeding.  It  was  my  good  fortune,  however,  to  obtain  a  roman- 
tic legend  connected  therewith.     T  heard  it  from  the  lips  of  a  chief  who  glories  in  the 

aes  of  Ul-bones  and  Flying-squirrel,  and,  though  he  occupied  no  li 
two  hours  in  telling  the  story,  I  will  endeavor  to  give  it  to  my  readers  in  about   five 
minutes 

"There  was  a  time  when  the  Cherokees  were  without  the  famous  txo-hmgh,  or 
tobacco  weed,  with  which  they  had  previously  been  made  acquainted  bj  a  wander- 
ing stranger  from  tlic  far  east.  Having  smoked  it  in  their  large  stone  pipes,  they 
became  impatient  to  obtain  it  in  abundance.  The)  ascertained  that  the  country 
where  it  grew  in  the  greatest  quantities  was  situated  on  the  big  wains,  and  that  the 
gateway  t"  that  country  (a  mighty  gorge  among  the  mountains)  was  perpetually 
guarded  by  an  immense  number  of  little  people  or  spirits.  A  council  of  the 
men  in  the  nation  was  called,  and,  while  they  urn-  discussing  the  dangers  of  \  isiting 
the  unknown  country,  and  bringing  therefrom  a  large  knapsack  of  the  fragrant 
tobacco,  a  young  man  stepped  boldly  forward  and  saiil  that  he  would  undertake  tin- 
task.  The  young  warrior  departed  on  his  mission  and  never  returned.  The  Cherokee 
nation  was  now  in  great  tribulation,  and  another  council  was  held  to  decide  upon  a 
new  measure.  At  this  council  a  celebrated  magician  rose  and  expressed  his  willing- 
ness to  relieve  his  ] pie  of  their  difficulties,  and  informed  them  that  he  would  \  i>it 

the  tobacco  country  and  see  what   he  could  a< mplish.     He  turned  himself  into  a 

mole,  and  as  such  made  his  appearance  eastward  of  the  mountains;  but  having  been 
pursued  by  the  guardian  spirits,  he  was  compelled  to  return  without  any  spoil.  He 
next  turned  himself  into  a  humming-bird,  and  thus  succeeded,  to  a  very  limited 
extent,  in  obtaining  what  he  needed.  On  returning  to  his  country  he  found  a  num- 
ber of  his  friends  at  the  point  of  death,  on  account  of  their  intense  desire  for  the 
fragrant  weed;  whereupon  he  placed  some  of  it  in  a  pipe,  and,  having  blown  the 
smoke  into  the  nostrils  of  those  who  were  siek,  they  all  revived  and  were  quite 
happy  The  magician  now  took  into  his  head  that  he  would  revenge  the  loss  of  the 
young  warrior,  and  at  the  same  time  become  the  sole  p.  issessor  of  all  the  tobacco  in 
tin-  unknown  land,  lie  therefore  turned  himself  into  a  whirlwind,  and  in  passing 
through  the  Hickorynut  gorge  be  stripped  the  mountains  of  their  vegetation,  and 

scattered  huge  rocks  in  every  part  of  the  narrow  valley;  whereupon  the  little  ] pie 

were  all  frightened  away,  and  he  was  the  only  being  in  the  country  eastward  of  the 
mountains.  In  the  bed  of  a  stream  he-  found  the  bones  of  the  young  warrior,  ami 
having  brought  them  to  life,  and  turned  himself  into  ;i  man  again,  the  twain  returned 
to  their  own  country  heavily  laden  with  tobacco;  and  ever  since  that  time  it  has 
been  very  abundant  throughout  the  entire  land." 

In  the  Iroquois  story  of  "The  Lad  and  the  Chestnuts,'*  the  ( Iherokee  myth  is  par- 
alleled with  the  substitution  of  :t  chestnut  tree  guarded  by  a  white  heron  for  the 
tobacco  plant  watched  by  the  daguTkfi  geese  (see  Smith,  .Myths  of  the  Iroquois,  in 
Second  Annual  Report  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  L883). 

7',,/,,/rrr. — Tobacco,  a-  i-  well  known,  is  of  American  origin  and  is  sacred  among 
nearly  all  our  tribes,  having  an  important  place  in  almost  every  deliberative  or  reli- 
gious ceremony.     Thetobaci i  commerce  (Nicotiana  labacum)  wa-  introduced  from 

the  West  Indie-.     The  original  tobacco  of  the  <  Iherokee  and  other  eastern  tribes  «  as 
the  "  wild  tobacco"  (Nicotiana rustica) ,  which  they  distinguish  now  as  Udl-ag 
"old  tobacco."     By  the  Iroquois  the  same  species  i^  called  the  "real  tobacco." 

Dag&tkfi  geese. — The  daguT'ku  is  the  American  w  hite-fronted  goose  i  Anst  r  albifroiw 
gambeli).  It  is  said  to  have  been  of  bluish-white  color,  and  to  have  been  common 
in  the  low  country  toward  the  coast,  hut  very  ran-  in  the  mountains.  Ahout  the 
end  of  September  it  L"»s  south,  and  can  he  heard  at  night  flying  far  overhead  and 
crying  dugalu!  dugalu!  dugalu!  Swimmer  had  heard  them  passing  over,  hut  had 
nevi  r  -ci,  one. 


440  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEIIOKEE  [eth.ann.19 

7.  The  journey  to  the  sunrise  (]>.  255):  This  story,  obtained  from  John  Ax, 
with  additional  details  by  Swimmer  and  Wafford.  has  parallels  in  many  tribes. 
Swimmer  did  not  know  the  burial  incident,  but  said — evidently  a  more  recent  inter- 
polation— that  when  they  came  near  the  sunrise  they  found  therea  race  of  Mack  men 
at  work.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  story  has  nothing  to  say  of  the  travelers 
reaching  the  ocean,  as  the  Cherokee  were  well  aware  of  its  proximity. 

What  the  Sun  is  like — According  to  the  Payne  manuscript,  already  quoted,  the 
Cherokee  anciently  believed  that  the  world,  the  first  man  and  woman,  and  the  sun 
and  moon  were  all  created  by  a  number  of  beneficent  beings  who  came  down  for  the 
purpose  from  an  upper  world,  to  which  they  afterward  returned,  leaving  the  sun  and 
moon  as  their  deputies  to  finish  and  rule  the  world  thus  created.  "Hence  \\  believer 
the  believers  in  this  system  offer  a  prayer  to  their  creator,  they  mean  by  the  creator 
rather  the  Sun  and  Moon.  As  to  which  of  these  two  was  supreme,  then-  seems  to 
have  been  a  wide  difference  of  opinion.  In  some  of  their  ancient  prayers,  thej  speak 
of  the  Sun  as  mail',  and  consider,  of  course,  the  Moon  as  female.  In  others,  however, 
they  invoke  the  Moon  as  male  and  the  Sun  as  female;  because,  as  they  say,  the 
Moon  is  vigilant  and  travels  by  night.  But  both  Sun  and  Moon,  as  we  have  before 
said,  are  adored  as  the  creator.  .  .  .  The  expression,  'Sun,  my  creator,'  occurs 
frequently  in  their  ancient  prayers.     Indeed,  the  Sun  was  generally  considered  the 

superior  in  their  devotions"  (quoted  in  Squier,  Serpent  Symbol,  p.  68).     Hayw 1. 

in  1823,  says:  "The  sun  they  call  the  day  moon  or  female,  anil  the  night  moon  the 
male"  (  Nat.  and  Aborig.  Hist.  Tenn.,  p.  266).  According  to  Swimmer,  there  is  also 
a  tradition  that  the  Sun  was  of  cannibal  habit,  and  in  human  form  was  once  seen 
killing  and  devouring  human  beings.  Sun  and  Moon  are  sister  and  brother.  See 
number  S,  "The  Moon  and  the  Thunders." 

The  Indians  of  Thompson  river,  British  Columbia,  say  of  the  sun  that  formerly 
"He  was  a  man  and  a  cannibal,  killing  people  on  his  travels  every  day.     .     .  He 

hung  up  the  people  whom  he  had  killed  during  his  day's  travel  when  he  reached 
home,  taking  down  the  bodies  of  those  whom  he  had  hung  up  the  night  before  and 
eating  them."  He  was  finally  induced  to  abandon  his  cannibal  habit  (Teit,  Thomp- 
son River  Traditions,  p.  53). 

Tn  the  same  grave — This  reminds  us  of  the  adventure  in  the  voyage  of  Sinbad  the 
Sailor,  as  narrated  in  the  Arabian  Nights.  The  sacrifice  of  the  wife  at  her  husband's 
funeral  was  an  ancient  custom  in  the  Orient  and  in  portions  of  Africa,  ami  still  survives 
in  the  Hindu  suttee.  It  may  once  have  had  a  counterpart  in  America,  but  so  far  as 
known  to  the  author  the  nearest  approach  to  it  was  found  in  the  region  of  the  lower 
Columbia  and  adjacent  northwest  coast,  where  a  slave  was  frequently  buried  alive 
with  the  corpse. 

Vault  of  solid  rock — The  sky  vault  which  is  constantly  rising  and  falling  at  the 
horizon  and  crushes  those  who  try  to  go  beyond  occurs  in  the  mythologies  of  the 
Iroquois  of  New  York,  the  Omaha  and  the  Sioux  of  the  plains,  the  Tillamook  of 
Oregon,  ami  other  widely  separated  tribes.  The  Iroquois  concept  is  given  by  Hewitt, 
"Rising  and  Falling  of  the  Sky,"  in  Iroquois  Legends,  in  the  American  Anthropolo- 
gist for  October,  1892.  In  the  Omaha  story  of  "The  Chief's  Son  ami  the  Thunders" 
l  I  >orsey,  ( iontributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  vi.  1890),  a  party  of  travelers  in 
search  of  adventures  "came  to  the  end  of  the  sky,  and  the  end  of  the  sky  was  going 
down  into  the  ground."  They  tried  to  jump  across,  and  all  succeeded  excepting  one, 
who  tailed  to  clear  the  distance,  and  "the  end  of  the  sky  carried  him  away  under  the 
ground."  The  others  go  on  behind  the  other  world  and  return  the  same  way.  In 
the  Tillamook  myth  six  men  go  traveling  anil  reach  "the  lightning  door,  which 
opened  and  closed  with  great  rapidity  and  force."  They  get  through  safely,  but.  one 
is  caught  on  the  return  and  has  his  back  cut  in  half  by  the  descending  sky  (Boas, 
Traditions  of  the  Tillamook  Indians,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  Jan.,  1898). 
See  also  number  1,  " How  the  World  was  Made"  and  number  3,  "  Kana'tt  and  Selu." 


■ooney]  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  411 

8.  The  Moon  and  the  Thundebs  [p.   256):  The  story  of  tin- sun  and  the  in, 

as  here  given,  was  obtained  first  from  Swimmer  and  afterward  from  other  inform- 
ants, ft  is  noted  by  Hagar,  in  his  manuscript  Stellar  Legends  of  the  Cherokee,  one 
narrator  making  the  girl  blacken  her  brother's  face  u  ith  seven  i  charred?  i  corn  cobs 
(cf.  John  \\'s  version  of  number  5  in  notes).  Exactly  the  same  myth  is  found 
with  the  native  tribes  of  Greenland,  Panama,  Brazil,  and  Northern  [ndia.  Among 
the  Khasiaa  of  the  Himalaya  mountains  "  the  changes  of  the  moon  are  accounted  for 
by  the  theorj  that  this  orb,  who  is  a  man,  i ithlj   falls  in  love  with  his  wife's 

titer,    who   throws  ashes   in    his   face.      The  sun   is   female."      On    some    northern 

branches  of  the  Amazon  "the  moon  is  represented  as  a  maiden  who  fell  in  love  with 
her  brother  and  visited  him  at  night,  but  who  was  finally  betrayed  by  his  passing 
his  blackened  hand  over  her  face."  With  the  Greenland  Eskimo  the  Sun  and  Moon 
are  sister  and  brother,  and  were  playing  in  the  dark,  "when  Malina,  being  teased 
in  a  shameful  manner  by  her  brother  Anninga,  smeared  her  hands  with  the  soot  of 
the  lamp  and  rubbed  them  over  the  face  and  I  muds  of  her  persecutor,  that  sin-  might 
recognize  him  by  daylight.  Hence  arise  the  spots  in  the  moon  (see  Timothy  liar- 
lev.  Moon  Lore.  London,  1885,  and  the  story  "The  Sun  and  the  Moon."  in  Henry 
Rink'sTales  and  Traditions  of  the  Eskimo,  London,  1875).  In  British  Columbia 
the  same  incident  occurs  in  the  story  of  a  -_drl  and  her  lover,  who  was  a  dog  trans- 
formed to  the  likeness  of  a  man  (  Teit,  Thompson  River  Traditions,  p.  62).  A  v.  ry 
similar  myth  occurs  among  the  Cheyenne,  in  which  the  chief  personages  are  human, 
but  the  offspring  of  the  connection  become  the  Pleiades  'A.  1..  Kroeber,  Cheyenne 
Tales,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  July,  1900).     In  nearly  all  mythologies  the 

Sun  and  Moon  are  sister  and  brother,  the  M i  being  generally  masculine,  while  the 

Sun  is  feminine  (cf.  German,   l>erMond,   DieSotinel. 

The  myth  connecting  the  moon  with  the  hallplay  is  from  Haywood  !  Natural  ami 
Aboriginal  History  of  Tennessee,  p.  l's.'ii,  apparently  on  the  authority  of  Charles 
Hicks,  a  mixed-blood  chief. 

Eclipse — Of  the  myth  of  tl clipse  monster,  which  may  he  frightened  away  by 

all  >orts  of  horrible  noises,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  it  is  universal  (see  Harley,  Moon 
Lore).  The  Cherokee  name  for  the  phenomenon  is  n&fidii'  wald'st  u'giskCl',  "the 
frog  is  swallowing  the  sun  or  moon."  Says  Adair  (History  of  the  American  Indians 
p.65):  " The  first  lunar  eclipse  I  saw  titter  I  lived  with  the  Indians  was  among  the 
Cherokee,  An.  1736,  and  during  the  continuance  of  it  their  conduct  appeared  very 
surprizing  to  one  who  had  not  seen  the  like  before.  They  all  ran  wild,  this  way 
and  that  way,  like  lunatics,  Bring  their  guns,  whooping  and  hallooing,  beating  of 
kettles,  ringing  horse  bells,  and  making  the  most  horrid  noises  that  human  beings 
possibly  could.  This  was  the  effect  of  their  natural  philosophy  and  done  to  assist 
the  suffering  moon." 

Sun  and  moon  names — In   probably  every  tribe  both  sun  and   i mare  called  by 

the  same  name,  accompanied  by  a  distinguishing  adjective. 

Tin  Thunders— The  Cherokee  name  for  Thunder,  Ani'-Hyun'tlkwala'skl,  is  an 
animate  plural  form  and  signifies  literally,  "The  Thunderers"  or  "  They  who  make 
the  Thunder."     The  great  Thunderers  tire  Kana'ti  and   his  sons  (see  the  story  i.  but 

inferior  thunder  spirits  people  all  the  cliffs  and  mountains,  and  re  particularly 

thegreat  waterfalls,  such  as  Tallulah,  whose  never-ceasing  roar  is  believed  to  be  the 
voice  of  the  Thunderers  speaking  to  such  as  can  understand.  \  similar  conception 
prevailed  among  the  [roquois  and  the  eastern  tribes  generalh  .  ^.dair  says  (]  listory 
of  the  American  Indians,  p.  65),  speaking  of  the  southern  tribes:  "1  havi 
them  say,  when  it  mined,  thundered,  and  blew  sharp  for  a  considerable  time,  that 
the  beloved  or  holy  people  were  at  war  above  the  clouds;  and  they  believe  that  the 
war  at  such  times  i-  moderate  or  hot  in  proportion  to  the  noise  and  violence  of  the 
storm."      In    Portuguese  West    Africa   also    tit.'   Thunderers  tire   twin    brothers  who 

quarreled  ami  went,  one  to  tl ast,  the  other  to  the  west,  whence  each  answers  the 


•142  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ann.19 

other  whenever  a  great  Btorm  arises.'  Among  the  plains  tribes  both  thunder  and 
lightning  are  caused  by  ;i  great  bird. 

Rainbow — The  conception  of  the  rainbow  as  the  beautiful  dress  of  the  Thunder  god 
occurs  also  among  the  South  Sea  islanders.  In  Mangaia  it  is  the  girdle  of  tin-  ■_'■><  1 
Tangaroa,  which  he  loosens  and  allows  to  hang  down  until  the  em  1  reaches  to  the 
earth  whenever  he  wishes  to  descend  (Gill,  Myths  and  Songs  'if  tin'  South  Pacific, 
p.  44  i.  For  some  unexplained  reason  the  dread  of  pointing  at  the  rainbow,  on  penalty 
of  having  the  finger  wither  or  become  misshapen,  is  found  among  most  of  tin-  tribes 
even  t< >  the  Pacific  coast.  Tin-  author  first  heard  of  it  from  a  Puyallup  boy  of  Puget 
sound,  Washington. 

ft.  What  the  stabs  are  like  I  p.  257):  This  story,  told  by  Swimmer,  embodies 
the  old  tribal  belief.     By  a  different  informant  Hagar  was  told:     "Stars  are  birds. 

We  know  Tlii—  because  one  once  shot  from  the  sky  to  the  ground,  and  some  Cherokee 
who  looked  for  it  found  a  little  bird,  about  the  size  of  a  chicken  just  hatched, 
when- it  fell"  (MS  Stellar  Legends  of  the  Cherokee,  L898). 

The  -lory  closely  resembles  something  heard  by  Lawson  among  the  Tuscarora  in 
eastern  North  Carolina  about  the  year  1700.  An  Indian  having  been  killed  by  light- 
ning, the  people  were  assembled  for  the  funeral,  and  t lie  priest  made  them  a  long 
discourse  upon  the  power  of  lightning  over  all  men,  animals,  and  plants,  save  only 
mice  and  the  black-gum  tree.  "At  last  he  began  to  tell  the  most  ridiculous  absurd 
parcel  .if  lies  about  liLjlitniii^  that  could  be;  as  that  an  Indian  of  that  nation  had  once 
got  lightning  in  the  likeness  of  a  partridge;  that  no  other  lightning  could  harm  him 
whilst  he  had  that  about  him;  and  that  after  he  had  kept  it  for  several  years  it  cot, 
away  from  him,  so  that  he  then  became  as  liable  to  be  struck  with  lightning  as  any 
other  person.  There  was  present  at  the  same  time  an  Indian  that  had  lived  from 
his  youth  chiefly  in  an  English  house,  so  I  called  to  him  and  told  him  what  a  parcel 
of  lies  the  conjurer  told,  not  doubting  but  lie  thought  so  as  well  as  I;  but  I  found 
to  the  contrary,  for  he  replied  that  I  was  much  mistaken,  for  the  old  man — who, 
I  believe,  was  upwards  of  an  hundred  years  old — did  never  tell  lies;  and  as  for  what 
he  said,  it  was  very  true,  for  lie  knew  it  himself  to  be  so.  Thereupon  seeiiiL'  the 
fellow's  ignorance,  I  talked  no  more  about  it  "     History  of  Carolina,  page  346). 

According  to  Hagar  a  certain  constellation  of  seven  stars,  which  he  identifies  as 
the  Ilyades,  is  called  by  the  Cherokee  "The  Arm,"  on  account  of  its  resemblance  to 
a  human  arm  bent  at  the  elbow,  and  they  say  that  it  is  the  broken  arm  of  a  man  who 
went  up  to  the  sky  because,  having  been  thus  crippled,  he  was  of  no  further  use 
upon  earth. 

A  meteor,  and  probably  also  a  comet,  is  called  Alsil'-Tlmltu'tsl,  "Fire-panther," 
the  same  concept  being  found  among  the  Shawano,  embodied  in  the  name  of  their 
great  chief,  Tecumtha  (seep.  21o). 

10.  Origin  of  the  Pleiades  and  the  pixe  \  p.  258  I:  This  myth  is  well  known  in  the 
tribe,  ami  was  told  in  nearly  the  same  form  by  Swimmer,  Ta'gwadihl'  and  Suyeta. 
The  Feather  dance,  also  called  the  Eagle  dance,  is  one  of  the  old  favorites,  and  is  the 
same  as  the  ancient  Calumet  dance  of  the  northern  tribes.  For  a  description  of  the 
gatayu/sti  game,  see  note  to  number  3,  "Kana'ti  ami  Selu."  In  a  variant  recorded 
by  Stansbury  Hagar  (MS  Stellar  Legends  of  the  Cherokee!  the  boys  spend  their 
time  shooting  at  cornstalks. 

According  to  Squid-  (Serpent  Symbol,  p.  69),  probably  on  the  authority  of  the 
Payne  manuscript,  "The  Cherokee-  paid  a  kind  of  veneration  to  the  morning  star, 
and  also  to  the  seven  stars,  with  which  they  have  connected  a  variety  of  legends,  all 
of  which,  no  doubt,  are  allegorical,  although  their  significance  is  now  unknown." 

1  Heli  Chatelain,  Folktales  of  Angul":  Fifty. Tales,  with  Ki-mbundii  text,  literal  English  transla- 
tion, introduction,  and  notes  (Memoirs  of  the  American  Folk-Lore  Society,  i);  Boston  and  New  York 


NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  44.*? 

111.  corresponding  Iroquois  myth  below,  as  given  b)  Mrs  Erminnie  Smith  in  her 
Myths  of  the   Iroquois    Second  Animal   Report   of  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p    30  . 

practically  the  same  so  far  as  it  e,„.s,  and  the  myth  was  probably  once  comi i  over 

a  wide  area  in  the  Eas1 : 

"Seven  little  Indian   boys  were  once  accustomed   to  bring  at  eve  their  corn  and 

i  ,i  liulr  ii  i.  hi n.l,  ni «  hi  the  top  of  which,  after  their  feast,  the  sweetest  of  their 

singers  would  -it  ami  sing  for  bis  mates  who  danced  around  the  mound.     On  one 

thej    resolved   on  a   more  sumptuous   feast,  ami  each   was  t.>  ci 
towards  a  savorj  soup.     But  the  parents  refused  them  the  needed  supplies,  ami  they 
met  i"i' a  feastless  dance.     Their  heads  and  hearts  grets  lighter  as  they  flew  around 

tin-  1 1 1.. in nl,  until  suddenly  the  whole  company  whirled  off  into  the  air.     The  i 

solable  parents  called  in  vain  for  them  to  return,  but  it  was  too  late.  Higherand 
higher  they  arose,  whirling  around  their  singer,  until,  transformed  into  bright  stars. 
thej  t"<ik  their  places  in  tin'  firmament,  where,  as  the  Pleiades,  they  are  dancing 
still  the  brightness  of  the  singer  having  been  dimmed,  however,  or  account  of  his 
desire  t..  return  t"  earth." 

Tn  an  Kskiimi  taK-  a  hunter  was  pursued  by  enemies,  ami  as  he  ran  h.-  gradually 

rose  from  the  ground  ami  finally  reached  the  sky.  where  he  was  turned  into  a  star 

Kroebei,  Tales  of  the  Smith  Sound   Eskimo,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore). 

This  trans  1 1  irmation  of  human  beings  into  stars  ami  stellar  a  a  is  i-  one  of  the  must 

comi i  incidents  of  primitive  myth. 

11.  The  Milky  Way  (p.  259):  This  story,  in  slightly  different  forms,  is  well 
known  among  the  Cherokee  east  ami  west.  The  generic  word  fur  mill  is  dista'sfi, 
including  also  the  self-acting  pound-mill  or  ■Olskivtilte'gt  In  the  original  version  the 
mill  was  probablj  a  wooden  mortar,  such  as  was  commonly  used  by  the  (  herokee 
ami  other  eastern  ami  southern  tribes 

In  a  variant  recorded  in  the  Hagar  Cherokee  manuscript  there  are  two  hunters, 
i.ne  living  in  the  north  ami  hunting  big  game,  while  the  other  lives  in  tin'  smith 
and  hunt-  small  game.  The  former,  discovering  tin-  latter' s  wile  grinding  corn,  seizes 
her  ami  carries  her  far  away  across  the  sky  tn  his  home  in  the  north.  Her  dog, 
after  eating  what  meal  is  left,  follows  the  pair  across  the  sky,  tin-  meal  falling  from 
his  mouth  as  he  runs,  making  tin-  Milky  Way. 

With  the  Kiowa,  Cheyenne,  ami  other  plains  tribes  the  Milky  Way  is  the  dusty 
track  along  which  the  Buffalo  ami  tin-  Horse  once  ran  a  rare  across  the  sky. 

12.  Origin  of  strawberries  (p.  2S9):  This  myth,  a-  here  given,  was  obtained 
from  Ta'gwadiW,  who  said  that  all  the  fruits  mentioned  were  then  fur  the  first  time 
en  ated,  a  n.l  added.  "So  si  inn-  L"i"d  came  fnun  the  quarrel,  anyhow."  The  Swimmer 
version  has  more  detail,  hut  seems  overdressed. 

13.  The  Great  Yellow-jacket:  Origin  op  pish  ind  progs  (p.  260):  This  story, 
obtained  from  Swimmer,  i-  well  known  in  the  tribe,  and  has  numerous  parallels  in 
other  Indian  mythologies.  In  nearly  every  tribal  genesis  we  find  the  primitive  world 
infested  bj  ferocious  monster  animals,  which  are  finally  destroyed  or  rendered 
harmless,  leaving  only  their  descendants,  the  present  diminutive  types.  Conspicu- 
ous examples  are  afforded  in  Matthew's  Navaho  Legends'  and  in  the  author's  story 
oi  the  Jicarilla  genesis  in  the  American  Anthropologist  for  July,  1898. 

Another  version  of  tin-  Cherokee  legend  is  given  by  Lanman  in  his  Letters  from 
the  Alleghanj   Mountains,  pages  73-74: 

"The  Cherokee-  relate  that  there  once  existed  among  those  mountain-  [about 
Nantahala  and  Franklin]  a  very  large  bird,  which  resembled  in  appearance  the 
green-winged  hornet,  and  this  creature  was  in  the  hai.it.  of  carrying  off  the  younger 
children  of  the  nation  who  happened  to  wander  into  the  woods.  Very  many  chil- 
dren had  mysteriously  disappeared  in  this  manner,  and  the  entire  people  d.  .  Ian  .  1  a 


>  Memoirs  of  American  Folk-Lore  Society,  v;  Boston  and  New  v..rk,  1897. 


444  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

warfare  against  the  monster.  A  variety  of  means  were  employed  for  his  destruction, 
but  without  success.  In  process  of  time  it  was  determined  that  the  wise  men  for 
medicine-men)  of  the  nation  should  try  their  skill  in  the  business.  They  met  in 
council  and  agreed  that  each  one  should  station  himself  on  the  summit  of  a  mountain, 
and  that,  when  the  creature  was  discovered,  the  man  who  made  the  discovery  should 
utter  a  loud  halloo,  which  shout  should  be  taken  up  by  his  neighbor  on  the  next 
mountain,  ami  so  continued  to  the  end  of  the  line,  that  all  the  men  might  have  a  shot 
at  the  strange  bird.  This  experiment  was  tried  ami  resulted  in  finding  out  the 
hiding  place  of  the  monster,  which  was  a  deep  cavern  on  the  eastern  sideof  the  Blue 
ridge  and  at  the  fountain-head  of  the  river  Too-ge-lah  [Tugaloo  river,  South  Caro- 
lina], On  arriving  at  this  place,  they  found  the  entrance  to  the  cavern  entirely 
inaccessible  by  mortal  feet,  and  they  therefore  prayed  to  the  Great  Spirit  that  lie 
would  bring  out  the  bird  from  his  den,  and  place  him  within  reach  of  their  arms. 
Their  petition  was  granted,  for  a  terrible  thunder-storm  immediately  arose,  and  a 
stroke  of  lightning  tore  away  one  half  of  a  large  mountain,  ami  the  Indians  were  suc- 
cessful in  slaying  their  enemy.  The  Great  Spirit  was  pleased  with  the  courage 
manifested  by  the  Cherokees  during  this  dangerous  fight,  and,  with  a  view  of 
rewarding  the  same,  he  willed  it  that  all  the  highest  mountains  in  their  land  should 
thereafter  be  destitute  of  trees,  so  that  they  might  always  have  an  opportunity  of 
watching  the  movements  of  their  enemies. 

Asa  sequel  to  this  legend,  it  may  be  appropriately  mentioned,  that  at  the  head  of  t  he 
Too-ge-lah  is  to  be  found  one  of  the  most  remarkable  curiosities  of  this  mountain-land. 
It  is  a  granite  cliff  with  a  smooth  sm-face  or  front,  half  a  mile  long,  and  twelve  hundred 
feet  high,  and  generally  spoken  of  in  this  part  of  the  country  as  the  White-side  moun- 
tain, or  Ihr  DeviPs  court-lwuse.  To  think  of  it  is  almost  enough  to  make  one  dizzy,  but 
to  see  it  tills  one  with  awe.  Near  the  top  of  one  part  of  this  cliff  is  a  small  cave,  which 
can  be  reached  only  by  passing  over  a  strip  of  rock  about  two  feet  wide.  One  man 
only  has  ever  been  known  to  enter  it,  and  when  he  performed  the  deed  he  met  at  the 
entrance  of  the  cave  a  large  bear,  which  animal,  in  making  its  escape,  slipped  off 
the  rock,  fell  a  distance  of  near  a  thousand  feet,  and  was  of  course  killed.  When 
the  man  saw  this,  lit  became  so  excited  that  it  was  some  hours  before  he  could  quiet 
his  nerves  sufficiently  to  retrace  his  dangerous  pathway." 

The  Cherokee  myth  has  a  close  parallel  in  the  Iroquois  story  of  the  great  mosquito, 
as  published  by  the  Tuscarora  traditionist,  Cusick,  in  1825,  and  quoted  by  School- 
craft, Indian  Tribes,  v,  page  638: 

"About  this  time  a  great  musqueto  invaded  the  fort  Onondaga;  the  musqueto  was 
mischievous  to  the  people,  it  flew  about  the  fort  with  a  long  stinger,  and  sucked  the 
blood  of  a  number  of  lives;  the  warriors  made  several  oppositions  to  expel  the  mon- 
ster, but  failed;  the  country  was  invaded  until  the  Holder  of  the  Heavens  was 
pleased  to  visit  the  people;  while  he  was  visiting  the  king  at  the  fort  Onondaga,  the 
musqueto  made  appearance  as  usual  and  flew  about  the  fort,  the  Holder  of  the  Heav- 
ens attacked  the  monster,  it  flew  so  rapidly  that  he  could  hardly  keep  in  sight  of  it, 
but  after  a  few  days  chase  the  monster  began  to  fail,  he  chased  on  the  borders  of  the 
great  lakes  towards  the  sun-setting,  and  round  the  great  country,  at  last  lie  overtook 

the  monster  and  killed   it  near  the  salt  lake  Onondaga,  and   the  hi 1  became  small 

musquetos." 

V'h! in)' — This  is  not  the  name  of  any  particular  species,  but  signifies  a  leader,  prin- 
cipal, or  colloquially,  "  boss,"  and  in  this  sense  is  applied  to  the  large  queen  yellow- 
jacket  seen  in  spring,  or  to  the  leader  of  a  working  gang.  The  insect  of  the  story  is 
described  as  a  monster  yellow-jacket. 

14.  The  Deluge  I  p.  261):  Thi*  story  is  given  by  Schoolcraft  in  his  Notes  on  the 
Iroquois,  page  358,  as  having  been  obtained  in  1846  from  the  Cherokee  chief,  Stand 
Watie.  It  was  obtained  by  the  author  in  nearly  the  same  form  in  1890  from  James 
Wafford,  of  Indian  Territory,  who  had  heard  it  from  his  grandmother  nearly  eighty 


NOTES     \M>    P  \K  VLLELS  t  1 5 

years  before.     The  incident  of  the  dancing  skeletons  is  tiol  given  by  Scl rafl 

and  seems   to   indicate  a   lost   sequel  to  the  story.     Hayw I    (Nat.  and  Aborig. 

Hist.  Tenn.,  p.  161  mentions  the  Cherokee  deluge  myth  and  conjectures  thai  the 
petroglyphs  at  Track  Rock  gap  in  <  reorgia  may  have  some  reference  to  it.  The  ver- 
sions given  by  the  missionaries  Buttrick  and  Washburn  are  simply  the  Bible  narrative 
a-  told  by  the  Indians.  Washburn's  informant,  however,  accounted  for  the  phe- 
nomenon by  an  upheaval  and  tilting  of  the  earth,  so  thai  the  waters  for  a  time  over- 
Bowed  tin'  inhabited  parts  (Reminiscences,  pp.  1 ; '< >  L97).  In  a  variant  related  by 
I  [agar  I  MS  Stellar  Legends  of  the  <  Iherokee  I  a  star  with  fiery  tail  falls  from  heaven 
and  becomes  a  man  with  long  hair.  \\  ho  wains  the  \ pie  of  the  coming  deluge. 

It  is  nol  in  place  here  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  meaning  and  universality  of 
the  deluge  myth,  for  an  explanation  of  which  the  reader  is  referred  to  Bouton's  Bible 
Myths  and  Bible  Folklore.'  Suffice  it  to  say  that  such  a  myth  appears  to  have 
existed  with  every  people  and  in  every  age.  Among  the  American  tribes  with  which 
it  was  found  Brinton  enumerates  the  Athapascan,  Algonquian,  Iroquois,  Cherokee, 
Chickasaw,  Caddo,  Natchez,  I  lakota,  Apache,  Navaho,  .Mam Ian,  Pueblo,  Aztec,  Mixtec, 
Zapotec,  Tlasealan.  Michoac&n,  Toltec,  Maya,  Quiche,  Haitian,  Darien,  Popayan, 
Muysca,  Quichua,  Tupinamba,  Achagua,  Auraucanian,  "and  doubtless  others."2  It 
is  found  also  along  the  Northwest  coast,  was  known  aboul  Albemarle  sound,and,  as 
has  been  said,  was  probably  common  to  all  the  tribes. 

In  one  ('reek  version  the  warning  is  given  by  wolves;  in  another  by  cranes  (see 
Bouton,  eited  above) . 

15.  The  four-footed  tribes  (p.  261):  No  essential  difference — "I  have  often 
reflected  on  the  curious  connexion  which  appears  to  subsist  in  the  mind  of  an 
Indian  between  man  and  the  brute  creation,  and  found  much  matter  in  it  for  curious 
observation.  Although  they  consider  themselves  superior  to  all  other  animals  and 
are  verj  proud  of  that  superiority;  although  they  believe  that  the  beasts  of  the 
forest,  the  birds  of  the  air,  and  the  fishes  of  the  waters  were  created  by  the  Almighty 
Being  for  the  use  of  man;  yet  it  seems  as  if  they  ascribe  the  difference  between  them- 
selves and  the  brute  kind,  and  the  dominion  which  they  have  over  them,  •  to 

their  superior  bodily  strength  and  dexterity  than  to  their  immortal  souls.  All  being 
em  lowed  by  the  ( Ireator  with  the  power  of  volition  and  self  motion,  they  view  in  a 
manner  as  a  great  society  of  "which  they  are  the  head,  whom  they  are  appointed, 
indeed,  to  govern,  hut  between  whom  and  themselves  intimate  ties  of  connexion 
and  relationship  may  exist,  or  at  least  did  exist  in  the  beginning  of  time.  They  are, 
in  fact,  according  to  their  opinions,  only  the  tirst  among  equals,  the  legitimate 
hereditary  sovereigns  of  the  whole  animated  race,  of  which  they  are  themselves  a 
constituent  part.  Hence,  in  their  languages,  these  inflections  of  their  nouns,  which 
we  call  genders,  are  not.  as  with  us.  descriptive  of  the  masculine  and  ferninim  species, 
but  of  the  in, limit,  and  inanimate  kinds.  Indeed,  they  go  so  far  as  to  include  trees, 
and  plants  within  the  first  of  these  descriptions.  All  animated  nature,  in  whatever 
degree,  is  in  their  eyes  a  great  whole  from  which  they  have  not  yet  ventured  to 
separate  themselves.  They  do  not  exclude  other  animals  from  their  world  of  spirits, 
the  place  to  which  they  expect  to  go  after  death."8 

According  to  the  Ojibwa  the  animals  formerly  had  the  faculty  of  speech,  until  it 
was  taken  from  them  by  Nanibojou  as  a  punishment  for  having  conspired  against 
the  human  race.' 

Animal  chief s  and  councils — In  Pawnee  belief,  according  to  Grinnell,  the  animals, 

>J.  W.  Bouton,  Bible  Myths  and  their  Parallels  in  Other  Religions:  2d  ed.,  N.-u  Y..rk,  1883;  Bible 
Folklore,  A  Study  in  Comparative  Mythology;  New  York, 1884. 

-The  Myths  of  the  New  World,  A  Treatise  on  the  Symbolism  and  Mythology  of  the  Re 
America;  3d  ed.,  Philadelphia,  1896. 

3Heckewelder,  Indian  Nations,  p.  254,  ed.  1876. 

'Henry,  Travel?-  and  Adventures  in  Canada,  etc.,  pp.  212-213,  New  York,  1809. 


446  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.a.n-x.19 

or  Xahurac,  possess  miraculous  attributes  given  them  by  the  great  creator,  Tirawa. 
"The  Pawnees  know  of  five  places  where  these  animals  meet  to  hold  council — five 
of  these  Xahurac  lodges."  He  gives  a  detailed  description  of  each.  The  fourth  is  a 
mound-shaped  hill,  on  the  top  of  which  is  a  deep  well  or  water  hole,  into  which  the 
Pawnee  throw  offerings.  The  fifth  is  a  ruck  hill  in  Kansas,  known  to  the  whites  as 
Guide  rock,  and  "in  the  side  of  the  liill  then-  is  a  '/rent  hole  when-  tin-  Xahurac  hold 
councils."  ' 

The  same  belief  is  noted  by  Chatelain  in  Angola,  West  Africa:  "In  African  folk 
tales  the  animal  world,  as  also  the  spirit  world,  is  organized  and  governed  just  like 
the  human  world.  In  Angola  the  elephant  is  the  supreme  king  of  all  animal  crea- 
tion, and  the  special  chief  of  th lible  tribe  of  wild  animals.     Next  to  him  in  rank 

the  lion  is  special  chief  of  the  tribe  of  ferocious  beasts  and  highest  vassal  of  the  ele- 
phant. Chief. if  the  reptile  tribe  is  the  python.  Chief  of  the  finny  tribe  is,  in  the 
interior,  the  di-lnuhi,  the  largest  river  fish.  Chief  of  the  feathery  tribe  is  the  kafadu 
lea  humbi,  largest  of  the  eagles.  Among  the  domestic  animals  the  sceptre  belongs  to 
the  bull;  among  the  locusts  to  the  one  called  di-ngundu.  Even  the  ants  and  termites 
have  their  kings  or  queens.  Every  chief  or  king  has  his  court,  consisting  of  the 
iiijuliiiiihi)h\  luniliihi,  and  other  officers,  his  parliament  of  ma-kota  and  his  plebeian 
subjects,  just  like  any  human  African  saba"  (Folk  tales  of  Angola,  p.  22). 

Ashing  pardon  of  animals — For  other  Cherokee  references  see  remarks  upon  the 
Little  Deer,  the  Wolf,  and  the  Rattlesnake;  also  number  4,  "Origin  of  Disease  and 
Medicine,"  and  number  58,  "The  Rattlesnake's  Vengeance."  This  custom  was 
doubtless  general  among  the  tribes,  as  it.  is  thoroughly  in  consonance  with  Indian 
idea.  The  trader  Henry  thus  relates  a  characteristic  instance  among  the  Ojibwa  in 
1784  on  the  occasion  of  his  killing  a  bear  near  the  winter  camp: 

"The  bear  being  dead,  all  my  assistants  approached,  and  all,  but  more  particularly 
my  old  mother  (as  I  was  wont  to  call  her),  took  his  head  in  their  hands,  stroking 
and  kissing  it  several  times;  begging  a  thousand  pardons  for  taking  away  her  life; 
calling  her  their  relation  and  grandmother;  and  requesting  her  not  to  lay  the  fault 
upon  them,  since  it  was  truly  an  Englishman  that  had  put  her  to  death. 

"  This  ceremony  was  not  of  long  duration;  and  if  it  was  I  that  killed  their  grand- 
mother, they  were  not  themselves  behind-hand  in  what  remained  to  be  performed. 
The  skin  being  taken  off,  we  found  the  fat  in  several  places  six  inches  deep.  This, 
being  divided  into  two  parts,  loaded  two  persons;  and  the  flesh  parts  were  as  much 
as  four  persons  could  carry.  In  all,  the  carcass  must  have  exceeded  five  hundred 
weight. 

"As  soon  as  we  reached  the  lodge,  the  bear's  head  was  adorned  with  all  the 
trinkets  in  the  possession  of  the  family,  such  as  silver  arm-bands  and  wrist-bands,  and 
belts  of  wampum;  and  then  laid  upon  a  scaffold,  set  up  for  its  reception,  within  the 
lodge.     Xear  the  nose  was  placed  a  large  quantity  of  tobacco. 

' ' The  next  morning  no  si  m  iner  appeared,  than  preparations  were  made  for  a  feast  to 
the  manes.  The  lodge  was  cleaned  and  swept;  and  the  head  of  the  bear  lifted  up, 
and  a  new  stroud  of  blanket,  which  had  never  been  used  before,  spread  under  it. 
The  pipes  were  now  lit;  and  Wawatam  blew  tobacco  smoke  into  the  nostrils  of  the 
bear,  telling  me  to  do  the  same,  and  thus  appease  the  anger  of  the  bear  on  account 
of  my  having  killed  her.  1  endeavored  to  persuade  my  benefactor  and  friendly 
ad\  iser,  that  she  no  longer  had  any  life,  and  assured  him  that  I  was  under  no  appre- 
hension from  her  displeasure;  but,  the  first  proposition  obtained  no  credit,  and  the 
second  gave  but  little  satisfaction. 

"At  length,  the  feast  being  ready,  AVawatam  commenced  a  speech,  resembling,  in 
many  things,  his  address  to  the  manes  of  his  relations  and  departed  companions; 
but,  having  this  peculiarity,  that   he  here  deplored   the  necessity  under  which  men 


1G.    B.   Grinnell,  Pawnee  Here  Stories  ami    Folktale*,   with   Notes  on  the  Origin,  Customs,  and 
Character  of  the  Pawnee  People;  New  York,  1889,  pp.  358-359, 


N0TE8    AM)    PARALLELS  447 

labored  thus  to  destroy  their/r/<  nds.  He  represented,  however,  thai  the  misfortune 
was  unavoidable,  since  without  doing  so,  they  could  by  no  mean-  subsist.  The  speech 
ended,  we  all  ate  heartily  of  the  bear's  flesh;  and  even  the  head  itself,  after  remain- 
bag  three  days  on  the  scaffold,  was  put  into  the  kettle."     Travels,  pp.  143   145. 

The  part  played  by  the  Rabbit  or  Han-  and  his  symbolic  character 
in  Indian  myth  has  been  alreadj  uoted  (see  "Stories  and  Storj  rellers").  In  his 
pur.h  animal  character,  as  an  actor  among  the  fourfooted  creatures,  the  same  attri- 
butes of  trickery  and  surpassing  sagacity  are  assigned  him  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 
In  the  folktales  of  Angola,  West  Africa,  "The  Hare  seems  to  surpass  the  fox  in 
shrewdness,"  and  "The  Hare  has  the  swiftness  and  shrewdness  of  the  Monkey,  but 
he  is  never  reckless,  as  the  Monkey  sometimes  appears  to  be"  (Chatelain,  Folk- 
tales of  Angola,  pp.  295,  300).  In  farthest  Asia  also  "The  animals,  too,  have  their 
stories,  and  in  Korea,  as  in  some  other  parts  of  the  world,  the  Rabbit  seems  to  come 
offbest,asa  rule"    H.N.Allen,  Korean  Tales,  p.  34;  New  York  and  London,1889 

/  Timberlake  repeatedly  remarks  upon  the  abundance  of  the  buffalo 

in  the  Cherokee  country  of  East  Tennessee  in  1762.  On  one  occasion,  while  in  camp, 
they  heard  rapid  firing  from  their  scouts  and  "in  less  than  a  minute  seventeen  or 
eighteen  buffaloes  ran  in  amongst  us,  before  we  discovered  them,  so  that  several  of 
us  had  like  to  have  been  run  over,  especially  the  women,  who  with  some  difficulty 
sheltered  themselves  behind  the  trees.  Most  of  the  men  fired,  but  firing  at  random, 
one  only  was  killed,  tho'  several  more  wounded"  (Memoirs,  p.  101).  According 
to  a  writer  in  tin-  Historical  Magazine,  volume  vm.  page  71, 1864,  the  last  two  wild 
buffalo  known  in  <  >hio  were  killed  in  Jackson  county  in  1  son 

-This  animal  ranged  in  eastern  Carolina  in  1700.      "Theelkisai isterof 

the  venison  sort.  His  skin  is  used  almost  in  the  same  nature  as  the  buffelo's  [sic]. 
.  .  .  His  flesh  is  not  -.,  sweet  as  the  lesser  deer's.  IIi>  hams  exceed  in  weight  all 
creatures  which  the  new  world  affords.  They  will  often  resort  and  feed  with  the 
buffelo,  delighting  in  the  same  range  as  they  do"  I  Lawson,  Carolina,  p.  203 

'ili.  hamstring — No  satisfactory  reason  has  been  obtained  for  this  custom, 
which  lias  Keen  noted  for  more  than  a  century.  Buttrick  says  of  the  Cherokee:  "The 
Indians  never  used  to  eat  a  certain  sinew  in  the  thigh.  .  .  .  Some  say  that  if  they  eat 
of  the  sinew  they  will  have  cramp  in  it  on  attempting  to  run.  It  is  said  that  once  a 
woman  had  cramp  in  that  sinew  and  therefore  none  must  eat  it"  (Antiquities,  p.  12) . 

Says  Adair,  speaking  of  the  southern  tribes  generally:  "When  in  the  w Is  the 

Indians  cut  a  small  piece  out  of  the  lower  part  of  the  thigh  of  the  deer  they  kill,  length- 
ways and  pretty  deep.  Among  the  great  number  of  venison  hams  the)  bring  to  our 
trading  houses  I  do  not  remember  to  have  observed  one  without  it"  History  of  the 
American  Indians,  pp.  137-138). 

mimals  sacred — According  to  a  formula  in  the  Tuggle  manuscript  for  curing 
the  "deer  sickness,"  the  "White  Peer"  is  chief  of  his  tribe  in  (reek  mythology 
also.  Peculiar  sacredness  always  attaches,  in  the  Indian  mind,  to  white  and 
albino  animals,  partly  on  account  of  the  symbolic  meaning  attached  to  the  color 
itself  and  partly  by  reason  of  the  mystery  surrounding  the  phenomenon  of  albinism. 

Among  the  Cherokee  tl hiefs  both  of  the  Deer  and  of  the  Bear  tribe  wen-  white.    ( >n 

the  plains  the  so-called  white  buffalo  was  always  sacred.  Among  the  Iroquois, 
according  to  Morgan  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.210),  "the  white  deer,  white  squir- 
rel and  other  chance  animals  of  the  albino  kind,  were  regarded  as  consecrated  to  the 
•  neat  Spirit."      <  >ne  of  their  most  solemn  sacrifices  was  that  of  the  White  I  >o'_'. 

Tin  bear — A   reverence  for  the  hear  and  a  belief  that  it  is  half  human  is  very  gen- 
eral among  the  trilns,  and  is  probably  based  in   part   upon    the  ability  of  the  animal 

to  stand  upright  and  the  resemblance  of  its  tracks  to  human  footprints.  According 
to  Grinnell  (Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales,  p.  260),  "Tin-  Blackfeet  believe  it  to  be  part 
brute  and  part  human,  portions  of  its  body,  particularly  the  ribs  and  feet,  being  like 
those  of  a  man."      In  a  note  upon  a  Navaho  myth    Matthews  says  iNavaho  Legends, 


448  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.asn.19 

p.  249):  " The  bear  is  a  sacred  animal  with  the  Navahpes;  for  this  reason  the  hero 
■  !iil  not  >kin  tin-  bears  or  eat  their  flesh.  The  old  man.  being  a  wizard,  might  do 
both." 

TheOjibwa  ideahas  been  noted  in  connection  with  the  ceremony  of  asking  pardon 
of  the  Blain  animal.  A  curious  illustration  of  the  reverse  side  of  the  piitun-  is  given 
by  Heckewelder  (Indian  Nations,  p.  255): 

"A  Delaware  hunter  once  shot  a  huge  bear  and  broke  its  backbone.  The  animal 
fell  ami  set  up  a  must  plaintive  cry,  something  like  that  of  the  panther  when  he  is 
hungry.  The  hunter  instead  of  giving  him  another  shot,  stood  up  close  to  him,  and 
addressed  him  in  these  words:  '  Hark  ye!  hear:  you  are  a  coward  and  no  warrior  as 
you  pretend  to  he.  Wen-  you  a  warrior,  you  would  shew  it  by  your  firmness,  and 
not  cry  and  whimper  like  an  old  woman.  You  know,  hear,  that  our  tribes  are  at 
war  with  each  other,  and  that  yours  was  the  aggressor  [probably  alluding  to  a 
tradition  which  the  Indians  have  of  a  very  ferocious  kind  of  hear,  called  the  naked 
bear,  which  they  say  once  existed,  hut  was  totally  destroyed  by  their  ancestors]  .  .  . 
You  have  found  the  Indians  too  powerful  for  you,  and  you  have  gone  sneaking  about 
in  the  woods,  stealing  their  hogs;  perhaps  at  this  time  you  have  hog's  flesh  in  your 
belly.  Had  you  conquered  me,  I  would  have  borne  it  with  courage  and  died  like  a 
brave  warrior;  hut  you,  hear,  sit  here  and  cry,  and  disgrace  your  tribe  by  your  cow- 
ardly conduct.'  I  was  present  at  the  delivery  of  this  curious  invective.  When  the 
hunter  had  despatched  the  hear.  I  asked  him  how  he  thought  that  poor  animal  could 
understand  what  he  said  to  it?  'Oh,'  said  he  in  answer,  'the  bear  understood  me 
very  well;  did  you  not  observe  how  ashamed  he  looked  while  1  was  upbraiding 
him?'" 

The  wolf  and  wolf  M/,r— Speaking  of  the  Gulf  tribes  generally.  Adair  says:  "The 
wolf,  indeed,  several  of  them  do  not  care  to  meddle  with,  believing  it  unlucky  to 
kill  them,  which  is  the  sole  reason  that  few  of  the  Indians  shoot  at  that  creature, 
through  a  notion  of  spoiling  their  guns"  |  History  of  the  American  Indians,  p.  L6). 
The  author  has  heard  among  the  East  Cherokee  an  incident  of  a  man  who,  while 
standing  one  night  upon  a  fish  trap,  was  scented  by  a  wolf,  which  came  so  near  that 
the  man  was  compelled  to  shoot  it.  He  at  once  went  home  and  had  the  gun  exor- 
cised by  a  conjurer.  Wafford,  when  a  boy  in  the  old  Nation,  knew  a  professional 
wolf  killer.  It  is  always  permissible  to  hire  a  white  man  to  kill  a  depredating  wolf. 
as  in  that  case  no  guilt  attaches  to  the  Indian  or  his  tribe. 

16.  The  Rabbit  ooes  DUCK  hunting  (p.  266):  This  story  was  heard  from  Swim- 
mer, John  Ax,  Suyeta  (east),  ami  Wafford  (west).  Discussions  between  animals  as 
to  the  kind  of  food  eaten  are  very  common  in  Indian  myth,  the  method  chosen  to 
decide  the  dispute  being  usually  quite  characteristic.  The  first  incident  is  paralleled 
in  a  Creek  story  of  the  Rabbit  and  the  Lion  (Panther?)  in  the  Tuggle  manuscript 
collection  and  among  the  remote  Wallawalla  of  Washington  (see  Kane,  Wanderings 
of  an  Artist  among  the  Indians  of  North  America,  p.  -t>K;  London,  1859).  In  an  Omaha 
myth,  Ictinike  and  the  Buzzard,  the  latter  undertakes  to  carry  the  trickster  across  a 
stream,  but  drops  him  into  a  hollow  tree,  from  which  he  is  chopped  out  by  some 
women  whom  he  has  persuaded  that  there  are  raccoons  inside  (  Dorsey,  Contributions 
to  North  American  Ethnology,  vi ).  In  the  Iroquois  tale,  "A  Hunter's  Adventures,"  a 
hunter,  endeavoring  to  trap  some  geese  in  the  water,  is  carried  up  in  the  air  and  falls 
into  a  hollow  stump,  from  which  he  is  released  by  women  (Smith,  Myths  of  the  Iro- 
quois, in  Second  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Ethnology).  In  the  Uncle  Remus 
story,  '■  Mr.  Rabbit  Meets  His  Match  Again,"  the  Buzzard  persuades  the  Rabbit  to  get 
upon  his  back  in  order  to  be  carried  across  a  river,  but  alights  with  him  upon  a 
tree  <  iverhanging  the  water  and  thus  compels  the  Rabbit,  by  fear  of  falling,  to  confess 
a  piece  of  trickery.1 


1  Joel  <J.  Harris,  Uncle  Remus,  His  Songs  and  His  Sayings;  New  York,  1886. 


m'm.nkv]  NOTES    A  N'H    PARALLELS  449 

17.  How  tiik  Rabbit  stole,  the  Otter's  coah  (p.  267):  This  storj  i-  well  known 
in  the  tribe  and  was  heard  from  several  informants,  both  east  an. I  west.  Nothing 
issai.l  as  to  how  tin'  Otter  recovered  his  coat.     It  has  exact  parallels  in  the  Creek 

myths  of  tin-  Tnggl Ilection,  in  one  of  which  the   Rabbit  tries  to  personate  a  boy 

lien,  bystealing  his  coat,  while  in  another  he  plays  a  trick  on  tin-  I. ion  i  Panther)  by 
throwing  hot  coals  over  him  while  asleep,  at  a  creek  which  the  Rabbit  says  is  failed 
"Throwing-hot-ashes-on-you." 

18.  Win    mm    Possum's  tail  is  bare  (p.  269):  This  stor)   was  heard  from  several 

informants,  east  and  west.     In  .air  variant  the  hair  clipping  was  .1 i  b)  thi    VIoth, 

and  in  another  l>y  the  spells  of  the  Snail,  who  is  represented  as  a  magician.  The 
version  here  given  is  the  most  common,  and  agrees  best  with  the  Cherokee  folklore 
concerning  the  Cricket  (see  number 59,  "The  Smaller  Reptiles,  Fishes,  and  Insects"). 

En  the  Creek  myth,  as  given  in  the  Tuggle  collection,  the  Opossum  burned  the 
hair  from  his  tail  in  trying  to  put  rings  upon  it  like  those  of  the-  Raccoon's  tail,  and 
grins  from  chew  ing  a  bitter  oak  ball  w  hich  he  mi-took  for  a  ripened  fruit. 

The  anatomical  peculiarities  ot  the  opossum,  of  both  sexes,  hav icasioned  much 

speculation  among  the  Indians,  mam  of  whom  believe  that  the  female  produces 
ug  without  an)  help  from  the  male.  The  Creeks,  according  to  the  Tuggle 
manuscript,  believe  that  the  young  are  born  in  the  pouch,  from  the  breathing  of  the 
female  against  it  when  curled  up,  and  even  Lawson  and  Thnberlake  assert  that  they 
are  horn  at  the  teal,  fr which  the)  afterward  drop  off  into  the  pouch. 

.1  council  and  a  dance—In  the  old  .lays,  as  to-day  among  the  remote  Western  tribes, 
every  great  council  gathering  was  made  tl :casion  of  a  series  of  .lane.-,  accompa- 
nied always  by  feasting  an. I  a  general  good  time. 

19.  How  the  Wlldi  \t  .  "ught  THE  Gobbler  (p.  269):  This  story  was  hear.]  from 
.John  Ax  and  David  Blythe  (east)  and  from  Wafford  ami  Boudinot  (west).  The 
version  given  below,  doctored  to  suit  the  white  man's  idea,  appears  without  signa- 
ture in  the  Cherokee  Advocate  of  December  18,  1845: 

" There  was  once  a  flock  of  wild  turkeys  feeding  in  a  valley.  As  they  fed  they 
heard  a  voice  singing.  They  soon  discovered  that  the  musician  was  a  hare,  and  the 
burden  of  his  ».n«  was  that  he  had  a  secret  in  his  breast  which  he  would  on  no 
account  divulge.  The  curiosity  of  the  turkeys  was  excited,  and  they  entreat.-. I  the 
hare  t..  tell  them  the  secret.  Thi-  h.-  Snail]  consented  t..  .1..  it'  the)  would  procure 
for  him  the  king's  daughter  for  his  wife  and  go  with  him  and  .lame  around  their 
enemy.  They  engaged  to  do  all.  and  the  hare  led  them  to  where  a  wildcat  lay 
apparently  .lead.  The  hare  prevailed  upon  them  to  .-lose  their  eyes  as  the)  danced. 
The  wildcat  meanwhile  silently  arose  and  killed  several  of  them  before  the  rest  found 
out  what  a  snare  they  had  been  caught  in.  By  this  artifice  on  the  part  of  the  wild- 
cat, seconded  by  tin-  hare,  the  former  had  a  sumptuous  repast." 

Thi-.  witli  it-  variants,  is  one  of  the  most  widespread  of  the  animal  myths.  The 
same  story  told  by  the  Cherokee,  identical  even  to  the  song,  is  given  in  the  Creek 
collection  of  Tuggle,  with  the  addition  that  the  Rabbit's  tail  is  afterward  bitten  of! 
bythe  enraged  Turkey-,     in  another  Creek  version,  evidently  a  later  invention,  the 

1 1'. i  plays  a  similar  trick  upon  the  I  teerforthe  benefit  of  the  Panther.    The  Kiowa 

.  .I  thesi  .1  it  hern  plains  tell  how  the  hungry  trickster.  Sinti,  entices  a  number  of  prairie 
dogs  t'1  come  near  him,  under  pretense  of  teaching  them  a  new  dance,  and  then 
kills  all  hut  ..ne,  while  the)  are  dancing  around  him,  according  to  instruction,  with 
their  eyes  shut.  With  the  Omaha  the  Rabbit  himself  captures  the  Turkeys  while 
they  dance  around,  with  closed  .yes,  t..  his  singing  (Dorsey,  "The  Hal. I. it  and  the 
Turkeys,"  and  "Ictinike,  the  Turkeys.  Turtle,  and  Elk,"  in  Contributions  to  North 
American  Ethnology,  vi).  The  same  stratagem,  with  only  a  change  of  names, 
recurs  in  another  Omaha  story,  "The  Raccoon  and  the  Crabs,"  of  the  same  collection, 
and  in  a  Cheyenne  story  of  White-man  i  A.  1..  Kroeber,  <  'heyenne  Tales,  in  Journal 

L9    ETH— 01  !".» 


4.r)()  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [kth.ann.19 

of  American  Folk-Lore,  July,  1900),  and  in  the  Jicaijlla  story  of  "The  Fox  and 
the  Wildcat"  (Russell,  Myths  of  the  Jicarilla,  ibid.,  October,  1898).  The  Southern 
negro  version,  which  lacks  the  important  song  and  dance  feature,  is  given  by  Harris 
in  his  story  of  "  Brother  Rabbit  and  Mr  Wildcat."  ' 

20.  How  the  Terrapin  heat  toe  Rabbit  (p.  270):  This  story  was  obtained  from 
John  Ax  and  Suyeta  and  is  well  known  in  the  tribe.  It  is  sometimes  told  with  the 
Deer  instead  of  the  Rabbit  as  the  defeated  runner,  and  in  this  form  is  given  by  Lan- 
nian,  who  thus  localizes  it:  "The  race  was  to  extend  from  the  Black  mountain  to  the 
summit  of  the  third  pinnacle  extending  to  the  eastward"  (Letters,  p.  37). 

In  the  Creek  collection  of  Tuggle  the  same  story  is  given  in  two  versions,  in  one  of 
which  the  Deer  and  in  the  other  the  Wolf  is  defeated  by  the  stratagem  of  the  Terra- 
pin. The  Southern  negro  parallel  is  given  by  Harris  (Uncle  Remus,  His  Songs  and 
His  Sayings)  in  the  story,  "Mr  Rabbit  Finds  His  Match  at  Last."  It  seems  almost 
superfluous  to  call  attention  to  the  European  folklore  version,  the  well-known  story 
of  the  race  between  the  Hare  and  the  Tortoise. 

21.  Tfie  Rabbit  and  the  tar  wolf  (p.  271):  This  story  was  obtained  in  the 
Indian  Territory  from  James  Wafford,  who  said  he  had  repeatedly  heard  it  in  boy- 
hood about  Valley  river,  in  the  old  Nation,  from  Cherokee  who  spoke  no  English. 

The  second  version,  from  the  Cherokee  Advocate,  December  18,  1845,  is  given, 
together  with  the  story  of  "How  the  Wildcat  caught  the  Gobbler,"  with  this  intro- 
duction: 

"  Indian  Fables.  Mr  William  P.  Ross:  I  have  recently  stumbled  on  the  following 
Cherokee  fables,  and  perhaps  you  may  think  them  worth  inserting  in  the  .-'  Ivocate 
for  the  sake  of  the  curious.  I  am  told  that  the  Cherokees  have  a  great  many  fables. 
If  1  understand  the  following,  the  intention  seems  to  be  to  teach  cunning  and  artifice 
in  war.  .Esop."  The  newspaper  paragraph  bears  the  pencil  initials  of  Sfamuel] 
W[orcester]  B[utler]. 

Other  Indian  versions  are  found  with  the  Jicarilla  ("Fox  and  Rabbit,"  Myths  of 
the  Jicarilla,  by  Frank  Russell,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  October,  1898) 
and  Sioux  (S.  D.  Hinman,  cited  in  Transactions  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of 
Washington,  i,  p.  103,  Washington,  1882).  The  southern  negro  variant,  "The  Won- 
derful Tar-Baby  Story,"  is  the  introductory  tale-in  Harris's LTncle  Remus,  His  Songs 
and  His  Sayings.  A  close  parallel  occurs  in  the  West  African  story  of  "Leopard, 
Monkey,  and  Hare  "  (Chatelain,  Folktales  of  Angola). 

22.  The  Rabbit  and  the  Possum  after  a  wife  (p.  273):  This  specimen  of  Indian 
humor  was  obtained  at  different  times  from  Swimmer,  John  Ax,  Suyeta  (east !,  and 
Wafford  (west),  and  is  well  known  in  the  tribe.  Wafford,  in  telling  the  story, 
remarked  that  the  Rabbit  was  the  chief's  runner,  and  according  to  custom  was 
always  well  entertained  wherever  he  went. 

23.  The  Rabbit  dines  the  Bear  (p.  273):  This  favorite  story  with  the  Cherokee 
east  and  west  is  another  of  the  animal  myths  of  wide  distribution,  being  found  with 
almost  every  tribe  from  Maine  to  the  Pacific.  Beans  and  peas  in  several  varieties 
were  indigenous  among  the  agricultural  tribes. 

In  the  Creek  version,  in  the  Tuggle  manuscript,  "The  Hear  invited  the  Rabbit  to 
dinner.  When  he  came  the  Bear  called  his  wife  and  said,  'Have  peas  for  dinner: 
the  Rabbit  loves  peas.'  'But  there  is  no  grease,'  said  the  Bear's  wife,  'tocookthem 
with.'  'O,'  said  the  Bear,  'that's  no  trouble,  bring  me  a  knife.'  So  she  brought, 
the  knife  and  the  Bear  took  it  and  split  between  his  toes,  while  the  Rabbit  looked 
onin  wonder.  'No  grease  between  my  toes!  Well,  I  know  where  there  is  some,' 
so  he  cut  a  gash  in  his  side  and  out  ran  the  grease.  His  wife  took  it  and  cooked  the 
peas  and  they  had  a  fine  dinner  and  vowed  always  to  be  good  friends,"  etc.     The 


•J.  C.  Harris,  Nights  with  Uncle  Remus:  Myths  ami  Legends  of  the  Old  Plantation;  Boston,  1883. 


moonky]  NOTES    AM)    PARALLELS  451 

wounded  Rabbitispul  under  the  care  of  the   Buzzard,  who  winds  up  by  i 
patient. 

In  the  Passamaquoddy  version,  "The  Rabbit's  Adventure  w ith  Mooin,  the  Bear," 
the  Bear  cuts  a  slice  from  his  foot  and  puts  it  into  the  pot.  The  Rabbit  invites  the 
Bear  to  dinner  and  attempts  to  do  the  same  thing,  but  comes  to  grief.'  InaJica- 
rilla  myth  a  somewhat  similar  incident  is  related  of  the  Fox  Coyote?)  and  the 
Prairie-dog  Russell,  Myths  of  the  Jicarilla,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore, 
Octobi  r,  1898).     In  a  British  Columbian  myth  nearly  the  same  thing  happens  when 

the  ( Soyote  undertakes  to  return  the  hospitality  of  the  Black  Bear  <  Teit,  Th pson 

River  Indian  Traditions,  p.  10) 

L'4.  The  Rabbit  escapes  from  tin:  wolves  i  p.  274  i:  This  story  was  obtained  from 
James  Wafford,  in  Indian  Territory.  Compare  number  19,  "How  the  Wildcat 
Caught  the  Gobbler." 

25.  Flint  visits  the  Rabbit  (p.274):  This  story  was  told  in  slightly  different  form 
by  John  Ax  and  Swimmer  (east)  and  was  confirmed  by  Wafford  (west).  Although 
among  the  Cherokee  it  has  degenerated  to  a  mere  humorous  tali-  for  the  amusement 
of  a  winter  evening,  it  was  originally  a  principal  part  of  the  great  cosmogonic  myth 
common  tn  probably  all  tin-  Iroquoian  and  Almoin plian  tribes,  and  of  which  we  find 

traces  also  in  the  mythologies  of  the  Aztec  and  the  Maya.     A ig  the  northern 

Algonquian  tribes  "the  West  was  typified  as  a  Hint  stone,  and  the  twin  brother  of 
Michabo,  the  Great  Rabbit.     The  lend  between  them  was  bitter,  and  the  contest 

long   and   dreadful U  last  Michabo  mastered  his  fellow  twin  and  broke  him 

into  pieces.  He  scattered  the  fragments  over  the  earth.  .  .  ."  Among  the  Iro- 
quoian  tribes,  cognate  with  the  Cherokee,  the  name  is  variously  Tdvnskaron,  T&vnskard,, 
and  sometimes  Ohaa,  all  of  which  are  names  both  for  flint  and  for  hail  or  ice.  Tawis- 
kara  is  the  evil-working  god.  in  perpetual  conflict  with  his  twin  brother  Yoskeha, 
the  beneficent  god,  by  whom  lie  is  finally  overpowered,  when  the  blood  that  drops 
from  his  wounds  is  changed  into  flint  stones.  Brintoii  sees  in  the  '  treat  Rabbit  and 
the  Flint  the  opposing  forces  of  day  and  night,  light  and  darkness,  locally  personi- 
fied as  East  and  West,  while  in  the  twin  gods  of  the  Iroquois  Hewitt  sees  thi n- 

Bicting  agents  of  heat  and  cold,  summer  and  winter.  Both  conceptions  are  identical 
in  the  final  analysis.  Hewitt  derives  the  Iroquois  name  from  a  root  denoting  "hail, 
ice,  glass";  in  Cherokee  we  have  t&vriskai&fl'i,  ULwi'skW,,  "flint."  tUvA'skd,  "smooth," 
une'staMn,  "ice."  See  Brinton,  American  Hero  Myths,  pp. 48,56, 61;  Hewitt,  The 
Cosmos"  mic  <  iods  of  the  Iroquois,  in  I'roc.    \m.  Ass.  Adv.  Sci.,  xi.iv,  1895.) 

In  one  of  the  Cherokee  sacred  formulas  collected  by  the  author  occurs  the  expres- 
sion: "The  terrible  Flint  is  coming,  lb- has  his  paths  laid  down  in  this  direction. 
He  is  shaking  the  red  switches  threateningly.      Let  us  run  toward  the  Sun  land." 

Siyu' — This  word,  abbreviated  from  dsiyii',  "good,"  is  the  regular  Cherokee  salu- 
tation. With  probably  all  the  tribes  the  common  salutation  is  simply  the  word 
"good,"  and  in  the  sign  language  of  the  plains  the  gesture  conveying  that  meaning 
is  used  in  the  same  way.  The  ordinary  good-bye  is  usually  some  equivalent  of 
"I  go  now  ." 

L'ti.  How  the  Deee  cor  his  horns  i  p.  L'75  i :  This  story  war  heard  from  Swimmer, 
Snyeht.  and  others,  and  is  well  known  in  the  tribe. 

In  a  parallel  Pawnee  myth,  "How  the  Deer  Lost  His  Gall,"  the  Deer  and  Ante- 
lope wager  their  galls  in  a  race,  which  the  Antelope  wins,  but  in  sympathy  take-  off 
bis  own  dew  claw  s  and  L'ives  them  to  the  Deer.  In  the  Black  foot  variant  the  I  Icel- 
and the  Antelope  run  two  races.  The  first,  which  is  over  the  prairie,  the  Antelope 
wins  and  take-  tic-  Deer's  gall,  while  in  the  second,  which  the  Deer  stipulate-  -hall 
lie  run  through  the  timber,  the  Deer  wins  and  takes  the  Antelope's  dewclaws 
(Grinnell,  Pawnee  Hero  Tales,  pp.204,205). 

>C.  G.  Lelaud,  Algonquin  Legends  of  New  England,  p.  212;  Boston,  1884. 


452  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.W 

27.  Why  the  Deer's  teeth  are  blunt  (p.  276):  This  story  follows  the  last  in  reg- 
ular sequence  ami  was  told  by  the  same  informants. 

In  a  Jicarilla  myth  the  Fox  kills  a  dangerous  Hear  monster  under  pretense  of  trim- 
mi  m_r  down  liis  legs  so  that  he  can  run  faster  (  Russell,  Myth  of  the  Jicarilla,  in  Jour- 
nal Of  American  F« ilk-Lore,  p.  262,  October,  1898). 

28.  What  became  of  the  Rabbit  (p.  277):  This  version  was  obtained  from  Suyeta, 
who  says  the  Rabbit  never  went  lip,  because  he  was  "too  mean"  to  be  with  the  other 
animals.  Swimmer,  however,  says  that  he  did  afterward  go  up  to  Galuii'latl.  The 
helief  in  a  large  rabbit  still  existing  beyond  a  great  liver  may  possibly  have  its  origin 
in  indirect  reports  of  the  jack-rabbit  west  of  the  Missouri. 

The  myth  has  close  parallel  in  the  southern  negro  story  of  "The  Origin  of  the 
Ocean"  (Harris,  Nights  with  Uncle  Remus),  in  which  the  Rabbit  by  a  stratagem 
persuades  the  Lion  to  jump  across  a  creek,  when  the  Rabbit  "cut  de  string  w'at  hoi'  de 
banks  togedder.  .  .  .  Co'se  wen  Brer  Rabbit  tuck'n  cut  de  string,  de  banks  er  de 
creek,  de  banks  dey  fall  back,  dey  did,  en  Mr  Lion  can't  jump  back.  He  banks dey 
keep  on  fallin'  back,  en  de  creek  keep  on  gittin'  wider  en  wider,  twel  bimeby  Brer 
Rabbit  en  Mr  Lion  ain't  in  sight  er  one  er  n'er,  en  turn  dat  day  to  dis  de  big  waters 
bin  rollim  'twix  urn." 

Ki'i.' — A  Cherokee  exclamation  used  as  a  starting  signal  and  in  introducing  the 
paragraphs  of  a  speech.      It  might  be  approximately  rendered.  Now! 

29.  Why  the  Mink  smells  (p.  277) :  Obtained  from  John  Ax. 

30.  Why  the  Mole  lives  underground  (p.  277):  This  story,  from  John  Ax.  not 
only  accounts  for  the  Mole's  underground  habit,  but  illustrates  a  common  Cherokee 
witchcraft  belief,  which  has  parallels  all  over  the  world. 

31.  The  Terrapin's  escape  from  the  Wolves  i  p.  i_'7si  :  This  story,  of  which  the 
version  here  given,  from  Swimmer  and  John  Ax,  is  admittedly  imperfect,  is  known 
also  among  the  western  Cherokee,  having  been  mentioned  by  Watford  and  others  in 
the  Nation,  although  for  some  reason  none  of  them  seemed  able  to  till  in  the  details. 
A  somewhat  similar  story  was  given  as  belonging  to  her  own  tribe  by  a  Catawba 
woman  married  among  the  Last  Cherokee.  It  suggests  number  21,  "The  Rabbit 
and  the  tar  wolf,"  ami  has  numerous  parallels. 

In  the  Creek  version,  in  the  Tuggle  manuscript,  the  Terrapin  ridicules  a  woman, 
who  retaliates  by  crushing  his  shell  with  acorn  pestle.  He  repairs  the  injury  by 
singing  a  medicine  song,  but  the  scars  remain  in  the  checkered  spots  on  his  back. 
In  a  variant  in  the  same  collection  the  ants  mend  his  shell  with  tar,  in  return  for  his 
fat  and  blood.  Other  parallels  are  among  the  Omaha,  "How  the  Big  Turtle  went 
on  the  Warpath  "  (Dorsey,  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  vi,  p.  275), 
and  the  Cheyenne,  "The  Turtle,  the  Grasshopper,  and  the  Skunk"  iKroeber,  Chey- 
enne Tales,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  July,  1900).  The  myth  is  recorded 
also  from  west  Africa  by  Chatelain  ("The  Man  ami  the  Turtle,"  in  Folktales  of 
Angola,  18114). 

Kanaliefna. — This  is  a  sour  corn  gruel,  the  tamfuli  or  "Tom  Fuller"  of  the  Creeks, 
which  is  a  favorite  food  preparation  among  all  the  southern  tribes.  A  large  earthern 
jar  of  kanahe/na,  with  a  wooden  spoon  upright  in  it,  is  always  upon  a  bench  just 
inside  the  cabin  door,  for  even'  visitor  to  help  himself. 

32.  Origin  of  the  Groundhog  dance  i  p.  279):  This  story  is  from  Swimmer,  the 
supplementary  part  being  added  by  John  Ax.  The  Groundhog  dance  is  one  of  those 
belonging  to  the  great  thanksgiving  ceremony,  Green-corn  dance.  It  consists  of 
alternate  advances  and  retreats  by  the  whole  line  of  dancers  in  obedience  to  signals 
by  the  song  leader,  who  sings  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  rattle.  The  burden  of 
the  song,  which  is  without  meaning,  is 

lln'iriiir'clii'  Yaha'wiye'Shi  [twice]    Yu-u 
Hi'yagu'wi  Hahi'yagii'wl  [twice]   Yu-yu. 


"ooi  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  153 

33.  The  migration  oi  the  inimals  (p.  280):  This  little  story  ia  given  just  as 
related  by  Ayasta,  the  only  woman  privileged  to  speak  in  council  among  the  Easl 
Cherokee.  A  similar  incident  occurs  in  number  76,  "The  Bear  Man  "  ^.ccordingto 
one  Cherokee  myth  concerning  the  noted  Track  Rock  gap,  near  Blairsville  in 
upper  Georgia,  the  pictographs  in  the  rocks  there  are  the  footprints  of  all  sorts  of  birds 
and  animals  which  once  crossed  over  the  gap  in  a  great  migration  toward  the  south. 

34.  The  Wolf's  revenge:  The  Wolf  and  the  Dog  (p.  280):  These  short  stories 
from  Swimmer  illustrate  the  Cherokee  belief  thai  if  a  wolf  be  injured  his  fellows  will 

surely  revenge  the  injury.     See  als te  to  number  15,  "The  Fourfooted  Tribes," 

ami  number  '■<,  "  Kana'tl  and  Selu." 

[n  a  Wesl  African  tale  recorded  by  Chatelain  (Folktales  of  A.ngola,  1894)  the  dog 
and  the  jackal  are  kinsmen,  who  live  together  in  the  bush  until  the  jackal  sends  the 

dog  to  the  village  for  fire.     The  dog  goes,  enters  a  house  and  is  fed  by  a  w an,  and 

thereupon  concludes  to  stay  in  tin-  village,  where  there  i-  always  food. 

35.  Tin  bird  tribes  (p.  280):  Th  eagh  killer — Of  the  Southern  tribes  generally 
Adair  says:  "They  use  the  feathers  of  the  eagle's  tail  in  certain  friendly  and  relig- 
ious dances,  bul  the  \\  hole  town  will  contribute,  to  the  value  of  200  deerskins,  for 
killing  a  large  eagle — the  bald  eagle  they  do  not  esteem — and  the  man  also  gets  an 
honorable  title  for  the  exploit,  as  it  he  bad  brought  in  the  scalp  of  an  enemy."  ' 

Timberlake  says  that  the  Cherokee  held  the  tail  of  an  eagle  in  the  greatest  esteem,  as 
these  tails  were  sometimes  given  with  the  wampum  in  their  treaties,  and  none  of  their 
warlike  ceremonies  could  he  performed  w  ithout  them  (Memoirs,  p.  81  I.  The  figura- 
tive expression,  "asnowbird  has  been  killed."  used  to  avoid  offending  the  eagle 

tribe,  i-  paralleled  in  the  expression,  "  he  has  1 n  scratched  by  a  brier,"  nseil  bythe 

Cherokee  to  mean,  "  he  has  been  bitten  byasnake."    Professional  eagle  killers  existed 

ai ig  many  tribes,  together* with  a  prescribed  ceremonial  fur  securing  the  eagle. 

The  most  common  method  was  probably  that  described  in  a  note  te  number  (is. 
"Gana's  Adventures  among  the  Cherokee."  A  detailed  account  of  the  Blackfoot 
method  is  given  by  Grinnell,  in  his  Blackfoot  Lodge  Tales,  pp.  236-240.  The  eagle, 
beinga  bird  of  prey,  as  well  as  a  sacred  bird,  was  never  eaten. 

The  shifting  of  responsibility  for  the  killing  to  a  vicarious  victim  is  a  common  fea- 
ture of  Indian  formulas  for  obtaining  pardon,  especially  for  offenses  against  the  ani- 
mal tribe  or  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  A  remarkable  parallel  to  the  Cherokee  prayer, 
from  the  Quichua  of  Peru,  is  given  by  Dr  G.  A.  Dorsey.  Having  started,  with  a 
party  of  Indian  laborers  and  a  Spanish  gentleman  who  was  well  acquainted  \\  ith  the 
native  language,  to  examine  seme  cave  tombs  near  the  ancient  city  of  Cuzco,  they 
had  arrive.  1  at  the  spot  and  he  was  about  to  give  the  or, lei  to  begin  operations,  when 
the  Indians,  removing  their  blankets  and  hats,  knelt  down  and  recited  in  unison  in 
theirown  language  a  prayer  to  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  of  which  the  following  transla- 
tion is  an  extract: 

"Chiefs,  -on-  of  the  sun,  you  and  we  are  brothers,  sons  of  the  great  Pachacamac. 
You  only  know   this,  hut  we  know  that  three  persons  exist,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 

the  Holy  Ghost.     This  is  th »ly  difference  between  you  and  us.  .  .  .  Chiefs,  sons 

of  the  .-un.  wo  have  not  come  to  disturb  your  tranquil  sleep  in  this,  your  abode.  We 
come  only  because  we  have  been  compelled  by  our  superiors;  toward  them  may  you 
direct  your  vengeance  and  your  curses." 

Then  followed  sacrifices  of  coca  leaves,  aguardiente,  and  chicha,  after  which  they 
called  upon  the  snow-capped  mountain  to  witness  their  affection  for  their  a  nee-tor-, 
an, I  were  then  ready  to  begin  work  (Horsey,  A  Ceremony  of  the  QuichuaS  of  Peru, 
in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore.  October,   1894), 

Night  birds — Says  Adair  of  the  Southern  tribes  (History  of  the  American  Indians, 
p.  130,  I77.">i:  "They  reckon  all  birds  of  prey,  and  birds  of  night,  to  be  unclean  and 


■History  of  the  American  Indians,  p  80 


45-4  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


unlawful  to  in'  eaten."  The  mixed  feeling  of  fear  and  reverence  for  all  night  birds 
is  universal  among  the  Western  tribes.  » 'wis  particularly  are  believed  to  bring  pro- 
phetic tidings  to  the  few  great  conjurers  who  can  interpret  their  language. 

Th,  hawk — This,  being  a  bird  of  prey,  was  never  eaten.  The  following  incident  is 
related  by  Adair,  probably  from  the  Chickasaw:  "Not  long  ago  when  the  Indians 
were  making  their  winter's  hunt  and  the  old  women  were  without  flesh  meat  at 
home,  I  shot  a  small  fat  hawk  and  desired  one  of  them  to  take  and  dress  it;  but 
though  I  Strongly  importuned  Iter  by  way  of  trial,  she  as  earnestly  refused  it  tor  fear 
of  contracting  pollution,  which  she  called  the  'accursed  sickness,'  supposing  disease 
would  be  the  necessary  effect  of  such  an  impurity"  (Hist.  Am.  Indians,  p.  130). 

Chickadee  and  titmouse — Adair  speaks.of  having  once  observed  a  party  of  Southern 

Indians  "to  he  intimidated  at  the  voice  of  a  small  unt unon  bird,  when  it  pitched 

and  chirped  on  a  tree  over  their  camp"  (op.  cit.,  p.  26).  At  a  conference  with  the 
Six  Nations  at  Albany  in  1775  the  <  taeida  speaker  said:  "We,  the  Six  Nations,  have 
heard  the  voice  of  a  bird  called  Tskleleli  (  TsWIMtM),  a  news  carrier,  that  came 
among  us.  It  has  told  us  that  the  path  at  the  western  connection,  by  Fort  Stanwix, 
would  be  shut  up  by  either  one  party  or  the  other."  In  reply,  the  commissioners 
said:  "We  apprehend  the  bird  Tskleleli  has  been  busy  again;  he  seems  to  be  a  mis- 
chievous bird  and  ought  not  to  be  nourished  or  entertained "  (New  York  Colonial 
Documents,  vm,  pp.  612,  628,  1857).  The  bird  name  is  in  the  Oneida  dialect. 
Bruyas  gives  teksi  reri  as  the  Mohawk  name  for  the  tomtit. 

36.  The  ball  game  of  the  birds  and  animals  (p.286):  This  is  one  of  the  best- 
known  animal  stories  and  was  heard  with  more  or  less  of  detail  from  John  Ax,  Swim- 
mer, Suyeta,  and  A'wani'ta  in  the  east,  and  from  AVafford  in  the  Territory. 

The  Creeks  and  the  Seminoles  also,  as  we  learn  from  the  Tuggle  manuscript  collec- 
tion, have  stories  of  ball  games  by  the  birds  against  the  fourfooted  animals.  In  one 
storv  the  bat  is  rejected  by  both  sides,  but  is  finally  accepted  by  the  fourfooted 
animals  on  account  of  his  having  teeth,  and  enables  them  to  win  the  victory  from 
the  birds. 

The  ballplay— The  ballplay,  a'ne'tsd,  is  the  great  athletic  game  of  the  Cherokee  and 
the  Gulf  tribes,  as  well  as  with  those  of  the  St  Lawrence  and  Great,  lakes.  It  need 
hardly  be  stated  that  it  is  not  our  own  game  of  base  ball,  but  rather  a  variety  of  ten- 
nis, the  ball  being  thrown,  not  from  the  hand,  but  from  a  netted  racket  or  pair  of 
rackets.  The  goals  are  two  sets  of  upright  poles  at  either  end  of  the  ball  ground, 
which  is  always  a  level  grassy  bottom  beside  a  small  stream.  There  is  much  accom- 
panying ceremonial  and  conjuration,  with  a  ball  dance,  in  which  the  women  take 
part,  the  night  before.  It  is  the  same  game  by  which  the  hostile  tribes  gained 
entrance  to  the  British  post  at  Mackinaw  in  1763,  and  under  the  name  of  lacrosse  has 
become  the  national  game  of  Canada.  It  has  also  been  adopted  by  the  French  Cre- 
oles of  Louisiana  under  the  name  of  raquette.  In  British  Columbia  it  is  held  to  be 
the  favorite  amusement  of  the  people  of  the  underworld  (Teit,  Thompson  River 
Traditions,  p.  116).  In  the  southern  states  the  numerous  localities  bearing  the  names 
of  "Ballplay,"  "Ball  flat,"  and  "Ball  ground,"  hear  witness  to  the  Indian  fondness 
for  the  game.  Large  sums  were  staked  upon  it,  and  there  is  even  a  tradition  that 
a  considerable  territory  in  northern  Georgia  was  won  from  the  Creeks  by  the 
Cherokee  in  a  ball  game.  For  an  extended  description  see  the  the  author's  article 
"The  Cherokee  Ball  Play,"  in  the  American  Anthropologist  for  April,  1890. 

Won  /In-  game— On  account  of  their  successful  work  on  this  occasion  the  Cherokee 
ballplayer  invokes  the  aid  of  the  bat  and  the  flying  squirrel,  and  also  ties  a  small  piece 
of  the  bat's  wing  to  his  ball  stick  or  fastens  it  to  the  frame  over  which  the  sticks  are 
hung  during  the  preliminary  dance  the  night  before. 

Gavt  th'  martin  a  gourd— The  black  house-martin  is  a  favorite  with  the  Cherokee, 
who  attract  it  by  fastening  hollow  gourds  to  the  tops  of  long  poles  set  up  near  their 
houses  so  that  the  birds  may  build  their  nests  in  them.     In  South  Carolina,  as  far 


NOTES    ami    PARALLELS  455 

back  as  L700,  according  to  Lawson:  "The  planters  put  gourds  on  standing  holes 
[poles]  "ii  purpose  forthese  fowl  to  build  in,  because  thej  areavery  warlike  bird 
and  beat  the  crows  from  the  plantations"  I  History  of  ( 'arolina,  p.  238). 

37.  How  the  Turkey  got  ins  beard  (p.287):  This  storj  is  well  known  in  the 
trilie  and  was  heard  from  several  informants. 

According  to  a  (reek  myth  in  the  Tuggle  collection  the  Turkey  was  once  a  warrior 

anil  still  wears  his  last  scalp  from  his  nee  k.      In  am  it  her  story  of  the  same  collection 

it  is  a  man's  scalp  which  he  seized  from  the  Terrapin  and  accidentally  swallowed  as 
he  ran  off,  so  that  it  grew  out  from  his  breast. 

38.  Why  the  Turkey  gobbles  (p.288):  This  story  wasfirst  heard  from  John  Ax 
(easl    and  afterward  from  Wafford  (west) .    The  grouse  is  locally  called  "partrid 

in  the  southern  Alleghenies. 

39.  How  the  Kingfishek  got  ins  bill  (p.  288):  The  lirst  version  is  from  John 
Ax.  the  other  from  Swimmer. 

)'iirnn  txmixii:' — ••  i.ittle  People,"  another  name  for  the  Xufine'hi  (see  number  78). 
These  are  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  Anisga'ya  Tsunsdi',  "Little  Men,"  or 
Thunder  Boys. 

TugHlu'n&—A  small  slender-bodied  spotted  fish  about  four  inches  in  length, 
which  likes  to  lie  upon  the  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  larger  streams.  The  name 
refers  to  a  gourd,  from  a  fancied  resemblance  of  the  long  nose  to  the  handle  of  a 
gourd. 

4ti.  Row  the  Partridge  got  his  whistle  (p.  289) :  This  little  story  is  well  known 
in  the  tribe. 

Whistles  and  flutes  or  flageolets  are  in  use  among  nearly  all  trihes  for  ceremonial 
and  amusement  purposes.  The  w  histle,  usually  made  from  an  eagle  bone,  was  worn 
suspended  from  the  neck.  The  flute  or  flageolet  was  commonly  made  from  cedar 
w 1. 

41.  How  the  Redbiro  hot  his  color  (p.  289):  This  short  story  was  obtained 
from  Cornelius  Boudinot,  a  prominent  mixed-blood  of  Tahlequah,  and  differs  from 
the  standard  Cherokee  myth,  according  to  which  the  redbird  is  the  transformed 
daughter  of  the  Sun  (seenumber  5,  "The  Daughter  of  the  Sun"). 

Redpaint — Much  sacredness  attaches,  in  the  Indian  mind,  to  red  paint,  the  color 
being  symbolic  of  war,  strength,  success,  and  spirit  protection.  The  word  paint,  in 
any  Indian  language,  is  generally  understood  to  mean  red  paint,  unless  it  is  i  itherwise 
distinctly  noted.  The  Indian  red  paint  is  usually  a  soft  hematite  ore,  found  in  veins 
of  hard-rock  formation,  from  which  it  must  be  dug  with  much  labor  and  patience. 
In  the  western  trihes  everyone  coming  thus  to  procure  paint  makes  a  prayer  beside 
the  rock  and  hangs  a  small  sacrifice  upon  a  convenient  bush  or  -tick  before  beginning 
operations. 

41'.  The  Pheasant  beating  corn:  The  Pheasant  dance  (p.  290):  The  lirst  of 
these  little  tales  is  from  John  Ax,  tin-  second  from  Swimmer.  The  pheasant  |  Bonasa 
umbetta;  Cherokee  tlunti'slt)  is  also  locally  called  grouse  or  partridge. 

4.;.  The  race  between  the  Crane  and  the  Hummingbird  (p.  290):  This  story 
is  a  favorite  one  in  the  tribe,  and  was  heard  from  several  informants,  both  Easl  and 
West.  The  sequel  may  surprise  those  who  have  supposed  that  woman  has  no  rights  in 
Indian  society. 

In  a  Creek  story  under  the  same  title,  in  the  Tuggle  collection,  the  rivals  agree  to 
fly  from  a  certain  spot  on  a  stream  to  the  spring  at  its  head.  The  humming  bird  i- 
obliged  to  follow  the  windings  of  the  stream,  hut  the  crane  takes  a  direct  cour.-e 
above  the  trees  and  thus  win-  the  race. 

Flu  around  the  world— Noi  around  a  globe,  hut  around  the  circumference  oi  a  disk, 
according  to  the  Indian  idea. 


45(i  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHKROKEE 


44.  Tm-:  Owl  gets  married  (p.  201):  Told  by  Swimmer.  The  three  owls  of  the 
Cherokee  country  are  known,  respectively,  an  tsklH'  (i.  e.,  "  witch,"  Bubo  wrginiarma 
saturaivs,  great,  dusky-horned  owl),  wahuhv/  [Megaseops  <ixio,  screech  owl),  and 
ugul "'  i  Syrruum  nebuhsum,  hooting  or  barred  owl).  There  is  no  generic  term.  The 
Cherokee  say  that  there  is  almost  no  rlesh  upon  the  body  of  the  hooting  owl  except 
upon  tile  head. 

4.">.  The  Huho  lets  married  (p.  292):  This  story  was  heard  at  different  times  from 
Swimmer,  John  Ax,  and  Ta'gwadihi'.     The  first  named  always  gave  in  the  proper 

place  a  very  g 1  imitation  of  the  Imlm  call,  drawing  out  the  sau-h  slowly,  giving 

the  In*.  h'i,  lifi,  In'i,  ln'i,  lu'i  in  quick,  smothered  tones,  and  ending  with  three  chirps 
and  a  long  whistle.  From  this  and  one  or  two  other  stories  of  similar  import  it 
would  seem  that  the  woman  is  the  ruling  partner  in  the  Cherokee  domestic  estab- 
lishment. Matches  wen-  generally  arranged  by  the  mother,  and  were  conditional 
upon  the  consent  of  the  girl  (see  notes  to  number  84,  "The  Man  who  Married  the 
Thunder's  Sister"). 

The  huhu  of  the  Cherokee,  so  called  from  its  cry,  is  the  yellow-breasted  chat 
(  Tcteria  irirens),  also  known  as  the  yellow  mocking  bird  on  account  of  its  wonderful 
mimic  powers. 

46.  Why  the  Buzzard's  head  is  rare  (p.  293):  This  story  was  told  by  Swimmer 
and  other  informants,  and  is  well  known.  It  has  an  exact  parallel  in  the  Omaha 
story  of  "Ictinike  and  the  Buzzard"  (Dorsey,  in  Contributions  to  North  American 
Ethnology,  vi). 

47.  The  Eagle's  revenge  (p.  293):  This  story,  told  by  John  Ax,  illustrates  the 
tribal  belief  and  custom  in  connection  with  the  eagle  and  the  eagle  dance,  as  already 
described  in  number  35,  "The  Bird  Tribes,"  and  the  accompanying  notes. 

Dryingpoil — A  pole  laid  horizontally  in  the  forks  of  two  upright  stakes,  planted 
firmly  in  the  ground,  for  the  purpose  of  temporarily  hanging  up  game  and  fresh 
meat  in  the  hunting  camp,  to  protect  it  from  wolves  and  other  prey  animals  or  to 
allow  it  to  dry  out  before  the  fire. 

48.  The  Hunter  and  the  Buzzard  (p.  294):  Told  by  Swimmer.  The  custom  of 
lending  or  exchanging  wives  in  token  of  hospitality  and  friendship,  on  certain  cere- 
monial occasions,  or  as  the  price  of  obtaining  certain  secret  km  >w  ledge,  was  very  gen- 
eral among  the  tribes,  and  has  been  noted  by  explorers  and  other  observers,  east  and 
west,  from  the  earliest  period. 

49.  The  snake  tribe  (p.  294):  Rattlesnake — The  custom  of  asking  pardon  of  slain 
or  offended  animals  has  already  been  noted  under  number  15,  "The  Fourfooted 
Tribe-."  and  number  :!5,  "The  Bird  Tribes"  (eagle).  Reverence  for  the  rattlesnake 
wasnniVersal  among  the  Indians,  and  has  been  repeatedly  remarked  by  travelers  in 
every  part  of  the  country.  To  go  into  a  dissertation  upon  the  great  subject  of  ser- 
pent worship  is  not  a  part  of  our  purpose. 

The  missionary  Washburn  tells  how,  among  the  Cherokee  of  Arkansas,  be  was  .  nice 
riding  along,  accompanied  by  an  Indian  on  foot,  when  they  discovered  a  poisonous 
,-nake  coiled  beside  the  path.  "I  observed  Blanket  turned  aside  to  avoid  the  serpent, 
but  made  no  signs  of  attack,  and  I  requested  the  interpreter  to  get  down  and  kill  it. 
He  did  so,  and  I  then  inquired  of  Blanket  why  he  did  not  kill  the  serpent.  He 
answered,  'I  never  kill  snakes  and  so  the  snakes  never  kill  me;  but  I  will  tell  you 
about  it  when  you  next  come  to  see  me.'  "  He  kept  his  word  soon  after  by  relating 
as  a  personal  experience  (probably,  in  fact,  an  Indian  dream)  a  long  story  of  having 
once  been  conducted  by  a  rattlesnake  to  an  underground  council  of  the  rattlesnake 
tribe,  where  he  found  all  the  snakes  lamenting  over  one  of  their  number  who  had 
been  recently  killed  by  an  Indian,  and  debating  the  method  of  punishment,  which 
was  executed  a  day  or  two  later  by  inflicting  a  fatal  bite  upon  the  offender  while 
engaged  in  the  ballplay  (Reminiscences,  pp.  208-212).     As  told  by  the  missionary, 


NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  157 

the  story  is  very  much  dressed  up,  hul  strikinglj  resemhlea  number  58,  "The  Rattle- 
snake's Vengeance." 

Adair,  evidently  confusing  several  Cherokee  snake  myths,  speaks  of  some  reputed 
gigantic  rattlesnakes  in  the  Cherokee  mountains,  with  beautiful  changing  colors  and 
great  power  of  fascination,  by  which  thej  drew  into  their  jaws  any  living  creatun 
comingwithin  their  vision,  and  continues:  "They  call  them  and  all  of  t  In-  rattle- 
snake kind,  kings  or  chieftains  of  the  snakes,  and  they  allow  one  such  to  every  dil 
ferent  species  of  the  brute  creation.     An  old  trader  of  Cheeowhee  told  me  that  for 

the  reward  of  twopiecesol  str 1  cloth  he  engaged  a  couple  of  \< g  warriors  to 

show  liim  the  place  of  their  resort;  but  the  headmen  would  not  by  any  means  allow 
it.  on  account  of  a  superstitious  tradition—  for  they  fancy  the  killing  of  them  would 
expose  tin  ii  i  to  the  danger  of  being  bit  by  the  other  inferior  species  of  the  serpentine 
tribe,  who  love  their  chieftains  and  know  by  instinct  those  who  maliciously  killed 
then i.  as  they  Bght  onlj  in  their  own  defense  and  that  of  their  young  ones,  never 
biting  those  who  do  not  disturb  them."  He  mentions  also  an  instance  of  a  Chicka- 
saw priest  u  ho,  after  having  applied  to  his  hands  the  juice  of  a  certain  plant,  took  up 
a  rattlesnake  without  damage  and  laid  it  carefully  in  a  hollow  tree  to  prevent  Adair's 
killing  it  (History  of  the  American  Indians,  pp.  237-238  I. 

Of  the  Carolina  tribes  generally,  Lawson,  in  1701,  says:  "As  for  killing  of  snakes, 
tln\  avoid  it  if  they  lie  in  their  way,  because  their  opinion  is  that  some  of  the  ser- 
pents' kindred  would  kill  some  of  the  savage's  relations  that  should  destroy  him" 
i  History  of  Carolina,  p.  341). 

Bart  ram  says  of  the  Seminoles,  a  hi  nit  177.">:  "These  people  never  kill  the  rattlesnake 
or  any  other  serpent,  saying,  it  they  do  so,  the  spirit  of  the  killeil  snake  will  excite 
or  influence  his  living  kindred  or  relatives  to  revenge  the  injury  or  violence  done  to 
him  when  alive."  He  recounts  an  amusing  incident  of  his  own  experience  where 
the  Indians  sent  for  him  to  come  and  kill  a  rattlesnake  which  ha<l  invaded  their 
camp  ground,  and  which  they  were  afraid  to  disturb.  Their  request  having  been 
complied  with,  the  Indians  then  insisted  upon  scratching  him,  according  to  the  Indian 
custom,  in  order  to  let  out  some  of  his  superabundant  blood  and  courage,  but  were 
finally,  with  some  difficulty,  dissuaded  from  their  purpose.  "Tims  it  seemed  that 
the  whole  was  a  ludicrous  farce  to  satisfy  their  people  and  appease  the  manes  of  the 
dead  rattlesnake"  (Travels,  pp.  258-261). 

Tin  trailer  Henry  (Travels,  pp.  176-179)  narrates  a  must  interesting  instance  from 

among  the  Ojibwa  of  Lake  Superior  in  17"4.     While  gathering  w I  near  the  camp 

he  was  start  led  by  a  sudden  rattle,  and  looking  down  discovered  a  rati  lesnake  almost 
at  his  feet,  with  body  coiled  and  head  raised  to  strike. 

"1  no  sooner  saw  the  snake,  than  I  hastened  to  the  canoe,  in  order  to  procure  my 
gun;  but,  the  Indians  observing  what  I  was  doing,  inquired  the  occasion,  and  being 
informed,  begged  me  to  desist.  At  the  same  time,  they  followed  me  to  the  spot,  with 
their  pipes  and  tobacco-pouches  in  their  bands.  On  returning,  I  found  the  snake 
still  coiled. 

"The  Indians,  on  their  part,  surrounded  it.  all  addressing  it   by  turns. and  calling 
it  their  arm  dfath  i     but  yet  keeping  at  some  distance.     During  this  part  of  the  cen 
lie  my.  they  filled  their  pipes:  and  now  each  hie -a  the  smoke  toward  the  snake,  who. 
as  it  appeared  to  me,  really  received  it  with  pleasure.     In  a  word,  after  remaining 
coiled,  and  receiving  incense,  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour,  it  stretched  itself  along  the 

ground,  in  visible g I  humor.     Its  length  was  between  four  ami  five  feet.     Having 

remained  outstretched  for  some  time,  at  last  it  moved  slowly  away,  the  Indians  fol- 
lowing it.  ami  still  addressing  it  by  the  title  of  grandfather,  beseeching  it  to  take  car  • 
of  their  families  during  their  absence,  an.  I  to  i„-  pleased  to  open  the  heart  oi  Sit  \\  Q- 
liam  Johnson  [the  British  Indian  agent,  whom  they  were  about  to  visit],  so  that  he 
might  shoiv  them  charity,  and  till  their  canoe  with  rum.  One  of  the  chiefs 
petition,  that  the  snake  would  take  no  notice  of  the  insult  which  had  been  offered 


458  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


him  by  the  Englishman,  who  would  even  have  put  him  to  death,  but  for  the  inter- 
ference of  the  Indians,  to  whom  it  was  hoped  he  would  impute  no  part  of  the  offence. 
They  further  requested,  that  he  would  remain,  and  inhabit  their  country,  and  not 
return  among  the  English;  that  is,  ^o  eastward." 

He  adds  that  the  appearance  of  the  rattlesnake  so  far  north  was  regarded  as  an 
extraordinary  omen,  and  that  very  little  else  was  spoken  of  for  the  rest  of  the  even- 
ing. The  next  day,  while  steering  across  Lake  Huron  in  their  canoe,  a  terrible  storm 
came  up. 

"The  Indians,  beginning  to  be  alarmed,  frequently  called  on  the  rattlesnake  to 
come  to  their  assistance.  By  degrees  the  waves  grew  high;  and  at  11  o'clock  it  blew 
a  hurricane,  and  we  expected  every  moment  to  be  swallowed  up.  From  prayers, 
the  Indians  now  proceeded  to  sacrifices,  both  alike  offered  to  the  god-rattlesnake,  or 
manito-kinibic.  One  of  the  chiefs  took  a  dog,  and  after  tying  its  forelegs  together, 
threw  it  overboard,  at  the  same  time  calling  on  the  snake  to  preserve  us  from  being 
drowned,  and  desiring  him  to  satisfy  his  hunger  with  the  carcass  of  the  dog.  The 
snake  was  unpropitious,  and  the  wind  increased.  Another  chief  sacrificed  another 
dog,  with  the  addition  of  some  tobacco.  In  the  prayer  which  accompanied  these 
gifts,  he  besought  the  snake,  as  before,  not  to  avenge  upon  the  Indians  the  insult 
which  he  hail  received  from  myself,  in  the  conception  of  a  design  to  put  him  to 
death.  He  assured  the  snake,  that  I  was  absolutely  an  Englishman,  and  of  kin 
neither  to  him  nor  to  them.  At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech,  an  Indian,  who  sat 
near  me,  observed,  that  if  we  were  drowned  it  would  lie  for  my  fault  alone,  and  that 
I  ought  myself  to  be  sacrificed,  to  appease  the  angry  manito,  nor  was  I  without 
apprehensions,  that  in  case  of  extremity,  this  would  be  my  fate;  but,  happily  for 
me,  the  storm  at  length  abated,  and  we  reached  the  island  safely." 

The  Delawares  also,  according  to  Heckewelder,  called  the  rattlesnake  grandfather 
and  refrained  from  injuring  him.  He  says:  "One  day,  as  I  was  walking  with  an 
elderly  Indian  on  the  banks  of  the  Muskingum,  I  saw  a  large  rattlesnake  lying  across. 
the  path,  which  I  was  going  to  kill.  The  Indian  immediately  forbade  my  doing  so; 
'  for,'  said  he,  '  the  rattlesnake  is  grandfather  to  the  Indians,  and  is  placed  here  on 
purpose  to  guard  us,  and  to  give  us  notice  of  impending  danger  by  his  rattle,  which 
is  the  same  as  if  be  were  to  tell  us,  •Inuk  about.'  'Now,'  added  he,  'if  we  were  to 
kill  one  of  those,  the  others  would  soon  know  it,  and  the  whole  race  would  rise 
upon  us  and  bite  us.'  I  observed  to  him  that  the  white  people  were  not  afraid  of 
this;  for  they  killed  all  the  rattlesnakes  that  they  met  with.  On  this  he  enquired 
whether  any  white  man  had  been  bitten  by  these  animals,  and  of  course  I  answered 
in  the  affirmative.  'No  wonder,  then!'  replied  he,  'you  have  to  blame  yourselves 
for  that.  You  did  as  much  as  declaring  war  against  them,  and  you  will  find  them  in 
your  country,  where  they  will  not  fail  to  make  frequent  incursions.  They  are  a  very 
dangerous  enemy;  take  care  you  do  not  irritate  them  in  our  country;  they  and  their 
grandchildren  are  on  good  terms,  and  neither  will  hurt  the  other.'  These  ancient 
notions  have,  however  in  a  great  measure  died  away  with  the  last  generation,  and 
the  Indians  at  present  kill  their  grandfather,  the  rattlesnake,  without  ceremony, 
whenever  they  meet  with  him"  (Indian  Nations,  p.  252). 

S&likwdyi — "The  old  Tuscaroras  had  a  custom,  which  they  supposed  would  keep 
their  teeth  white  and  strong  through  life.  A  man  caught  a  snake  and  held  it  by  its 
head  and  tail.  Then  he  bit  it  through,  all  the  way  from  the  head  to  the  tail,  and 
this  kepi  the  teeth  from  decay"  (W.  M.  Beauchamp,  Iroquois  Notes,  in  Journal  of 
American  Folk-Lore,  July,  L892). 

$  nd  torn  nis  of  rain — The  belief  in  a  connection  between  the  serpent  and  the  rain- 
gods  is  well-nigh  universal  anion'.'  primitive  peoples,  and  need  only  be  indicated 
here. 

50.  The  Uktena  and  the  UluSsu'ti  (p.297):  The  belief  in  the  great  Uktena  and 
the  magic  power  of  the  Ulufisu'ti  is  firmly  implanted  in  the  Cherokee  breast.  The 
Uktena  has  its  parallel  in   the  Gitchi-Kenebig  or  Great    Homed    Serpent   of   the 


NOTES     \M>    PARALLELS  45*,) 

northern  Algonquian  tribes,  and  is  Bomewhal  analogous  to  the  Zemo'gu'ani  or  <  Ireal 
Horned  Alligator  of  the  Kiowa.     Myths  of  a  jewel  in  the  head  of  a  serpent  or  of  a 

toad  are  so  common  to  all  Aryan  nations  as  to  have  beci proverbial.     Talismanic 

and  prophi  tic  stones,  which  are  carefully  guarded,  and  to  which  prayer  and  sacrifice 
arc  offered,  arc  kept  in  many  tribes  (see  Dorse) .  Teton  Folklore,  in  American  Anthro- 
pologist, April,  1889  .  The  name  of  the  serpent  is  derived  from  ctkta,  "eye,"  and 
may  be  rendered  "strong  looker,"  i.e.,  "keen  eyed,"  because  nothing  within  the 

range  of  its  vision  can  escape  discovery.     From  thi   - root  is  derived  akta'tt,  "to 

look  into,"  "to  examine  closely,"  the  Cherokee  name  for  a  field  glass  or  telescope 
By  the  English-speaking  Indians  the  serpent  is  sometimes  called  the  diamond  rattle- 
snake. The  mythic  diamond  crest,  when  in  its  proper  place  upon  the  snake'-  head, 
is  called  ulstithV.  literally,  "it  is  on  his  head,"  but  when  detached  and  in  the  hands 
of  the  conjurer  it  becomes  the  Ulufisu'tl,  "Transparent,"  thegreat  talisman  of  the 
tribe.  On  account  of  its  glittering  brightness  it  is  sometimes  called  [gagu'tT,  "Day- 
light." [nferii ir  magic  crystals  arc  believed  to  be  the  scale-  from  the  same  serpent, 
and  an'  sometimes  also  called  ulufisu'tl. 

The  earliest  notice  of  the  Ulufisu'tl  is  given  by  the  young  Virginian  officer,  Tim- 
berlake,  who  was  sent  upon  a  peace  mission  to  the  Cherokee  in  1762,  shortly  after 
the  close  of  their  tirst  war  with  the  whites.      He  says  i  Memoirs,  pp.  47-49): 

"They  have  many  beautiful  stones  of  different  colours,  many  of  which,  I  am  apt 
to  believe,  are  of  great  value;  but  their  superstition  has  always  prevented  their  dis- 
posing of  them  to  the  trailer-,  who  have  made  many  attempts  to  that  purpose;  hut 
as  thc\  use  them  in  their  conjuring  ceremonies,  they  believe  their  parting  with  them 
or  bringing  them  from  home,  would  prejudice  their  health  or  affairs.  Among  others 
there  i-  one  in  the  possession  of  a  conjurer,  remarkable  for  its  brilliancy  and  beauty, 
hut  more  so  for  the  extraordinary  manner  in  which  it  was  found.  It  grew,  if  we 
may  credit  the  Indians,  on  the  head  of  a  monstrous  serpent,  whose  retreat  was,  by 
its  brilliancy,  discovered:  hut  a  great  number  of  snakes  attending  him.  he  being,  as  I 
suppose  by  his  diadem,  of  a  superior  rank  amongthe  serpents,  made  it  dangerous  to 
attack  him.  Many  were  the  attempts  made  by  the  Indians,  hut  all  frustrated,  nil  a 
fellow  more  bold  than  the  rest,  casing  himself  in  leather,  impenetrable  to  the  bite 
of  the  serpent  or  his  guards,  and  watching  a  convenient  opportunity,  surprised  and 
killed  him,  tearing  his  jewel  from  his  head,  which  the  conjurer  has  kept  hid  fpr 
many  years,  in  some  place  unknown  to  all  hut  two  women,  who  have  been  offered 
large  presents  to  betray  it.  hut  steadily  refused,  lest  some  signal  judgment  or  mis- 
chance should  follow.  That  such  a  stone  exists,  I  believe,  having  seen  many  of 
great  beauty;  hut  I  cannot  think  it  would  answer  all  the  encomiums  the  Indians 
bestow  upon  it.  The  conjurer,  1  suppose,  hatched  the  account  of  its  discovery;  1 
have  however  given  it  to  the  reader,  a-  a  specimen  of  an  Indian  story,  many  of  which 
are  much  more  surprising.'' 

A  few   years  later  Adair  gives  us  an  account  of  the  serpent  and  the  stone.      Accord- 
ing to  his  statement  the  uktenas  had  their  home  in  a  deep  valley  between  tl 
of  the  Tuckasegee  and  the  "northern  branch  of  the  lower  <  Iheerake  river"    i.  e.,  the 
Little  Tennessee  .  the  valley  being  the  deep  defile  of  Nantahala,  where, 

of  its  gloomy  and  forbidding  aspect,  Cherokee  tradition  locates  more  than     i 

endary  terror.     With  pardonable  error  he  confounds  the  Uktena  with  the  < 

the  Rattlesnakes.     The-two,  however,  are  distinct,  the  latter  being  simply  the  head  of 

the  rattlesnake  tribe,  without  the  blazing  carbuncle  or  the  i tense  size  attributed 

ti  i  the  Uktena. 

"Between  two  Inch  mountains,  nearly  covered  with  old  mo— \  rock-,  lofty  cedars 
and  pines,  in  the  valleys  of  which  the  beams  of  the  sun  reflect  a  powerful  heat,  there 
are,  as  the  natives  affirm,  some  bright  old  inhabitants  or  rattlesnakes,  of  a  moreenoi 

i    than  is  mentioned  in  history.      They  are  so  large  and  mi»  icldy,  that    they 

take  a  circle  almost  as  wide  a-  their  length  to  crawl  around  in  their  shortest  orbit: 
but  bountiful  natun mpensates  the  heavy  motion  of  their  bodies,  for,  a 


460  Mi'THS    OB'    THB:    CHEROKB:E  [eth. 


no  living  creature  moves  within  the  reach  of  their  ^i<rl it,  but  they  can  draw   it  to 
them.  .  .  . 

"The  description  the  Indians  give  US  of  their  colour  is  as  various  as  what  we  are 
told  of  the  camelion,  that  seems  to  the  spectator  to  change  its  colour,  by  every  different 
position  he  may  view  it  in;  which  proceeds  from  the  piercing  rays  of  the  light  that 
blaze  from  their  foreheads,  so  as  to  dazzle  the  eyes,  from  whatever  quarter  they  posl 
themselves — for  in  each  of  their  heads,  there  is  a  large  carbuncle,  which  not  only 
repels,  but  they  affirm,  sullies  the  meridian  beams  of  the  sun.  They  reckon  it  so 
dangerous  to  disturb  these  creatures,  that  no  temptation  can  induce  them  to  betray 
their  secret  recess  to  the  prophane.  They  call  them  and  all  of  the  rattlesnake  kind, 
kings,  or  chieftains  of  the  snakes,  and  they  allow  one  such  to  every  different  species 
of  the  brute  creation.  An  old  trader  of  Cheeowhee  told  me,  that  for  the  reward  of 
two  pieces  of  Stroud  cloth,  he  engaged  a  couple  of  young  warriors  to  shew  him  the 
place  of  their  resort,  but  the  head-men  would  not  by  any  means  allow  it,  on  account 
of  a  superstitious  tradition — for  they  fancy  the  killing  of  them  would  expose  them  to 
the  danger  of  being  bit  by  the  other  inferior  species  of  that  serpentine  tribe,  who  love 
their  chieftains,  and  know  by  instinct  those  who  maliciously  killed  them,  as  they 
tight  only  in  their  own  defence  and  that  of  their  young  ones,  never  biting  those  who 
do  not  disturb  them." — History  of  the  American  Indians,  pp.  237-238. 

In  another  place  I  page  87  I  he  tells  us  of  an  uluiisutl  owned  by  a  medicine-man 
who  resided  at  Tymahse  (Tomassee),  a  former  Cherokee  town  on  the  creek  of  the 
same  name  near  the  present  Seneca,  South  Carolina.  "  The  above  Cheerake  prophet 
had  a  carbuncle  near  as  big  as  an  egg,  which  they  said  he  found  where  a  great 
rattlesnake  lay  dead,  and  that  it  sparkled  with  such  surprising  lustre  as  to  illumi- 
nate hi-  dark  winter  house,  like  strong  Hashes  of  continued  lightning,  to  the  great 
terror  of  the  weak,  who  durst  not  upon  any  account  approach  the  dreadful  fire-dart- 
ing place,  for  fear  of  sudden  death.  When  he  died  it  was  buried  along  with  him, 
according  to  custom,  in  the  town  of  Tymahse,  underthe  great  beloved  cabbin  [seat], 
which  stood  in  the  westernmost  part  of  that  old  fabric,  where  they  who  will  run  the 
risk  of  searching  may  luckily  find  it." 

Hagar  also  mentions  the  "Oolunsade,"  and  says,  on  the  authority  of  John  Ax: 
"  He  who  owns  a  crystal  can  call  one  of  the  Little  People  to  him  at  any  time  and 
make  him  do  his  bidding.  Sometimes  when  people  are  ill  it  is  because  some  evil 
invisible  being  has  taken  possession  of  him.  Then  the  Little  Man  called  up  by  the 
crystal  can  be  placed  on  guard  near  the  ill  man  to  prevent  the  evil  spirit  from 
re-entering  after  it  has  been  expelled"  (MS  Stellar  Legends  of  the  Cherokee). 

The  Southern  Alleghenies,  the  old  Cherokee  country,  abound  with  crystals  of 
various  kinds,  as  avcII  as  with  minerals.  The  Ulunsu'tl  is  described  as  a  triangular 
crystal  about  two  inches  long.  Hat  on  the  bottom,  and  with  slightly  convex  sides 
tapering  up  to  a  point,  and  perfectly  transparent  with  the  exception  of  a  single  red 
streak  running  through  the  center  from  top  to  bottom.  It  is  evidently  a  rare  and 
beautiful  specimen  of  rutile  quartz,  crystals  of  which,  found  in  the  region,  may  be 
seen  in  the  National  Museum  at  Washington. 

Other  small  stones  of  various  shapes  and  color  are  in  common  use  among  the 
Cherokee  conjurers  to  discover  lost  articles  or  for  other  occult  purposes.  These 
also  are  frequently  called  by  the  same  name,  and  are  said  to  have  been  originally 
the  scales  of  the  I'ktena.  but  the  Ulunsu'ti — the  talisman  from  the  forehead  of  the 
serpent — is  the  crystal  here  described,  and  is  SO  exceedingly  rare  that  so  far  as  is  know  n 
only  one  remained  among  the  East  Cherokee  in  1890.  Its  owner,  a  famous  hunter, 
kept  it  hidden  in  a  cave,  wrapped  up  in  a  deerskin,  but  refused  all  inducements  to 
show  it,  much  less  to  part  with  it,  stating  that  if  be  should  expose  it  to  the  gaze  of  a 
white  man  he  could  kill  no  more  game,  even  were  he  permitted  to  live  after  such 
a  sacrilege. 

The  possession  of  the  talisman  insures  success  in  hunting,  love,  rain  making,  and 


NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  H'>1 

all  other  undertakings,  but  its  great  use  is  in  life  divination,  and  when  il  is  invoked 
for  this  purpose  by  its  owner  the  future  is  mirrored  in  the  transparent  crystal  as  a 
tree  is  reflected  in  the  quiet  stream  below. 

When  consulting  it  the  conjurer  gazes  into  the  crystal,  and  after  some  little  time 
sees  in  its  transparent  depths  a  picture  of  the  person  or  event  in  question.  By  tin1 
action  of  the  specter,  or  its  position  near  the  top  or  bottom  of  the  crystal,  he  learns 
not  only  the  event  Itself,  but  also  its  nearness  in  time  or  place. 

Many  of  the  East  Cherokee  who  enlisted  in  the  <  lonfederate  service  during  the  late 
war suited  the  Ulunsu't)  before  starting,  and  survivors  declare  that  their  experi- 
ences verified  the  prediction.  <  toe  of  these  bad  gone  \\  iih  two  others  to  consult  the 
fates.  The  conjurer,  placing  the  throe  men  facing  him,  took  the  talisman  upon  the 
end  of  his  outstretched  finger  and  bade  them  look  intently  into  it.  After  some 
moments  they  saw  their  own  images  at  the  bottom  of  the  crystal.  The  images  grad- 
ually ascended  along  the  red  line.  Those  of  the  other  two  men  rose  to  the  middle 
and  then  again  descended,  but  the  presentment  oj  the  one  who  tells  the  story  con- 
tinued to  ascend  until  it  reached  the  top  before  going  down  again.  The  conjurer 
then  said  thai  the  other  two  would  die  in  the  second  year  of  the  war,  but  the  third 
would  survive  through  hardships  and  narrow  escapes  and  live  to  return  home.  As 
the  prophecy,  so  the  event. 

When  consulted  by  the  friends  of  a  sick  man  to  know  if  he  will  recover,  the  con- 
jurer shows  them  the  image  of  the  siek  man  lying  at  the  bottom  of  the  Ulunsfi'ti. 

He  then  tells  them  to  go  home  and  kill  some  game  (or,  in  these  latter  days,  any  f 1 

animal  |  and  to  prepare  a  feast.  <  >n  the  appointed  day  the  conjurer,  at  his  own  home. 
looks  into  the  crystal  and  sees  there  the  picture  of  the  party  at  dinner.  If  the  image 
of  the  siek  man  rises  ami  joins  them  at  the  feast  the  patient  will  recover;  ii  other- 
w  ise.  he  is  .loomed. 

51.  Agan-uni'tsI's  seakcb  fob  the   Uktena  i  p.  248):   This  is  one  of  the  most 

important  of  the  Cherokee  traditions,  for  the  reason  that  it  deals  with  the  mythic 
monster,  the  Uktena,  and  explains  the  origin  of  the  great  talisman,  the  Ulunsu'tl.  As 
here  given  il  was  obtained  from  Swimmer  I  east  i  with  additions  and  variants  from 
Wafford  (west  |  and  others.  It  is  recorded  by  Tell  Kate  as  obtained  by  him  in  the 
Territory  (Legends  of  the  Cherokees,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  January, 
1889),  ami  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  riufisu'ti.  by  Adair,  in  1775,  and 
by  Tiniberlake  as  early  as  1762  (see  notes  to  number  50,  "The  Uktena  and  the 
riufisu'ti"  i.  One  variant  makes  the  riufisu'ti  a  scale  from  tin-  seventh  ring  of  the 
serpent. 

The  Shawano,  who  at  one  time  occupied  the  Cumberland  region  of  Tennessee 
immediately  adjoining  the  Cherokee,  were  regarded  as  wizards  by  all  the  southern 
tribe-.  Brinton  says:  "Among  the  Algonkins  the  Shawnee  tribe  did  more  than  all 
others  combined  to  introduce  and  carry  about  religious  legends  and  ceremonies.    From 

the  earliest  times  they  seem  to  have  had  peculiar  aptitude  for  the  eCStacies,  deceits, 
and  fancies  that  make  up  the  spiritual  life  of  their  associates.  Their  constantly  rov- 
ing life  brought  them  in  contact  with  the  myths  of  many  nations,  and  it  is  extremely 
probable  that  they  first  brought  the  tale  of  the  horned  serpent  from  the  Creeks  and 

Cherokees"  (Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  137). 

Zxtcalities — Utawagun'ta  mountain,  Walasi'yl  gap,  Duniskwa'lgun'yl  gap  and 
AtaL'a'hf  (mythic)  lake,  are  all  points  in  the  Great  Smoky  range,  which  forms  the 
dividing  line  between  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee.  Tlanusi'yl  is  the  native  name 
for  the  site  of  Murphy,  at  the  junction  of  Hiwassee  and  Valley  rivers.  North  Caro- 
lina. Cahu'tl  is  Cohutta  mountain  in  Murray  county,  Georgia.  According  to 
Wafford  there  are  on  the  sides  of  this  mountain  several  stone  inclosures  which  were 
built  by  Agan-uni'tsl  for  shelter  place-  before  attacking  the  Uktena  (see  also  Glos- 
sary |. 

52.  The  Rbb  Man  \m>  the  Uktena  (p.300):  This  story  was  obtained  from  John 


462  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Ax.  Swimmer  had  heard  italso,  but  remembered  only  a  part  of  it.  Fur  more  in 
regard  to  the  Uktena  and  the  talisman  derived  from  it,  see  numbers  50  and  51,  with 
notes. 

Asga'ya  GH'gage'l—The  "Red  Man,"  or  lightning  spirit,  who  is  frequently  invoked 
in  the  sacred  formulas. 

Struck  by  lightning — As  has  been  explained  elsewhere,  the  wood  of  a  tree  that 
lias  been  struck  by  lightning  plays  an  important  part  in  Cherokee  folklore. 

Strong  and  dang<  row — It  is  a  common  article  of  Indian  belief  that  the  presence  of 
a  powerful  talisman,  no  matter  how  beneficent  in  itself,  is  enervating  or  positively 
dangerous  to  those  in  its  vicinity  unless  they  he  fortified  by  some  ceremonial  tonic. 
For  this  reason  every  great  "medicine"  is  usually  kept  apart  in  a  hut  or  tipi  built 
for  the  purpose,  very  much  as  we  are  accustomed  to  store  explosives  at  some  distance 
from  the  dwelling  or  business  house. 

53.  The  Huntei.  and  the  Uksu'hi  (p.  301) :  This  story  was  told  by  Swimmer  and 
John  Ax  as  an  actual  fact.  The  iiksu'hJ  is  the  mountain  blaeksnake  or  black  racer 
(Coluber  obsoletus).  The  name  seems  to  refer  to  some  peculiarity  of  the  eye,  akttt 
(cf.  uktena).  Hickory-log,  properly  Wane'asuiVth'tiiyi,  "Hickory  footlog,"  was  a 
Cherokee  settlement  on  Hiwassee  river,  near  the  present  Hayesville,  Clay  county, 
North  Carolina.     Another  of  the  same  name  was  on  Etowah  river  in  Georgia. 

Perspirution — The  Indian  belief  may  or  may  not  have  foundation  in  fact. 

54.  The  Ustu'tlI  (p.  302):  This  story  was  told  by  Swimmer  and  John  Ax  (east) 
and  by  Wafford  (west),  and  is  a  common  tradition  throughout  the  tribe.  The  name 
ustu'tll  refers  to  the  sole  of  the  foot,  and  was  given  to  the  serpent  on  account  of  its 
peculiar  feet  or  "suckers."  The  same  name  is  given  to  the  common  hoop-snake  of 
the  south  (AbaMor  erythrogrammus) ,  about  which  such  wonderful  tales  are  told  by 
the  white  mountaineers.  Cohutta  (Gahu'tl)  mountain,  in  Murray  county,  Georgia, 
was  also  the  traditional  haunt  of  the  Uktena  (see  number  51,  "Agan-Uni'tst's  search 
for  the  Uktena,"  and  compare  also  number  55,  "The  Uw'tsmVta.") 

55.  The  Uw'tsuR'ta  (p.  303):  This  story  was  obtained  from  James  Blythe.  Nufl- 
daye/<ll,  whence  Nantahala.  was  on  the  river  of  that  name  below  the  present  Jarrett's 
station. 

56.  The  Snake  Boy  (p.  304):  This  myth  was  told  by  Swimmer. 

AsH — The  Cherokee  asl,  or  "hot-house,"  as  it  was  called  by  the  old  traders,  is  the 
equivalent  of  the  sweat-house  of  the  western  tribes.  It  is  a  small  hut  of  logs  plas- 
tered over  with  clay,  with  ashed  roof,  and  just  tall  enough  to  permit  a  sitting  or 
reclining,  but  not  a  standing,  position  inside.  It  is  used  f6r sweat-bath  purposes,  and 
as  it  is  tight  and  warm,  and  a  fire  is  usually  kept  smoldering  within,  it  is  a  favorite 
sleeping  place  for  the  old  people  in  cold  weather.     It  is  now  nearly  obsolete. 

57.  The  Snake  Man  (p.  304):  This  myth,  obtained  from  Chief  Smith,  seems 
designed  to  impress  upon  the  laity  the  importance  of  a  strict  observance  of  the  innu- 
merable gaktufi'ta,  or  tabus,  which  beset  the  daily  life  of  the  Cherokee,  whether  in 
health  or  sickness,  hunting,  war,  or  arts  of  peace  (see  the  author's  "Sacred  Formulas 
of  the  Cherokees,"  in  the  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology). 

Similar  transformation  myths  are  found  all  over  the  world.  One  of  the  most  ancient 
is  the  story  of  Cadmus,  in  Ovid's  "  Metamorphoses,  '  with  the  despair  of  the  wife  as 
she  sees  the  snaky  change  come  over  her  husband.  "Cadmus,  what  means  this? 
Where  are  thy  feet'.'  Where  an-  both  thy  shoulders  and  thy  hands'.'  Where  is  thy 
color?  and,  while  I  speak,  where  all  else  besides?" 

In  a  Pawnee  story  given  by  Grinnell  two  brothers,  traveling,  camp  for  the  night. 
The  elder  eats  some  tabued  food,  and  wakes  from  his  sleep  to  find  that  heischang- 
ing  into  a  great  rattlesnake,  the  change  beginning  at.  his  feet.  He  rouses  his  brother 
and  gives  him  his  last  instructions: 

"  When  I  have  changed  into  a  snake,  take  me  in  your  arms  ami  cany  n yer  to 


\<n  l  -     \XI>    PARALLELS  t63 

that  hole.  Thai  will  be  tuy  home,  for  thai  is  the  house  of  the  snakes."  Having 
still  a  man's  mind,  !»'  continues  to  talk  as  the  metamorphosis  extends  upward,  until 
at  last  his  head  changes  to  that  of  a  snake,  when  his  1  null  in-  takes  him  up  and  carries 
him  to  ihe  hole.  The  relatives  make  frequent  visits  to  the  placetovisil  the  snake, 
who  alwa  when  they  call,  and  the  brother  brings  it  a  share  ol  his  war 

trophies,  including  a  horse  and  a  woman,  and  receives  in  return  the  protection 
■  ■I  the  snake  man  (Pawnee  Hero  Stories,  pp.  171-181).  AcloseOmaha  variant  is 
given  b)  I  torse)  l  "The  warriors  who  were  changed  to  snakes,"  in  Contributions  to 
North  American  Ethnology,  vi). 

58.  The  Rattlesnake's  vengeanci     p  305      This  story,  told  by  Swi lei    exem 

plifies  the  Imliaii  reverence  for  the  rattlesnake  and  dread  of  offending  it  already 
explained  in  number  49,  "  The  Snake  Tribe."  and  the  accompanying  notes. 

See  other  references  under  number  '■'>.  "  Kana'ti  and  Selu."     Many  of 
the  fndian  ceremonial  prayers  and  invocations  are  in  the  form  of  songs  or  chants. 

59.  Tin.  smaller  reptiles,  pishes,  and  insects  (p.  306):  Gi'gd,-tsuha''tl — This 
lizard  is  probably  the  Pleistodon  erythrocephalus,  which  is  described  in  Holbrook's 
"Herpetology"  as  being  about  11  to  13  inches  long,  with  bright  red  head,  olive- 
brown  body  and  tail,  and  yellowish-white  throat  and  abdomen.  "The  Pleistodon 
erythrocephalus  chooses  his  residence  in  deep  forests,  and  is  commonly  found  about 
hollow  trees,  often  at  a  height  of  30  or  40  feet  from  the  ground,  sometimes  taking  up 

his  abode  in  the  last  year's  nest  .if  the  w.ii  m1  pecker,  nut  of  which  he  tli  rusts  his  bright 
red  head  in  a  threatening  manner  to  those  who  would  disturb  bis  home.  He  never 
makes  his  habitation  on  or  near  the  ground,  and  in  fact  seldom  descends  from  his 
elevation  unless  in  search  of  food  or  water.  Though  shy  and  timid,  he  is  very  fierce 
when  taken,  and  bites  severely,  owing  to  the  great  strength  of  his  jaws,  as  well  as  the 
size  and  firmness  of  the  teeth.  The  bite,  however,  though  sharp  and  painful,  is  n..t, 
as  i>  commonly  supposed,  venomous."  ' 

/..or/.  horned  beetle — This  beetle,  variously  called  by  the  Cherokee  crawfish,  deer  ..r 
buck,  on  account  of  its  branching  horns,  is  probably  the  "flying  sta._'"  of  early  trav- 
eler- Says  Timberlake:  "  t  if  insects,  the  flying  stag  is  almost  the  only  one  worthy 
of  notice.  It  is  about  the  shape  of  a  beetle,  but  has  very  large,  beautiful,  branching 
horns,  like  those  of  a  stag,  from  whence  it  took  its  name  "  (Memoirs  p.  -hi  I.  Lawson, 
about  1700,  also  mentions  " the  flying  stags,  with  horns."  among  the  insects  of  east- 
ern ( larolina. 

60.  Why  the  Bullfrog's  head  is  stbiped  (p.  310):  The  first  version  is  from  John 
Ax.  the  second  from  Swimmer,  who  had  forgotten  the  details. 

HI.  The  Bullfrog,  lover  (p.  310 1 :  The  first  amusing  little  tale  was  heard  from 
several  story-tellers.  The  warning  words  are  sometimes  given  differently,  but  always 
in  a  deep,  gruff,  singing  tone,  which  makes  a  very  fair  imitation  of  a  bullfrog's  note. 
The  other  stories  were  tol.l  by  Tsesa'ni  ( Jessan )  and  confirmed  by  Swimmer. 

In  a  i  reek  variant  .if  the  first  story,  in  the  Tuggle  collection,  it  is  a  prettj  girl, 
who  is  obdurate  until  her  lover,  the  Rabbit,  conceals  himself  ill  the  same  way  near 
tin-  spring,  with  a  blpwgun  for  a  trumpet,  and  frightens  her  int..  consent  by  siu.-iir.' 
out:     -The  girl  who  >tays  single  will  die,  will  die,  will  die." 

61'.  The  Katydid's  warning  (p.  311):  Told  by  Swimmer  and  .lames  Blythe. 

i;:;.    tjNTSAIYi',  the  GAMBLER     p.  311  i:   This  story  was  obtained  from  Swimmer  and 

John  Ax  least),  and  confirmed  also  by  James  Wafford  (west),  who  remembered, 
however,  only  the  main  points  of  the  pursuit  and  final  capture  at  Kagun'yI.    The 

rsions   corresponded    very  closely,  excepting  that    Ax    sends    the    boy  to   the 

Sunset  land  to  play  against  his  brothers,  while  Swimmer  brings  them  to  meet  him 


1 .1.  E.  Hoi  brook,  North  American  Herpetology,  ora  Description  oil  he  Reptiles  intuitu 
i.  p.  119;  Phila.,1842. 


464  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


at  their  father's  house.     In  the  Ax  version, also,  the  gambler  flees  directly  to  the 

wwt,  and  as  often  as  the  brothers  si t  at  him  with  their  arrows  the  thunder  rolls 

and  the  lightning  flashes,  but  he  escapes  by  sinking  into  the  earth,  which  opens  for 
him,  to  reappear  in  another  form  somewhere  else.  Swimmer  makes  the  Little  Peo- 
ple help  in  the  chase.  In  Cherokee  figure  an  invitation  to  a  ball  contest  is  a  chal- 
lenge to  battle.  Thunder  is  always  personified  in  the  plural,  Ani'-Hyufi'tikwala'skl, 
"The  Thunderers."  The  father  and  the  two  older  sons  seem  to  be  Kana'ti  and 
the  Thunder  Boys  (see  number  3,  "  Kana'ti  and  Selu"  i.  although  neither  informant 

would  positively  assert  this,  while  the  hoy  hero,  who  has  no  other  na is  said  to 

be  the  lightning.     Nothing  is  told  of  hie  after  career. 

UntsaiyV — In  this  name  (sometimes  F/tsaiyi'  or  Tsaiyi')  the  first  syllable  ia 
almost  silent  and  the  vowels  are  prolonged  to  imitate  the  ringing  sound  produced  by 
striking  a  thin  sheet  of  metal.  The  word  is  now  translated  "brass,"  and  is  applied 
to  any  object  made  of  that  metal.  The  mythic  gambler,  who  has  his  counterpart 
in  the  mythologies  of  many  tribes,  is  the  traditional  inventor  of  the  wheel-and- 
stick  game,  so  popular  among  the  southern  and  eastern  Indians,  and  variously  known 
as  gatayustt,  chenco,  or  chunki  (see  note  under  number  3,  "Kana'ti  and  Selu"). 
He  lived  on  the  south  side  of  Tennessee  river,  at  I'lVtiguhl'. 

(jH'tigvhV  or  The  Suck — The  noted  and  dangerous  rapid  known  to  the  whites  as 
"The  Suck"  and  to  the  Cherokee  as  Un'tiguhl',  "Pot  in  the  water."  is  in  Tennessee 
river,  near  the  entrance  of  Suck  creek,  about  s  miles  below  Chattanooga,  at  a  point 
where  the  river  gathers  its  whole  force  into  a  contracted  channel  to  break  through 
the  Cumberland  mountain.  The  popular  name.  Whirl,  or  Suck,  dates  back  at  leas* 
to  1780,  the  upper  portion  being  known  at  the  same  time  as  "The  boiling  pot' 
(Donelson  diary,  in  Ramsey,  Tennessee,  p.  71  I,1  a  close  paraphrase  of  the  India 
name.  In  the  days  of  pioneer  settlement  it  was  a  most  dangerous  menace  to  na\  iga 
lion,  but  some  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  in  the  channel  have  now  been  removed 
by  blasting  and  other  means.  The  Cherokee  name  and  legend  were  probably  sug- 
gested  by  the  appearance  of  the  rapids  at  the  spot.  Close  to  where  Cntsaiyl'  lived, 
according  to  the  Indian  account,  may  still  be  seen  the  large  flat  rock  upon  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  play  the  gatayusti  game  with  all  who  accepted  his  challenge,  the  lines 
andgrooves  worn  by  the  rolling  of  the  wheels  beingstill  plainly  marked,  ami  thestone 
wheels  themselves  now  firmly  attached  to  the  surface  of  the  rock.  A  similarly 
grooved  or  striped  rock,  where  also,  it  is  said.  ITitsaiyi'  used  to  roll  his  wheel,  is 
reported  to  be  on  the  north  side  of  Hiwassee,  just  below  Calhoun,  Tennessee. 

The  Suck  is  thus  described  by  a  traveler  in  ISIS,  while  the  whole  was  still  Indian 
country  and  Chattanooga  was  yet  undreamed  of: 

"And  here,  I  cannot  forbear  pausing  a  n tent  to  call  your  attention  to  the  grand 

and  picturesque  scenery  which  opens  to  the  view  of  the  admiring  spectator.  The 
country  is  still  possessed  by  the  aborigines,  ami  the  band  of  civilization  has  done  but 
little  to  soften  the  wild  aspect  of  nature.  The  Tennessee  river,  having  concentrated 
into  one  mass  the  numerous  streams  it  has  received  in  its  course  of  three  or  four 
hundred  miles,  glides  through  an  extended  valley  with  a  rapid  and  overwhelming 
current,  half  a  mile  in  width.      At   this   place,  a  group  of  mountains  stand   ready  to 

dispute  its  progress.      First,  the  'Lookout.'  an  independent  range mmencing thirty 

miles  below,  presents,  opposite  the  river's  course,  its  bold  and  rocky  termination  of 
two  thousand  feet.  Around  its  brow  is  a  pallisade  [sic]  of  naked  rocks,  from  seventy 
to  One  hundred  feet.  The  river  flows  ujion  its  base,  and  instantly  twines  to  theright. 
Passing  on  for  six  miles  farther  it  turns  again,  and  is  met  by  the  side  of  the  Rackoon 
mountain.  Collecting  its  strength  into  a  channel  of  seventy  yards,  it  severs  the 
mountain,,  and  rushes  tumultuously  through  the  rocky  defile,  wafting  the  trembling 
navigator  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  in  two  or  three  minutes.     The  passage  is  called  'The 


■  J.G. M.  Ramsey,  The  Annuls  of  Tennessee  to  the  end  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  <■!<■..  Philadel- 
phia, ls.->3.      • 


moosey]  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  4<'>.r> 

Suck.'    The  summit  of  the  I koul   mountain  overlooks  the  whole  country.     And 

to  those  who  can  be  delighted  with  the  view  of  an  interminable  forest,  penetrated 
by  tin'  windings  of  a  bold  river,  interspersed  with  hundreds  of  verdant  prairies,  and 

broken  by  many  ridges  and  mountains,  furnishes  in  the  month  of  May,  a  landscape, 
which  yields  to  few  others,  in  extent,  variety  or  beauty. " — Rev.  Elias  Cornelius,  in 
(Sillinian's]  American  Journal  of  Science,  i,  p.  223,  1818. 

Bel  eren  hisKfe — The  Indian  was  a  passionate  gambler  and  there  was  absolutely 
no  limit  to  the  risks  which  he  was  willing  to  take,  even  to  the  loss  of  liberty,  if  not 
of  life.  Says  Lawson  (History  of  Carolina,  p.  287):  "They  game  verj  much  and 
often  strip  one  another  of  all  they  have  in  the  world;  and  what  is  more,  I  have  known 
several  of  them  play  themselves  away,  so  that  they  have  remained  the  winners'  -ei 
vants  till  their  relations  or  themselves  could  pay  the  money  to  redeem  them." 

His  skin  was  dean — The  idea  of  purification  or  cleansing  through  the  efficacy  of 
the  sweat-bath  is  very  common  in  Indian  myth  and  ceremonial.  In  an  ( linalia  story 
given  by  Horsey  the  hero  has  been  transformed,  by  witchcraft,  into  a  mangy  dot.'. 
He  builds  a  sweat  lodge,  goes  into  it  as  a  dog  ami  sweats  himself  until,  on  his  com- 
mand, the  people  take  off  the  blankets,  when  "Behold,  he  was  not  a  dog;  he  was 
a  very  handsome  man"  i  "Adventures  of  Hingpe-agce,"  in  Contributions  to  North 
American  Ethnology,  vt,  p.  175). 

From  thebottom — The  choice  of  the  most  remote  or  the  most  insignificant  appear- 
ing of  several  objects,  as  being  really  the  most  valuable,  is  another  common  incident 
in  the  myths. 

Honey-loeust  tree — The  favorite  honey-locus',  tree  and  the  seat  with  thorns  of  the 
same  species  in  the  home  of  the  Thunder  Man  may  indicate  that  in  Indian  as  in 
Aryan  thought  there  was  an  occult  connection  between  the  pinnated  leaves  and  the 
lightning,  as  we  know  to  be  the  case  with  regard  to  the  European  rowan  or  mountain 
ash. 

All  kinds  of  snakes — It  will  be  remembered  that  the  hoy's  father  was  a  thunder 
god.  The  connection  between  the  snake  and  the  rain  or  thunder  spirit  has  already 
been  noted.  It  appears  also  in  number  84,  "The  Man  who  Married  the  Thunder's 
Sister." 

Elder  brother — My  elder  brother  (male  speaking),  iMgim/U;  my  elder  brother 
(female  speaking),  ungidtV;  thy  two  elder  brothers  (male  speaking),  tsets&ni'll. 

Sunset  land — The  Cherokee  word  here  used  is  Wusuhihun'yt,  "there  where  they 
stay  over  night."  The  usual  expression  in  the  sacred  formula  is  usunhi'yl,  "tin' 
darkening,  or  twilight  place";  the  common  word  is  wude'ligun'yl,  "there  where  it 
I  the  sun)  goes  down." 

Lightning  at  every  stroke — In  the  Omaha  myth  of  "The  Chief's  Son  anil  the  Thun- 
ders," given  by  Dorsey,  some  young  men  traveling  to  the  end  of  the  world  meet  a 
Thunder  Man,  who  bids  the  leader  select  one  of  four  medicine  hags.  Having  been 
warned  in  advance,  he  selects  the  oldest,  but  most  powerful,  and  is  then  given  also 
a  club  wbii  h  causes  thunder  whenever  flourished  in  the  air  (Contributions  to  North 
American  Ethnology,  vi,  p.  185). 

Strike  the  rock — This  method  of  procuring  water  is  as  old  at  leasl  n-  the  Look  of 
Exodus. 

The  brass  rubbed  off— The  beautiful  metallic  luster  on  the  head  of  Phanxus  earni 
fex  is  thus  accounted  for.  The  common  roller  beetle  is  called  "dung  roller,"  hut 
tin-  species  is  distinguished  as  the  "horned,  brass"  beetle.  It  is  also  .sometimes 
spi  iken  of  as  the  dog  of  the  Thunder  Boys. 

/,',  in,,-.'  i/miir  ul  tin  i/riijH  rim-  -Something  like  this  is  found  among  the  Cheyenne: 
"The  earth  rests  on  a  large  beam  or  post.  Far  in  the  north  there  is  a  beaver  as 
white  as  snow  who  is  a  great  father  of  all  mankind.  Some  day  he  will  gnaw  thrmiL.'li 
the  support  at  the  bottom.  We  shall  lie  helpless  ami  the  earth  will  fall.  This  will 
happen  when  he  becomes  angry.     The  post  is  already  partly  eaten  through.     For 

19   ETH— 01 30 


4()6  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

this  reason  one  band  of  the  Cheyenne  never  eat  beaver  or  even  touch  the  skin.  If 
they  do  touch  it,  they  become  sick"  (Kroeber,  Cheyenne  Tales,  in  Journal  of 
American  Folk-Lore,  July,  1900). 

64.  The  nest  op  the  Tla'nuwa  (p.315):  This  story  was  obtained  first  from  John 
Ax  and  Ta'gwadihi',  and  was  afterward  heard  of  frequently  in  connection  with  the 
cave  at  Citico.  It  is  mentioned  by  Ten  Kate  in  "Legends  of  the  Cherokees," 
obtained  in  flu-  Indian  Territory,  in  the  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  January,  1889. 

TUL'nuwQ,-  The  Tla'nuwa  (Tsa'nuwS  or  Su'nawain  the  Middle  dialect )  is  a  mythic 
bird,  described  as  a  great  hawk,  larger  than  any  bird  now  existing.  There  is  a  small 
hawk  called  tla'nuwa  usdi',  "little  tla'nuwa,"  which  is  described  as  its  smaller  coun- 
terpart or  image,  and  which  the  Cherokee  say  accompanies  flocks  of  wild  pigeons, 
occasionally  when  hungry  swooping  down  and  killing  one  by  striking  it  with  its  sharp 
breast  bone.  It  is  probably  the  goshawk  (Astur  atricapUlus) .  The  great  Tla'nuwa, 
like  the  other  animals,  "went  up."  According  to  Adair  (History  of  the  American 
Indians,  p.  17)  the  Cherokee  used  to  compare  a  miserly  person  to  a  "sinnawah." 
When  John  Ax  first  recited  the  story  he  insisted  that  the  whites  must  also  believe 
it,  as  they  had  it  pictured  on  their  money,  and  holding  up  a  silver"  coin,  he  trium- 
phantly pointed  out  what  he  claimed  was  the  figure  of  the  Tla'nuwa,  holding  in  its 
talons  the  arrows  and  in  its  beak  the  serpent.  He  was  not  so  far  wrong,  as  it  is  well 
known  that  the  Mexican  coat  of  arms,  stamped  upon  the  coins  of  the  republic,  has 
its  origin  in  a  similar  legend  handed  down  from  the  Aztec.  Myths  of  dangerous 
monster  serpents  destroyed  by  great  birds  were  common  to  a  number  of  tribes.  The 
Tuscarora,  formerly  eastern  neighbors  of  the  Cherokee,  told  "a  long  tale  of  a  great 
rattlesnake,  which,  a  great  while  ago,  lived  by  a  creek  in  that  river,  which  was  Neus, 
and  that  it  killed  abundance  of  Indians;  but  at  last  a  bald  eagle  killed  it,  and  they 
were  rid  of  a  serpent  that  used  to  devour  whole  canoes  full  of  Indians  at  a  time" 
(Lawson,  Carolina,  p.  346). 

TWnuwa'l —  "Tla'nuwa  place,"  the  cliff  so  called  by  the  Cherokee,  with  the  cave 
half  way  up  its  face,  is  on  the  north  bank  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  a  short  distance 
below  the  entrance  of  the  Citico  creek,  on  land  formerly  belonging  to  Colonel  John 
Lowrey,  one  of  the  Cherokee  officers  at  the  battle  of  the  Horseshoe  bend  (Wafford) . 
Just  above,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  is  LTtlunti'yl,  the  former  haunt  of 
the  cannibal  liver  eater  (see  number  66,  "U'tlunta,  the  Spear-finger"). 

Soon  after  tin1  creation — As  John  Ax  put  it,  adopting  the  Bible  expression,  HUahi'yu 
dine'ti&nii  a'nigwa — "A  long  time  ago    the  creation     soon  after." 

Rope  of  linn  bark — The  old  Cherokee  still  do  most  of  their  tying  and  packing  with 
ropes  twisted  from  the  inner  bark  of  trees.  In  one  version  of  the  story  the  medicine- 
man uses  a  long  udii'I  or  cohosh  (  Actseal)  vine. 

Holes  are  still  there — The  place  which  the  Cherokee  call  Tla'mnva-a'tsiyelunisun'yl, 
"  Where  the  Tla'nuwa  cut  it  up,"  is  nearly  opposite  Citico,  on  Little  Tennessee  river, 
just  below  Talassee  ford,  in  Blount  county,  Tennessee.  The  surface  of  the  rock  bears 
a  series  of  long  trenchlike  depressions,  extending  some  distance,  which,  according  to 
the  Indians,  are  the  marks  where  the  pieces  bitten  from  the  body  of  the  great  serpent 
weredropt  by  the  Tla'nuwa. 

65.  The  hunter  and  the  Tla'nuwa  (p.  316):  This  myth  was  told  by  Swimmer. 

66.  U'tlun'ta,  the  Spear-finger  (p.  316) :  This  is  oneof  the  most  noted  among  the 
Cherokee  myths,  being  equally  well  known  both  east  and  west.  The  version  here 
given  was  obtained  from  John  Ax,  with  some  corrections  and  additions  from  Swim- 
mer, Wafford  (west  I  and  others.  A  version  of  it,  "The  Stone-shields,"  in  which 
the  tomtit  is  incorrectly  made  a  jay,  is  given  by  Ten  Kate,  in  his  "Legends  of  the 
Cherokees,"  in  the  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore  for  January,  1889,  as  obtained 
from  a  mixed-blood  informant  in  Tahlequah.     Another  version,  "The  Demon  of 


NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  Mm 

Consumption,"  bj  i  lapt.  .lam.  -  VV.  Terrell,  formerly  a  trader  among  the  East  <  Ihero- 
kee,  appears  in  the  same  journal  for  April,  ls>n>.  still  another  variant,  apparently 
condensed  from  Terrell's  information,  is  given  by  Zeiglerand  Grosscup,  "Heart  of 
the  Alleghanies,"  page  24  Raleigh  and  Cleveland,  1883).  In  Ten  Kate's  version 
il»'  stone  coal  of  mail  broke  in  pieces  as  soon  as  the  monster  was  killed,  and  the 
fragments  were  gathered  up  and  kepi  as  amulets  by  the  | pie. 

There  is  some  confusion  between  this  story  of  U'tlufi'ta  and  that  of  Nun'yunu'wl 

(number  67).     According  to  some  myth  tellers  the  two  i isters  were  husband  and 

wife  and  lived  together,  and  were  both  alike  dressed  in  stone,  bad  awl  fingers  ami 
ate  human  livers,  the  only  difference  being  that  the  husband  waylaid  hunters,  while 
his  female  partner  ga\  e  her  attention  t..  children. 

Thisstoryhas  a  rinse  parallel  in  the  Creek  myth  of  the  Tuggle  collection,  "The 
Big  Rock  Man."  in  which  the  people  finally  kill  the  stony  monster  by  acting  upon 
the  a.l\  ice  i  if  the  Rabbit  to  shoot  him  in  the  ear. 

Faraway,  in  British  Columbia,  the  Indians  tell  how  the  Coyote  transformed  him- 
self to  an  Klk.  covering  his  body  with  a  hard  shell.  "Now  this  shell  was  like  an 
armor,  for  no  arrow  could  pierce  it;  but  being  hardly  large  enough  to  cover  all  his 
body,  there  was  a  small  h..le  left  underneath  histhroat."     He  attacks  the  people, 

Stabbing  them  with  his  antlers  ami  trampling  them  under  foot,  while  their  arrows 
glance  harmlessly  from  his  body,  until  'the  Meadow-lark,  who  was  a  great  telltale, 
appeared  and  cried  out,  'There  is  just  a  little  hole  at  his  throat!'"  A  hunter  directs 
his  arrow  to  that  spot  and  the  Klk  falls  .lead  (Teit,  Thompson  River  Traditions, 
pp.  33  34 

ta — The  word  means  literally  "he  (or  she)  has  it  sharp,"  i.  e.,  has  some 
sharp  part  ororgan.  It  might  be  used  of  a  tooth  or  finger  nail  or  some  other  attached 
portion  of  the  body,  but  here  refers  to  the  awl-like  finger.  Ten  Kate  spells  the 
name   I'ilata.      On    Little   Tennessee    river,    nearly   opposite   the   entrance   of   Citico 

creek,  in  Blount  comity,  Tennessee,  i-  a  place  which  the  Cherokee  call  D'tluntufi'yl, 
"Sharp-finger  place."  because,  they  say,  F'th'uVta  used  to  frequent  the  spot. 

NfmyCi'-tlit  tji'iu"t — "Tree  rock."  .so  called  on  account  of  its  resemblance  to  a  stand- 
ing tree  trunk:  a  notable  monument-shape  rock  on  the  west  side  of  Hiwassee  river, 
about  four  miles  above  Hayesville,  North  Carolina,  and  nearly  on  the  (  u-oruna  line. 

Whitesidi  mountain — This  noted  mountain,  known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Sanigila'gf, 
a  name  for  which  they  have  no  meaning,  is  one  of  the  prominent  peaks  of  the  Blue 
ridge,  and  is  situated  southeast  from  Franklin  and  about  four  miles  from  Highlands,  0' 
the  dividing  line  between  Macon  and  Jackson  counties.  North  Carolina.  It  is  4,900 
feet  high,  being  the  loftiest  elevation  on  the  ridge  which  forms  the  watershed 
between  the  tributaries  of  the  Little  Ten  lie-see  and  the  Chattooga  branch  of  Savannah. 
It  takes  its  name  from  the  perpendicular  cliff  on  its  western  exposure,  and  is  also 
known  sometimes  as  the  Devil's  courthouse.  The  Indians  compare  the  appearance 
of  the  cliff  to  that  of  a  sheet  of  ice,  and  say  that  the  western  summit  was  formerly 

crowned  by  a  projecting  rock,  since  destroyed   by  lightning,  which  formed  a  part  of 

the  great  bridge  which  CTtlun'ta  attempted  to  build  across  the  valley.  Lanman's 
description  of  this  mountain,  in  1848,  has  been  quoted  in  the  notes  to  number  13, 
"The  Great  Yellow-jacket."     Following  is  a  notice  by  a  later  writer: 

"About  five  miles  from  Highlands  is  that  huge  old  cliff,  Whiteside-,  which  forms 
the  advanced  guard  of  all  the  mountain  ranges  trending  on  tile  south.      It  is  no  higher 

than  the  Righi,  but.  like  it.  rising  direct    fr the  plain,  it  overpowers  the  spectator 

more  than  its  loftier  brethren.  Through  all  the  lowlands  of  upper  Georgia  and  Ala- 
bama this  dazzling  white  pillar  of  rock,  uplifting  the  sky.  is  an  emphatic  and  signifi- 
cant  landmark.  The  ascent  can  be  made  on  horseback,  on  the  rear  side  of  the 
mountain,  to  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ..i  the  Bummit.  When  the  top  is  reached, 
after  a  short    stretch   of  nearly  perpendicular  climbing,  the  traveler  finds  himself  on 


468  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

the  edge  of  a  sheer  white  wall  of  rock,  over  which,  clinging  for  life  to  a  protecting 
hand,  he  can  look,  if  he  chooses,  two  thousand  feet  down  into  the  dim  valley  below. 
A  pebble  dropped  from  his  hand  will  fall  straight  as  into  a  well.  On  the  vast  plain 
below  he  can  see  the  wavelike  hills  on  which  the  great  mountain  ranges  which  have 
stretched  from  Maine  along  the  continent  ebb  down  finally  into  the  southern 
plains" — Rebecca  H.  Davis,  Bypaths  in  the  Mountains,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  lxi, 
p.  544,  September,  1880. 

Picking  strawberries — For  more  than  a  hundred  years,  as  readers  of  Bartram  wil'l 
remember,  the  rich  bottom  lands  of  the  old  Cherokee  country  have  been  noted  for 
their  abundance  of  strawberries  and  other  wild  fruits. 

My  grandchildren — As  in  most  Indian  languages.  Cherokee  kinship  terms  are  usually 
specialized, and  there  is  no  single  term  for  grandchild.  "My  son's  child"  is  t'lngiui'sl, 
plural  ts&iigini'sl;  "my  daughter's  child"  is  ungiU'sl,  plural  ii&ngUi'st.  The  use  of 
kinship  terms  as  expressive  of  affection  or  respect  is  very  common  among  Indians. 

Taking  the  appearance — This  corresponds  closely  with  the  European  folk-belief  in 
fairy  changelings. 

To  bum  the  leave* — The  burning  of  the  fallen  leaves  in  the  autumn,  in  order  to  get 
at  the  nuts  upon  the  ground  below,  is  still  practiced  by  the  white  mountaineers  of 
the  southern  Alleghenies.  The  line  of  fire  slowly  creeping  up  the  mountain  side  upon 
a  dark  night  is  one  of  the  picturesque  sights  of  chat  picturesque  country. 

The  song — As  rendered  by  Swimmer,  the  songs  seem  to  be  intended  for  an  imita- 
tion of  the  mournful  notes  of  some  bird,  such  as  the  turtle  dove,  hidden  in  the  deep 
forests. 

Pitfall — The  pitfall  trap  for  large  game  was  known  among  nearly  all  the  tribes, 
but  seems  not  to  have  been  in  frequent  use. 

Chickadee  ami  tomtit — These  two  little  birds  closely  resemble  each  other,  the  Caro- 
lina chickadee  (Parus  carolinensis)  ortslkllill  being  somewhat  smaller  than  the  tufted 
titmouse  (Parus  bicolor)  or  utsu'gi,  which  is  also  distinguished  by  a  topknot  or  crest. 
The  belief  that  the  tslkllill  foretells  the  arrival  of  an  absent  friend  is  general  among 
the  Cherokee,  and  has  even  extended  to  their  neighbors,  the  white  mountaineers. 
See  also  number  35,  "The  Bird  Tribes,"  and  accompanying  notes. 

Her  heart — The  conception  of  a  giant  or  other  monster  whose  heart  or  "life"  is  in 
some  unaccustomed  part  of  the  body,  or  may  even  be  taken  out  and  laid  aside  at 
will,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  kill  the  monster  by  ordinary  means,  is  common  in 
Indian  as  well  as  in  European  and  Asiatic  folklore. 

In  a  Xavaho  myth  we  are  told  that  the  Coyote  "did  not,  like  other  beings,  keep 
his  vital  principle  in  his  chest,  where  it  might  easily  be  destroyed.  He  kept  it  in  the 
tip  of  his  nose  and  in  the  end  of  his  tail,  where  no  one  would  expect  to  find  it."  He 
meets  several  accidents,  any  one  of  which  would  be  sufficient  to  kill  an  ordinary 
creature,  but  as  his  nose  and  tail  remain  intact  he  is  each  time  resurrected.  Finally 
a  girl  whom  he  wishes  to  marry  beats  him  into  small  pieces  with  a  club,  grinds  the 
pieces  to  powder,  and  scatters  the  powder  to  the  four  winds.  "But  again  she  neg- 
lected to  crush  the  point  of  the  nose  and  the  tip  of  the  tail,"  with  the  result  that  the 
Coyote  again  comes  to  life,  when  of  course  they  are  married  and  live  happily  until 
the  next  chapter  (Matthews,  Xavaho  Legends,  pp.  91-94). 

In  a  tale  of  the  Gaelic  highlands  the  giant's  life  is  in  an  egg  which  he  keeps  con- 
cealed in  a  distant  place,  and  not  until  the  hero  finds  and  crushes  the  egg  does  the 
giant  die.  The  monster  or  hero  with  but  one  vulnerable  spot,  as  was  the  case  with 
Achilles,  is  also  a  common  concept. 

67.  NASyunu'wi,  the  Stone  Max  (p.  319):  This  myth,  although  obtained  from 
Swimmer,  the  best  informant  in  the  eastern  band,  is  but  fragmentary,  fur  the  reason 
that  he  confounded  it  with  the  somewhat  similar  story  of  U'tlun'ta  (number  66). 
It  was  mentioned  byAyastaand  others  (east)  and  by  Wafford   (west)  as  a  very  old 


mooney]  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  469 

and  interesting  story,  although  none  of  these  could  recall  the  details  in  connected 

form.    It  is  noted  as  oi f  the  stories  heard  in  the  Territory  by  Ten  Kate  |  Legends 

of  the  Cherokees,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  January,  1889),  who  spells  the 
name  Nayunu'wi. 

Xi'niiiiinn' ni,  "Dressed  in  stone";  add'lan&ftsU,  a  staff  or  cane;  axufi'itt,  astfi'tttfCl, 
a  foot  log  or  bridge;  ada'iuehl,  a  great  magician  or  supernatural  wonder-worker;  sec 
the  glossary. 

A  very  close  parallel  is  found  among  the  Iroquois,  who  have  traditions  of  an  inva- 
sion by  a  race  of  fierce  cannibals  known  as  the  Stonish  tiiants,  who,  originally  like 
ordinary  humans,  had  wandered  off  into  the  wilderness,  where  they  became  addicted 
to  eating  raw  flesh  ami  wallowing  in  the  sand  until  their  bodies  grew  to  gigantic  size 

ami  were  covered  with  hard  scales  like  stone,  which  no  arrow  could  penetrate  (see 
Cusick,  in  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  v,  p.  637).  One  of  these,  which  preyed  par- 
ticularly upon  the  Onondaga,  was  at  last  taken  in  a  pitfall  and  thus  killed.  Another, 
in  tracking  his  victims  used  ".something  which  looked  like  a  finger,  but  was  really  a 
pointer  made  of  bone.  With  this  he  could  find  anything  he  wished."  The  pointer 
was  finally  snatched  from  him  by  a  hunter,  on  which  the  giant,  unable  to  find  his 
way  without  it.  begged  pitcously  for  its  return,  promising  to  eat  no  more  men  and 
t.i  send  the  hunter  long  life  and  good  luck  for  himself  and  all  his  friends.  The 
hunter  thereupon  restored  it  and  the  giant  kept  his  promises  (Beauchamp,  W.  M., 
[roquois  Notes,  in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  Boston,  July,  1892.)  As  told  by 
Mrs  Smith  ("The  Stone  Giant's  Challenge,"  Myths  of  the  Iroquois,  in  Second 
Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1SS3),  the  pointer  was  a  human  finger. 
"He  placed  it  upright  upon  his  hand,  and  it  immediately  pointed  the  way  for  him 
to  go." 

Menstrual  woman — Among  all  our  native  tribes  it  is  believed  that  there  is  something 
dangerous  or  uncanny  in  the  touch  or  presence  of  a  menstrual  woman.  Hence  the 
universal  institution  of  the  "  menstrual  lodge,"  to  which  the  woman  retires  at  such 
periods,  eating,  working,  and  sleeping  alone,  together  with  a  host  of  tabus  and  pre- 
cautions bearing  upon  the  same  subject.  Nearly  the  same  ideas  are  held  in  regard  to 
a  pregnant  woman. 

Sourwood  stakes — Cherokee  hunters  impale  meat  upon  sourwood  (Oxydendrum) 
stakes  for  roasting,  and  the  wood  is  believed,  also,  to  have  power  against  the  spells  of 
witches. 

Began  In  lull; — The  revealing  of  "medicine"  secrets  by  a  magician  when  in  his 
final  agony  is  a  common  incident  in  Indian  myths. 

Whaten  r  In  prayed  for  -Sw  immer  gives  a  detailed  statement  of  the  particular  peti- 
tion made  by  several  of  those  thus  painted.  Painting  the  face  and  body,  especially 
with  red  paint,  is  always  among  Indians  a  more  or  less  sacred  performance,  usually 
accompanied  with  prayers. 

68.  The  hunteb  in  the  Dakwa' — This  story  was  told  by  Swimmer  and  Ta'gwadihi' 
and  i-  well  known  in  the  tribe.  The  version  from  the  Wahnenauhi  manuscript  differs 
considerably  from  that  here  given.  In  the  Bible  translation  the  word  dakwa'  is 
used  as  the  equivalent  of  whale.  Haywood  thus  alludes  to  the  story  (Nat.  and 
Aborig.  Hist.  Tenn.,  p.  244)  :  "  One  of  the  ancient  traditions  of  the  Cherokees  is  that 
once  a  whale  -wallowed  a  little  boy,  and  after  some  time  spewed  him  upon  the  land." 

It  is  pretty  certain  that  the  Cherokee  formerly  had  some  acquaintance  with  whales, 
which,  aln. ut  the  year  L700,  according  to  Lawson,  were  "very  numerous"  on  the. 
coast  of  North  Carolina,  being  frequently  stranded  along  the  sic. re,  so  that  settlers 
derived  considerable  profit  from  the  oil  and  blubber.     He  enumerates  four  species 

there  know  n,  and  adds  :i  general  Statement  that   "si .me  Indians  in  America"  hunted 

then,  at  sea  (History  of  Carolina,  pp.  251   252). 

In  almost  every  age  and  country  we  lind  a  myth  of  a  great  tish  swallowing  a  man, 


470  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

who  afterward  finds  his  way  nut  alive.  Near  to  the  Cherokee  myth  art' tin-  Bible 
story  of  Jonah,  and  the  Greek  story  of  Hercules,  swallowed  by  a  fish  and  coming  out 
afterward  alive,  hut  bald.  For  parallels  and  theories  of  the  origin  and  meaning  of 
the  myth  among  the  ancient  nations,  see  chapter  i.x  of  Bouton's  Bible  Myth--. 

In  an  <  rjibwa  story,  the  great  Manabozho  is  swallowed,  canoe  and  all,  by  the  king 
of  the  fishes.  With  his  war  club  he  strikes  repeated  blows  upon  the  heart  of  the  fish, 
which  attempts  to  spew  him  out.  Fearing  that  he  might  drown  in  deep  water, 
Manabozho  frustrates  the  endeavor  by  placing  his  canoe  crosswise  in  the  throat  of 
the  fish,  and  continues  striking  at  the  heart  until  the  monster  makes  for  the  shore 
and  t  line  dies,  when  the  hero  makes  his  escape  through  a  hole  which  the  gulls  have 
torn  in  the  side  of  the  carcass  (Schoolcraft,  Algic  Researches,  i,  pp.  145-14H). 

69.  AtaGa'hi,  the  enchanted  lake  (p.  321):  This  story  was  heard  from  Swimmer, 
Ta'gwadihT',  and  others,  anil  is  a  matter  of  familiar  knowledge  to  every  hunter  among 
the  East  Cherokee.  If  Indian  testimony  he  believed  there  is  actually  a  large  bare 
flat  of  this  name  in  the  difficult  recesses  of  the  Great  Smoky  mountains  on  the 
northern  boundary  of  Swain  county,  North  Carolina,  somewhere  between  the  heads 
of  Bradleys  fork  and  Eagle  creek.  It  appears  to  be  a  great  resort  for  bears  and 
ducks,  and  is  perhaps  submerged  at  long  intervals,  which  would  account  for  the 
legend. 

Prayer,  fasting,  and  vigil — In  Indian  ritual,  as  among  the  Orientals  and  in  all 
ancient  religions,  these  are  prime  requisites  for  obtaining  clearness  of  spiritual  vision. 
In  almost  every  tribe  the  young  warrior  just  entering  manhood  voluntarily  sub- 
jected himself  to  an  ordeal  of  this  kind,  of  several  days'  continuance,  in  order  to 
obtain  a  vision  of  the  "medicine"  which  was  to  be  his  guide  and  protector  for  the 
rest  of  his  life. 

70.  The  bride  from  the  south  (p.  322):  This  unique  allegory  was  heard  from 
both  Swimmer  and  Ta'gwadihl'  in  nearly  the  same  form.  Hagar  also  (MS  Stellar 
Legends  of  the  Cherokee)  heard  something  of  it  from  Ayasta,  who,  however,  con- 
fused it  with  the  Hagar  variant  of  number  11,  "The  Milky  Way"  (see  notes  to 
number  11). 

In  a  myth  from  British  Columbia,  "  The  Hot  and  the  Cold  Winds,"  the  cold-wind 
people  of  the  north  wage  war  with  the  hot-wind  people  of  the  south,  until  the 
Indians,  whose  country  lay  between,  and  who  constantly  suffer  from  both  sides, 
bring  about  a  peace,  to  be  ratified  by  a  marriage  between  the  two  parties.  Accord- 
ingly, the  people  of  the  south  send  their  daughter  to  marry  the  son  of  the  north. 
The  two  are  married  and  have  one  child,  whom  the  mother  after  a  time  decides  to 
take  with  her  to  visit  her  own  people  in  the  north.  Her  visit  ended,  she  starts  on 
her  return,  accompanied  by  her  elder  brother.  "  They  embarked  in  a  bark  canoe 
for  the  country  of  the  cold.  Her  brother  paddled.  After  going  a  long  distance,  and 
while  crossing  a  great  lake,  the  cold  became  so  intense  that  her  brother  could  not 
endure  it  any  longer.  He  took  the  child  from  his  sister  and  threw  it  into  the  water. 
Immediately  the  air  turned  warm  and  the  child  floated  on  the  water  as  a  lump  of 
ice." — Teit,  Traditions  of  the  Thompson  River  Indians,  pp.  55,  56. 

71.  The  Ice  Man  (p.  322):  This  story,  told  by  Swimmer,  maybe  a  veiled  tradi- 
tion of  a  burning  coal  mine  in  the  mountains,  accidentally  ignited  in  firing  the  woods 
in  the  fall,  according  to  the  regular  Cherokee  practice,  and  finally  extinguished  by  a 
providential  rainstorm.  One  of  Buttrick's  Cherokee  informants  told  him  that  "a 
great  while  ago  a  part  of  the  world  was  burned,  though  it  is  not  known  now  how,  or 
by  whom,  but  it  is  said  that  other  land  was  formed  by  washing  in  from  the  moun- 
tains" (  Antiquities,  p.  7). 

When  the  French  built  Fort  Caroline,  near  the  present  Charleston,  South  ( Ian  ilina, 
in  1562,  an  Indian  villlage  was  in  the  vicinity,  but  shortly  afterward  the  chief,  with 
all  his   people,  removed  to  a  considerable  distance  in  consequence  of  a  strange 


mooney]  NOTES    AMI    PARALLELS  -1  7  1 

accident — "a  large  piece  of  peat  bog  [was]  kindled  by  lightning  and  consumed,  which 
he  supposed   to  be  the  work  of  artillery."  ' 

Volcanic  activities,  some  of  very  recent  date,  have  left  inam  traces  in  the  Carolina 
mountains.  A  mountain  in  Haywood  county,  near  the  head  of  Fines  creek,  has 
been  noted  for  it-  noises  an. I  uuakings  for  nearly  a  century,  our  particular  explosion 
having  split  solid  masses  of  granite  a-  though  bj  a  blast  of  gunpowder.  These 
shocks  and  noises  used  to  recur  at  intervals  of  two  or  three  years,  but  have  not  now 
been  noticed  for  some  time.  In  1829  a  violent  earthquake  on  Vallej  river  split  open 
a  mountain,  leaving  a  chasm  extending  for  several  hundred  yards,  which  is  still  to 
be  seen  Satoola  mountain,  near  Highlands,  in  Macon  county,  has  crevices  from 
which  smoke  is  said  to  issue  at  intervals.  In  Madison  county  there  is  a  mountain 
which  lias  been  known  to  rumble  and  smoke,  a  phenomenon  with  which  the  Warm 

Springs  in  the  same  county  may  have  some  connection.  Another  peak,  known  as 
Shaking  or  Rumbling  bald,  in  Rutherford   county,  attracted  widespread  attention  in 

1S74  by  a  succession  of  shocks  extending  over  a  period  of  six  months  (see  Zeiglei 
and  Grosscup,  Heart  of  the  Alleghanies,  pp. 228-229). 

72.  The  Hi  nter  vnd  Sblu  (p.  323):  The  explanation  of  this  story,  told  by  Swim- 
mer,  lies  in  the  myth    which  derives  corn   from  the    blood  of  the   old  woman    Soln 

(see  number  3,  "  Kana'tl  and  Selu  "  I. 
In  Iroquois  myth  the  spirits  of  Corn,  Beans,  and  Squash  are  three  sisters.     Corn 

was  originally  much  more  fertile,  but  was  blighted  by  the  jealousy  of  an  evil  spirit. 
"To  this  day,  when  the  rustling  wind  waves  the  corn  leaves  with  a  moaning  sound, 

the  pious  Indian  fancies  that  he  hears  the  Spirit  of  Corn,  in  her  compassion  for  the 
red  man.  still  bemoaning  with  unavailing  regrets  her  blighted  fruitfulness"  (Morgan, 
Leagi f  the  Iroquois,  p.  L62).  See  number  126,  "Plant  Lore,"  and  accompany- 
ing notes. 

73.  Tiik  Underground  Panthers  (p.324):  This  story  was  told  by  John  Ax.  For 
an  explanation  of  the  Indian  idea  concerning  animals  see  number  15,  "The  Four- 
footed  Tribes,"  and  number  7i>,  "The  Bear  Man." 

Serernl  daijn — The  strange  lapse  of  time,  by  which  a  period  really  extending  over 
days  or  even  years  seems  to  the  stranger  under  the  spell  to  be  only  a  matter  of  a  few 
hours,  is  one  of  the  most  common  incidents  of  European  fairy  recitals,  and  has  been 
made  equally  familiar  to  American  readers  through  Irving's  story  of  Rip  Van 
Winkle. 

74.  The  Tsundige'wI  (p.  325):  This  curious  story  was  told  by  Swimmer  and 
Ta'gwSdihr'  (east)  and  Watford  (west).  Swimmer  says  the  dwarfs  lived  in  the  west, 
but  Ta'gwadihi'  and  Wafford  locate  them  south  from  the  Cherokee  country. 

\  story  which  seems  to  be  a  variant  of  the  same  myth  was  told  to  the  Spanish 
adventurer  Ayllon  by  the  Indians  on  the  South  Carolina  coast  in  1520,  and  is  thus 
given  in  translation  from  Peter  Martyr's  Decades,  in  the  Discovery  and  Con- 
quest of  Florida,  ninth  volume  of  the  Hakluyt  Society's  publications,  pages  xv-xvi, 
London,  1851. 

"Another  of  Ayllon's  strange  stories  refers  to  a  country  called  Inzignanin,  .  .  . 
The  inhabitauntes,  by  report  of  their  ancestors,  say,  that  a  people  as  tall  as  the  length 
of  a  man's arme,  with  tayles  of  a  span nc  long,  sometime  arrived  there,  brought  thither 
by  sea,  which  tayle  was  not  movable  or  wavering,  as  in  foure-footed  beastes,  but 
solide,  broad  above,  and  sharpe  beneath,  as  wee  see  in  fishes  and  crocodiles,  and 
extended  into  a  bony  hardness.  Wherefore,  when  they  desired  to  sill,  they  used 
scale-  with  holes  through  them,  or  wanting  them,  digged  upp  the  earth  a  spanne 
deepeor  little  more,  they  must  COnvay  their  tayle  into  the  hole  when  they  rest  them." 

1  Buckingham  Smith,  Letter  of  Hi  n  eu  dodi  Soto  and  Memoir  of  Hernando  de  Escalante,  translated 
Spanish;  Washington,  1854,  p.46. 


472  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.amn.19 

It  is  given  thus  in  Barcia,  Ensayo,  page  5:  "Tambien  Uegaron  a  la  Provineia  de 
Yncignavin'adonde  les  contaron  aquellos  Indios,  que  en  cierto  tiempo,  avian  apor- 
tado  a  ella,  unas  Gentes,  que  tenian  Cola  .  .  .  de  una  quarta  de  largo,  flexible, 
que  les  estorvaba  tanto,  que  para  sentarse  agujereaban  los  asientos:  que  el  Pellejo  era 
muiaspero,  y  coino  escarnoso,  y  quecomian  solo  Peres  erudos:  y  aviendo  estos  muerto, 
se  acabo  esta  Nacion,  y  la  Verdad  del  Caso,  eon  ella." 

A  close  parallel  to  the  Cherokee  story  is  found  among  the  Nisqualli  of  Washing- 
ton, in  a  story  of  three  [four?]  brothers,  who  are  captured  by  a  rnircaculously  strong 
dwarf  who  ties  them  and  carries  them  off  in  his  canoe.  "Having  rounded  the  dis- 
tant point,  where  they  had  first  descried  him,  they  came  to  a  village  inhabited  by 
a  race  of  people  as  small  as  their  captor,  their  houses,  boats  and  utensils  being  all 
in  proportion  to  themselves.  The  three  brothers  were  then  taken  out  and  thrown, 
bound  as  they  were,  into  a  lodge,  while  a  council  was  convened  to  decide  upon  their 
fate.  During  the  sitting  of  the  council  an  immense  flock  of  birds,  resembling  geese, 
but  much  larger,  pounced  down  upon  the  inhabitants  and  commenced  a  violent 
attack.  These  birds  had  thepowerof  throwing  their  sharp  quills  like  the  porcupine, 
and  although  the  little  warriors  fought  with  great  valour,  they  soon  became  covered 
with  the  piercing  darts  and  all  sunk  insensible  on  the  ground.  When  all  resistance 
has  ceased,  the  birds  took  to  flight  and  disappeared.  The  brothers  had  witnessed 
the  conflict  from  their  place  of  confinement,  and  with  much  labour  had  succeeded  in 
releasing  themselves  from  their  bonds,  when  they  went  to  the  battle  ground,  and 
commenced  pulling  the  quills  from  the  apparently  lifeless  bodies;  but  no  sooner  had 
they  done  this,  than  all  instantly  returned  to  consciousness"  (Kane,  Wanderings  of 
an  Artict,  pp.  252-253). 

75.  Oriuin  of  the  Bear  (p.  325):  This  story  was  told  by  Swimmer,  from  whom 
were  also  obtained  the  hunting  songs,  and  was  frequently  referred  to  by  other 
informants.  The  Ani'-Tsa'gfthi  are  said  to  have  been  an  actual  clan  in  ancient 
times.     For  parallels,  see  number  76,  "The  Bear  Man." 

Jlml  mil  taken  human  food — The  Indian  is  a  thorough  believer  in  the  doctrine  that 
"man  is  what  he  eats."  Says  Adair  (History  of  the  American  Indians,  p.  133): 
"They  believe  that  nature  is  possessed  of  such  a  property  as  to  transfuse  into  men 
and  animals  the  qualities,  either  of  the  food  they  use  or  of  those  objects  that  are  pre- 
sented to  their  senses.  He  who  feeds  on  venison  is,  according  to  their  physical  sys- 
tem, swifter  and  more  sagacious  than  the  man  who  lives  on  the  flesh  of  the  clumsy 
bear  or  helpless  dunghill  fowls,  the  slow-footed  tame  cattle,  or  the  heavy  wallowing 
swine.  This  is  the  reason  that  several  of  their  old  men  recommend  and  say  that 
formerly  their  greatest  chieftains  observed  a  constant  rule  in  their  diet,  and  seldom 
ate  of  any  animal  of  a  gross  quality  or  heavy  motion  of  body,  fancying  it  conveyed 
a  dullness  through  the  whole  system  and  disabled  them  from  exerting  themselves 
with  proper  vigour  in  their  martial,  civil,  and  religious  duties."  A  continuous 
adherence  to  the  diet  commonly  used  by  a  bear  wall  finally  give  to  the  eater  the  bear 
nature,  if  not  also  the  bear  form  and  appearance.  A  certain  term  of  "  white  man's 
food"  will  give  the  Indian  the  white  man's  nature,  so  that  neither  the  remedies  nor 
the  spells  of  the  Indian  doctor  will  have  any  effect  upon  him  (see  the  author's 
"Sacred  Formulas  of  the  Cherokees,"  in  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of 
Ethnology,  1891). 

Shall  In,'  always — For  explanation  of  the  doctrine  of  animal  reincarnation,  see 
number  15,  "The  Four-footed  Tribes." 

Thesongs — These  are  fair  specimens  of  the  hunting  songs  found  in  every  tribe,  and 
intended  to  call  up  the  animals  or  to  win  the  favor  of  the  lords  of  the  game  (see  also 
deer  songs  in  notes  to  number  3,  "Kana'tland  Selu").  As  usual,  the  word  forms  are 
slightly  changed  to  suit  the  requirements  of  the  tune.  The  second  song  was  tirst 
published  by  the  author  in  the  paper  on  sacred  formulas,  noted  above.     Tsistu'yl, 


hooney]  NOTE8    AM)    PARALLELS  473 

Kuwa'hi,  (Jya'hye,and  Gate'gwa  (-hi)  are  foui  mountains,  under  each  of  which  the 
bears  have  a  townhouse  in  which  they  hold  a  dance  before  retiring  to  their  dens 
for  their  winter  sleep.  AtTsistu'yl,  "Rabbit  place,"  known  to  us  as  Gregory  bald, 
in  the  i  rreal  Smoky  range,  dwells  the  <  lrea1  Rabbit,  the  chief  of  the  rabbit  tribe. 
At  Kuwa'hi.  ■•  Mulberry  place,"  farther  northeast  along  the  same  range,  resides  the 
White  Bear,  the  chief  of  the  bear  tribe,  and  near  by  is  the  enchanted  lake  of  Ata- 
ga'hl,  to  which  wounded  bears  go  to  bathe  and  be  cured  I  see  number  15,  "The  Four- 
footed  Tribes,"  and  number  69,  "Ataga'hl,  the  Enchanted  Lake"  I.  Uyahye  is  also  a 
peak  of  the  Great  Smokies,  while  Gategwa'hl,  "Great  swamp  or  thicket  (?),"  is 
southeast  of  Franklin,  North  Carolina,  and  is  perhaps  identical  with  Fodderstack 
mountain  (see  also  the  glossary). 

"ii.  The  Bear  M  vn  I  p.  327  |:  This  story  was  obtained  first  from  John  Ax,  and  has 
numerous  parallels  in  other  tribes, as  well  as  in  European  and  oriental  folklore. 
The  classic  legend  of  Romulus  and  Remus  and  the  stories  of  "  wolf  hoys"  in  India 
will  at  one-  suggest  themselves.  Swimmer  makes  the  trial  of  the  hunter's  weapons 
by  the  bears  a  part  of  his  story  of  tin- origin  of  disease  and  medicine  (number  4),  but 
says  that  it  may  have  happened  on  this  occasion  (see  also  number  15,  "The  Four- 
footed  Tribes,"  and  notes  to  number  75J  "Origin  of  the  Bear"). 

Ina  strikingly  similar  Creek  myth  of  theTuggle  collection,  "Origin  of  the  Bear 
Clan,"  a  little  girl  lost  in  the  woods  is  adopted  by  a  she-bear,  with  whom  she  lives 
for  four  years,  when  the  bear  is  killed  by  ihe  hunter  and  the  girl  returns  to  her  peo- 
ple to  become  the  mother  of  the  Hear  elan. 

The  [roquois  have  several  stories  of  children  adopted  by  bears.  In  one,  "The 
Man  and  His  Stepson."  a  boy  thus  cared  for  is  afterward  found  by  a  hunter,  who 
tames  him  and  teaches  him  to  speak,  until  in  time  he  almost  forgets  that  he  had 
lived  like  a  bear.  He  marries  a  daughter  of  the  hunter  and  becomes  a  hunter  him- 
self, but  always  refrains  from  molesting  the  bears,  until  at  last,  angered  by  the  taunts 
of  his  mother-in-law,  he  shoots  one,  but  is  himself  killed  by  an  accident  while  on 
his  return  home  (Smith,  Myths  of  the  Iroquois,  in  Second  Annual  Report  Bureau  of 
Ethnology  ).  In  line  with  this  is  the  story  of  a  hunter  who  had  pursued  a  bear  into  its 
den.  "  When  some  distance  in  he  could  no  longer  see  the  bear,  but  he  saw  a  fire  and 
around  it  sat  several  men.  The  oldest  of  the  three  men  looked  up  and  asked,  'Why 
did  you  try  to  shoot  one  of  my  men.  We  sent  him  out  to  entice  you  to  us'"  (Curt  in, 
Seneca  Ms  in  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  archives). 

In  a  Pawnee  myth,  "The  Bear  Man,"  a  boy  whose  father  had  put  him  under  the 
protection  of  the  bears  grows  up  with  certain  bear  traits  and  frequently  prays  and 
sacrifices  to  these  animals.  On  a  war  party  against  the  Sioux  he  is  killed  and  cut  to 
pieces,  when  two  bears  timl  and  recognize  the  body,  gather  up  and  arrange  the  pieces 
and  re-tore  him  to  life,  after  which  they  take  him  to  their  den,  where  they  care  for 
him  and  teach  him  their  secret  knowledge  until  he  is  strong  enough  to  go  home 
(Grirmell,  Pawnee  Hero  Stories,  pp.  L21-128). 

In  a  Jicarilla  myth,  "Origin  and  Destruction  of  the  Bear,"  a  boy  playing  about 
in  animal  fashion  runs  into  a  cave  in  the  hillside.  "When  he  came  out  his  feet  and 
hands  had  been  transformed  into  bear's  paws."  Four  times  this  is  repeated,  the 
change  each  time  mounting  higher,  until  he  finally  emerges  as  a  terrible  bear 
monster  that  devours  human  beings  I  Russell,  Myths  of  the  Jicarilla,  in  Journal 
of  American  Folk-Lore,  October,  1898). 

Read  th  thoughts — Thought  reading  is  a  very  common  feature  of  Indian  myths. 
Certain  medicine  ceremonies  are  believed  to  confer  the  power  upon  those  who  fulfil 
the  ordeal  conditions. 

Food  wa  </<  ttingscara  — Several  references  in  the  myths  indicate  that,  through  failure 
of  the  accustomed  wild  crop-,  famine  seasonswere  as  common  among  the  annual 
tribes  as  among  th.-  Indian-  (see  number  33,  "The  Migration  of  the  Animal-''  >. 


474  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


Kalds'-GH.nahVta — See  number  15,   "The  Four-footed  Tribes." 

Rubbed  his  stomach — This  very  original  method  of  procuring  food  occurs  also  in 
qui  iber  .'!,  "  Kana't!  and  Selu." 

Topknotsand  Splitnoses — Tsunl'stsahr,  "Having  topknots" — i.  e.,  Indians,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  crests  of  upright  hair  formerly  worn  by  warriors  of  the  Cherokee  and 
other  eastern  trihes.  Timberlake  thus  describes  the  Cherokee  warrior's  headdress 
in  17<>2 :  "The  hair  of  their  head  is  shaved,  tho'  many  of  the  old  people  have  it 
plucked  out  by  the  roots,  except  a  patch  on  the  hinder  part  of  the  head  about  twice 
the  bigness  of  a  crown  piece,  which  is  ornamented  with  beads,  feathers,  wampum, 
stained  deer's  hair,  and  such  like  baubles"  (Memoirs,  p.  49).  TsuniV'liyu'  sunfi- 
stla'ta,  "they  have  split  noses" — i.  e.,  dogs. 

<  'over  lln-  blood — The  reincarnation  of  the  slain  animal  from  the  drops  of  blood  spilt 
upon  the  ground  or  from  the  bones  is  a  regular  part  of  Cherokee  hunting  belief,  and 
the  same  idea  occurs  in  the  folklore  of  many  tribes.  In  the  Omaha  myth,  "Ictinike 
and  the  Four  Creators,"  the  hero  visits  the  Beaver,  who  kills  and  cooks  one  of  his 
own  children  to  furnish  the  dinner.  When  the  meal  was  over  "the  Beaver  gathered 
the  bones  and  put  them  into  a  skin,  which  he  plunged  beneath  the  water.  In  a 
moment  the  youngest  beaver  came  up  alive  out  of  the  water"  (Dorsey, in  Contri- 
butions to  North  American  Ethnology,  vi,  p.  557). 

IAke  a  man  again — It  is  a  regular  article  of  Indian  belief,  which  has  its  parallels  in 
European  fairy  lore,  that  one  who  has  eaten  the  food  of  the  spirit  people  or  super- 
naturals  can  not  afterward  return  to  his  own  people  and  live,  unless  at  once,  and 
sometimes  for  a  long  time,  put  under  a  rigid  course  of  treatment  intended  to  efface 
the  longing  for  the  spirit  food  and  thus  to  restore  his  complete  human  nature.  See 
also  number  73,  "  The  Underground  Panthers."  In  "A  Yankton  Legend,"  recorded 
by  Dorsey,  a  child  falls  into  the  water  and  is  taken  by  the  water  people.  The  father 
hears  the  child  crying  under  the  water  and  employs  two  medicine  men  to  bring  it 
back.  After  preparing  themselves  properly  they  go  down  into  the  deep  water,  where 
they  find  the  child  sitting  beside  the  water  spirit,  who,  when  they  declare  their  mes- 
sage, tells  them  that  if  they  had  come  before  the  child  had  eaten  anything  he  might 
have  lived,  but  now  if  taken  away  "he  will  desire  the  food  which  I  eat;  that  being 
the  cause  of  the  trouble,  he  shall  die."  They  return  and  report:  "We  have  seen 
your  child,  the  wife  of  the  water  deity  has  him.  Though  we  saw  him  alive,  he  had 
eaten  part  of  the  food  which  the  water  deity  eats,  therefore  the  water  deity  says 
that  if  we  bring  the  child  back  with  us  out  of  the  water  he  shall  die,"  and  so  it  hap- 
pened.    Some  time  after  the  parents  lose  another  child  in  like  manner,  but  this  time 

"she  did  not  eat  any  of  the  f 1  of  the  water  deity  and  therefore  they  took  her 

home  alive."  In  each  case  a  white  dog  is  thrown  in  to  satisfy  the  water  spirits  for 
the  loss  of  the  child  (Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  VI,  p.  357). 

77.  The  Great  Leech  of  Tlanusi'yI  (p.  329):  This  legend  was  heard  first  from 
Swimmer  and  Chief  Smith,  the  latter  of  whom  was  born  near  Murphy;  it  was  con- 
firmed by  YVafford  (west)  and  others,  being  one  of  the  best  known  myths  in  the  tribe 
and  embodied  in  the  Cherokee  name  for  Murphy.  It  is  apparently  founded  upon  a 
peculiar  appearance,  as  of  something  alive  or  moving,  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  hole 
in  Valley  river,  just  below  the  old  Unicoi  turnpike  ford,  at  Murphy,  in  Cherokee 
county,  North  Carolina.  It  is  said  that  a  tinsmith  of  the  town  once  made  a  tin 
bomb  which  he  filled  with  powder  and  sank  in  the  stream  at  this  spot  with  the 
intention  of  blowing  up  the  strange  object  to  see  what  it  might  be,  but  the  contrivance 
failed  to  explode.  The  hole  is  caused  by  a  sudden  drop  or  split  in  the  rock  bed  of 
the  stream,  extending  across  the  river.  Wafford,  who  once  lived  on  Nottely  river, 
adds  the  incident  of  t lie  two  women  and  says  that  the  Leech  had  wings  and  could  fly. 
He  asserts  also  that  he  found  rich  lead  ore  in  the  hole,  but  that  the  swift  current  pre- 
vented working  it.  About  two  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Nottely  river  a  bend  of 
the  stream  brings  it  within  about  the  same  distance  of  the  Hiwassee  at  Murphy. 


NOTES    AM)    PARALLELS  475 

This  nearest  point  of  approach  on  Nottely  is  also  known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Tlanusi'yY, 
"leech  place"  ami  from  certain  phenomena  common  to  both  streams  it  is  a  general 
belief  among  Indians  and  whites  that  they  are  connected  here  by  a  subterranean  water 
way.    Tlu-  legend  and  the  popular  belief  are  thus  noted  in  1848  by  Lanman,  who 

incorrectly  makes  the  1 It  a  turtle: 

"The  little  village  of  Murphy,  whence  I  date  this  letter,  lies  at  the  junction  of  the 
Owassaand  Valley  rivers,  and  in  point  of  Location  is  one  of  the  prettiest  places  in 
the  world.  Its  Indian  name  was  EClausuna,  or  the  Large  Turtle.  It  was  so  called, 
says  a  Cherokee  legend,  on  account  of  its  being  the  sunning  place  of  an  immense 

turtle  which  lived  in  its  vicinity  in  ancient  ti a.    The  turtle  was  particularly  famous 

for  its  repelling  power,  having  been  known  not  to  be  at  all  injured  by  a  stroke  of 
lightning.  Nothing  on  earth  had  power  to  annihilate  the  creature;  but,  on  account 
of  the  many  attempts  made  to  take  its  life,  w  hen  it  was  known  to  he  a  harmless  ami 
inoffensive  creature,  it  became  disgusted  with  this  world,  and  burrowed  its  way  into 

the  middle  of  the  earth,  w  here  it  now   lives  in  peace. 

"In  connection  with  this  legend,  I  may  here  mention  what  must  he  considered  a 
remarkable  fact  in  geology.  Kuuiiiutr  directly  across  the  village  of  Murphy  is  a  belt 
of  marble,  composed  of  the  black,  grey,  pure  white  and  flesh-colored  varieties,  which 
belt  also  crosses  the  Owassa  river.  Just  above  this  marble  causeway  tin-  Owassa, 
for  a  space  of  perhaps  two  hundred  feet,  is  said  to  be  over  one  hundred  feet  deep, 
and  at  one  point,  in  fact,  a  bottom  has  never  been  found.  All  this  is  simple  truth, 
but  I  have  heard  the  opinion  expressed  that  there  is  a  subterranean  communication 
between  this  immense  hole  in  (  Iwassa  and  the  river  Xotely,  which  is  some  twomiles 
distant  The  testimony  adduced  in  proof  of  this  theory  is,  that  a  certain  log  was 
once  marked  on  the  Notely,  which  log  was  subsequently  found  floating  in  the  pool 
of  tin-  Keep  Hole  in  the  ( twassa  "  (  Letters,  pp.  63-64). 

78.  The  XfSsE'iii  and  other  spirit  folk  (p.  330):  The  belief  in  fairies  and  kin- 
dred spirits,  frequently  appearing  as  diminutive  beings  in  human  form,  is  so  universal 
among  all  races  as  to  render  citation  of  parallels  unnecessary.  Every  Indian  tribe 
has  its  own  spirits  of  the  woods,  the  cliffs,  and  the  waters,  usually  benevolent  and 
kindly  when  not  disturbed,  but  often  mischievous,  and  in  rare  cases  malicious  and 
revengeful.  These  invisible  spirit  people  are  regarded  as  a  sort  of  supernatural 
human  beings,  entirely  distinct  from  ghosts  and  from  the  animal  and  plant  spirits, 
as  well  as  from  the  godlike  beings  who  rule  the  sun,  the  rain,  and  the  thunder. 
Most  of  the  NunnS'hl  stories  here  given  were  told  by  Watford,  who  believed  them 
all  firmly  in  spite  of  his  white  man's  blood  and  education.  The  others,  excepting 
that  of  the  offended  spirits  (Wahnenauhi  MS)  and  the  Fire-carrier  ( Watford) .  were 
heard  from  various  persons  upon  the  reservation.  For  other  Nunng'hl  references 
Bee  the  stories  of  Tsuwe'nahf,  Kana'sta.  Yahula,  etc. 

.Woo;/'/// — This  word  uji'iTiul'h'i  in  a  dialectic  form  and  naye'M  in  the  singular)  may 
be  rendered  "dwellers  anywhere"  or  "those  who  live  anywhere,"  but  is  under- 
Stood  to  mean  "those  who  live  forever."  i.  e.,  Immortals.  It  is  spelled  Nanehi  by 
Buttrick  and  Nuhnayie  in  the  Wahnenauhi  manuscript.  The  singular  form.  NayPhl, 
occurs  also  as  a  personal  name,  equivalent  to  Edd/hl,  "One  who  goes  about." 

Sorm  invisibU  toumhouse — The  ancient  Creek  town  of  Okmulgee,  where  now  is  the 
city  of  Macon,  in  Georgia,  was  destroyed  by  the  Carolina  people  about  the  time  of 
the  Yamassee  war.  Sixty  years  later  Adair  says  of  the  Creeks:  "They  strenuously 
aver  that  when  the  necessity  forces  them  to  encamp  there,  they  always  hear  at  the 
dawn  of  the  morning  the  usual  noise  of  Indians  singing  their  joyful  religious  notes 
ami  dancing,  as  if  going  down  to  the  river  to  purify  themselves,  and  then  returning 
to  the  old  townhouse;  w  ith  a  great  deal  more  to  the  same  effect.  Whenever  I  have 
been  there,  however,  all  hath  been  silent  but  they  say  this  was  'because  I 

am  an  obdurate  infidel  that  way '  "  (Hist.  Am.  Indians,  p.  36). 

Nottely   town — Properly    Na'du'li.    was    on     Nottely   river,   a   short    distance    above 


476  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Raper  creek  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina.  The  old  townhouse  was  upon  a 
large  mound  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  and  about  five  miles  below  the  Georgia 
line.    The  town  was  practically  deserted  before  the  removal  in  1838  (see  glossary). 

Hemptovm — Properly  Gatunlti'yl,  "Hemp  place,"  existed  until  the  Removal,  on 
Hemptown  creek,  a  branch  of  Toccoa  river,  a  few  miles  north  of  the  present 
Morganton,  in  Fannin  county,  Georgia. 

Noted  circular  depression — This  may  have  been  a  circular  earthwork  of  about  thirty 
feel  diameter,  described  as  existing  in  1890  a  short  distance  east  of  Soquee  post-office 
near  the  head  of  Soquee  creek,  about  ten  miles  northwest  of  Clarkesville,  Haber- 
sham county,  Georgia.  There  are  other  circular  structures  of  stone  on  elevated 
positions  within  a  few  miles  of  Clarkesville  (see  author's  manuscript  notes  on  Chero- 
kee archeology,  in  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  archives).  The  same  story  about 
throwing  logs  and  stones  into  one  of  these  sacred  places,  only  to  have  them  thrown 
out  again  by  invisible  hands,  is  told  by  Zeigler  and  Grosscup,  in  connection  with  the 
Jutaculla  old  fields  (see  note  under  number  81,  "Tsul'kahV)-" 

Bewildered — "Crazy  persons  were  supposed  to  be  possessed  with  the  devil  or 
afflicted  with  the  Nanehi"  (Buttrick,  Antiquities,  p.  14).  According  to  Hagar's 
inf.  irmant :  "The  little  people  cause  men  to  lose  their  minds  and  run  away  and  wander 
in  the  forests.  They  wear  very  long  hair,  down  to  their  heels"  (MS  Stellar  Legends 
of  the  Cherokee).  In  Creek  belief,  according  to  the  Tuggle  manuscript,  "Fairies  or 
little  people  live  in  hollow  trees  and  on  rocky  cliffs.  They  often  decoy  people  from 
their  homes  and  lose  them  in  the  woods.  When  a  man's  mind  becomes  bewil- 
dered— not  crazy — this  is  caused  by  the  little  people." 

Loaves  seemed  to  shrink— The  deceptive  and  unsatisfactory  character  of  all  fairy 
belongings  when  the  spell  is  lifted  is  well  known  to  the  European  peasantry. 

'IWuru'si  iiml  Ts&ga'si — These  sprites  are  frequently  named  in  the  hunting  prayers 
and  other  sacred  formulas. 

Scratching — This  is  a  preliminary  rite  of  the  ballplay  and  other  ceremonies,  as 
well  as  the  doctor's  method  of  hypodermic  injection.  As  performed  in  connection 
with  the  ballplay  it  is  a  painful  operation,  being  inflicted  upon  the  naked  skin  with  a 
seven-toothed  comb  of  turkey  bone,  the  scratches  being  drawn  in  parallel  lines  upon 
the  breast,  back,  arms  and  legs,  until  the  sufferer  is  bleeding  from  head  to  foot.  In 
medical  practice,  in  order  that  the  external  application  may  take  hold  more  effectually, 
the  scratching  is  done  with  a  rattlesnake's  tooth,  a  brier,  a  flint,  or  a  piece  of  glass. 
See  author's  Cherokee  Ball  Play,  in  American  Anthropologist,  April,  1890,  and 
Sacred  Formulas  of  the  Cherokees,  in  Seventh  Annual  Report  Bureau  of  Ethnol- 
ogy, 1891.  The  practice  seems  to  have  been  general  among  the  southern  tribes,  and 
was  sometimes  used  as  a  punishment  for  certain  delinquents.  According  to  Adair 
the  doctor  bled  patients  by  scratching  them  with  the  teeth  of  garfish  after  the  skin 
hail  been  first  well  softened  by  the  application  of  warm  water,  while  any  unauthorized 
prison  who  dared  to  intrude  upon  the  sacred  square  during  ceremonial  performances 
"would  lie  dry-scratched  with  snakes'  teeth,  fixed  in  the  middle  of  a  split  reed  or 
piece  of  wood,  without  the  privilege  of  warm  water  to  supple  the  stiffened  skin" 
(Hist.  Am.  Indians,  pp.  46,  120). 

The  Fire-carriei — This  is  probably  the  gaseous  phenomenon  known  as  the  will- 
of-the-wisp,  which  has  been  a  thing  of  mystery  and  fear  to  others  beside  Indians. 

7'.i.  The  removed  town-houses  (p.  335):  The  first  of  these  stories  was  told  by  John 
Ax.  The  second  was  obtained  from  Sala'li,  "Squirrel,"  mentioned  elsewhere  as  a 
self-taught  mechanic  oi  the  East  Cherokee.  Watford  (west)  had  also  heard  it,  but 
confused  it  with  that  of  Tsal'kahV  (number  81). 

Excepting*  Justl',  the  localities  are  all  in  western  North  Carolina.  The  large  mound 
of  S£'tsl  is  on  the  south  side  of  Valley  river,  about  three  miles  below  Valleytown, 
in  Cherokee  county.  Anisgaya'yl  town  is  not  definitely  located  by  the  story  teller, 
but  was  probably  in  the  same  neighborhood.  Tsudaye'h'uVyl.  literally  "where  it 
is  isolated,"  or  "isolated  place,"  is  a  solitary  high  peak  near  Cheowa  Maximum,  a 


kooney]  NOTKS    AND    PARALLELS  477 

few  miles  northeast  of  Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county,  on  the  summit  of  which 
theiv  is  sail  1  to  he  a  large  n  n-k  somewhat  resembling  in  appearance  a  circular  town- 
house  with  a  part  wanting  from  one  side.  Du'stiya'lufi'yl,  "Where  it  was  shot," 
i.  c,  "Where  it  was  struck  by  lightning,"  is  tin-  territory  on  Hiwassee  ri \ t  r.  about 
the  mouth  of  Shooting  creek,  above  Hayesville,  in  Clay  county  (see  also  glossary  ). 

W  oru  must  shout — The  same  injunction  occurs  in  the  legend  of  Tsul'k&lu' bei 

si  i.  Tin-  necessity  for  strict  silence  while  under  the  conduct  of  fairy  guides  is  con- 
stant!} emphasized  in  European  folklore. 

Toumhousi  in  the  water  below — Breton  legend  tells  of  a  submerged  city  which  rises 
out  of  the  sea  at  long  intervals,  «  lien  it  ran  lie  seen  by  those  who  possess  the  proper 
talisman,  anil  we  know  that  in  Ireland 

"On  Lough  Neagh's  hanks  as  the  fisherman  strays, 
When  the  clear  eol.l  eve's  declining, 

He  sees  tin-  round  lowers  of  other  days 

In  the  wave  beneath  him  shining." 

•so.  The  spirit  defenders  of  Nikwasi'  (p.336):  This  story  was  obtained  from 
Swimmer.  Nikwasi'  or  Nikw'sl',  one  of  the  most  ancient  settlements  of  the  Cherokee, 
was  on  the  west  hank  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  where  is  now  the  town  of  Franklin, 
in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina.  The  mound  upon  which  the  townhouse  stood, 
in  a  field  adjoining  the  river,  is  probably  the  largest  in  western  Carolina  and  has 
never  been  explored.  The  Cherokee  believe  that  it  is  the  abode  of  the  Xunne'hl  or 
Immortals  (see  number  78)  and  that  a  perpetual  fire  burns  within  it.  The  name,  which 
can  not  he  translated,  appears  as  Nueassee  in  old  documents.  The  British  agent  held 
a  council  here  with  the  Cherokee  as  early  as  1730.  Although  twice  destroyed,  the 
town  was  rebuilt  ami  continued  to  be  occupied  probably  until  the  land  was  sold 
in  1819. 

Bring  the  news  h<itm- — It  was  a  frequent  custom  in  Indian  warfare  to  spare  a  captive 
taken  in  battle  in  order  that  he  might  carry  hack  to  his  people  the  news  of  the  defeat. 
After  the  disastrous  defeat  of  the  French  under  D'Artaguette  by  the  Chickasaw  in 
upper  Mississippi  in  1736,  D'Artaguette,  Lieutenant  Vincennes,  Father  Senac,  and 
fifteen  others  were  burned  at  the  stake  by  the  victors,  but  "one  of  the  soldiers  was 
spared  to  carry  the  news  of  the  triumph  of  the  Chickasaws  and  the  death  of  these 
unhappy  men  to  the  mortified  Bienville"  (Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  p.  298, 
ed.  1896). 

81.  Tsul'kalu',  TnE  slaxt-eyed  giant  (p.  337):  The  story  of  Tsul'kahV  is  one  of 
the  finest  and  best  known  of  the  Cherokee  legends.  It  is  mentioned  as  early  as  1823 
by  Haywood,  who  spells  the  name  Tuli-cula,  and  the  memory  is  preserved  in  the 
local  nomenclature  of  western  Carolina.  Hagar  also  alludes  briefly  to  it  in  his 
manuscript  Stellar  Legends  of  the  Cherokee.  The  name  .signifies  literally  "he  has 
them  slanting,"  being  understood  to  refer  to  his  eyes,  although  the  word  eye  {aktti/, 
plural  ilikhV)  is  not  a  part  of  it.  In  the  plural  form  it  is  also  the  name  of  a  traditional 
race  of  giants  in  the  far  west  (see  number  106,  "The  Giants  from  the  West"  i. 
Tsul'kalu'  lives  in  Tsunegi'nVyf  and  is  the  great  lord  of  the  game,  and  as  such  is  fre- 
quently invoked  in  the  hunting  formulas.  The  story  was  obtained  from  Swimmer 
and  John  Ax,  the  Swimmer  version  being  the  one  here  followed.  For  parallels  to  the 
incident  of  the  child  born  from  blood  see  notes  to  number  .'!,  "  Kana'tl  and  Selu." 

In  the  John  Ax  version  it  is  the  girl's  father  and  mother,  instead  of  her  mother 
and  brother,  who  try  to  bring  her  back.  They  are  told  they  must  fast  seven  days  to 
succeed.  They  fast  four  days  before  starting,  and  then  set  out  and  travel  two  days, 
when  they  come  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave  and  hear  the  sound  of  the  drum  and  the 
dance  within.  They  are  able  to  look  over  the  edge  of  the  rock  ami  see  their  daugh- 
ter among  the  dancers,  hut  can  not  enter  until  the  seventh  day  is  arrived.  Unluckily 
the  man  is  very  hungry  h\  thi-  time,  and  after  watching  nearly  all  night  he  insists 
that  it  is  so  near  daylight  of  the  seventh  morning  that  he  may  safely  take  a  small 


478  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

bite.     His  wife  begs  him  to  wait  until  the  sun  appears,  but  hunger  overcomes  him 

and  he  takes  a  bite  of  food  from  his  pouch.  Instantly  the  cave  and  the  dancers 
disappear,  and  the  man  and  his  wife  find  themselves  alone  on  the  mountain.  John 
Ax  was  a  very  old  man  at  the  time  of  the  recital,  with  memory  rapidly  failing,  and 
it  is  evident  that  his  version  is  only  fragmentary. 

Haywood  notes  the  story  on  the  authority  of  Charles  Hicks,  an  educated  halfbreed 
(Nat.  and  Aborig.  Hist.  Tenn.,  p.  280):  "They  have  a  fabulous  tradition  respecting 
the  mounds,  which  proves  that  they  are  beyond  the  events  of  their  history.  The 
mounds,  they  say.  were  caused  by  the  quaking  of  the  earth  and  great  noise  with  it, 
a  ceremony  used  for  the  adoption  of  their  people  into  the  family  of  Tuli-cula,  who 
was  an  invisible  person  and  had  taken  a  wife  of  one  of  their  town's  people.  And  at 
the  time  when  his  first  son  was  born  the  quaking  of  the  earth  and  noise  had  com- 
menced, but  had  ceased  at  the  alarm  whoop,  which  had  been  raised  by  two  impru- 
dent young  men  of  the  town,  in  consequence  of  which  the  mounds  had  been  raised 
by  the  quaking  noise.  Whereupon  the  father  took  the  child  and  mother  and 
removed  to  near  Brasstown,  and  had  made  the  tracks  in  the  rocks  which  are  to  be 
seen  there." 

From  Buttrick  we  get  the  following  version  of  the  tradition,  evidently  told  fur  the 
missionary's  special  benefit:  "God  directed  the  Indians  to  ascend  a  certain  moun- 
tain— that  is,  the  warriors — and  he  would  there  send  them  assistance.  They  started 
and  had  ascended  far  up  the  mountain,  when  one  of  the  warriors  began  to  talk  about 
women.  His  companion  immediately  reproved  him,  but  instantly  a  voice  like 
thunder  issued  from  the  side  of  the  mountain  and  God  spoke  and  told  them  to  return, 
as  he  could  not  assist  them  on  account  of  that  sin.  They  put  the  man  to  death,  yet 
the  Lord  never  returned  to  them  afterwards"  (Antiquities,  p.  14).  On  the  next 
page  he  tells  it  in  a  somewhat  different  form:  "It  is  said  that  before  coming  to  this 
continent,  while  in  their  own  country,  they  were  in  great  distress  from  their  enemies, 
and  God  told  them  to  march  to  the  top  of  a  certain  mountain  and  He  would  come 
down  and  afford  them  relief.  They  ascended  far  up  the  mountain  and  thought  they 
saw  something  coming  down  from  above,  which  they  supposed  was  for  their  aid. 
But  just  then  one  of  the  warriors,"  etc. 

Zeigler  and  Grosscup  give  another  version,  which,  although  dressed  up  for  adver- 
tising purposes,  makes  a  fairly  good  story: 

"But  there  is  another  legend  of  the  Balsams  more  significant  than  any  of  these. 
It  is  the  Paradise  I  rained  i  if  Cherokee  mythology,  and  bears  some  distant  resemblance 
to  the  Christian  doctrine  of  mediation.  The  Indians  believed  that  they  were  origi- 
nally mortal  in  spirit  as  well  as  body,  hut  above  the  blue  vault  of  heaven  there  was, 
inhabited  by  a  celestial  race,  a  forest  into  which  the  highest  mountains  lifted  their 
dark  summits.     *    *     * 

"The  mediator,  by  whom  eternal  life  was  secured  for  the  Indian  mountaineers, 
was  a  maiden  of  their  own  tribe.  Allured  by  the  haunting  sound  and  diamond 
sparkle  of  a  mountain  stream,  she  wandered  far  up  into  a  solitary  glen,  where  the 
azalea,  the  kalmia,  and  the  rhododendron  brilliantly  embellished  the  deep,  shaded 
slopes,  and  filled  the  air  with  their  delicate  perfume.  The  crystal  stream  wound  its 
crooked  way  between  moss-covered  rocks  over  which  tall  ferns  bowed  their  graceful 
stems.  Enchanted  by  the  scene,  she  seated  herself  upon  the  soft  moss,  and,  over- 
come by  fatigue,  was  soon  asleep.  The  dream  picture  of  a  fairyland  was  presently 
broken  by  the  soft  touch  of  a  strange  hand.  The  spirit  of  her  dream  occupied  a 
place  at  her  side,  and,  wooing,  won  her  for  his  bride. 

"Her  supposed  abduction  caused  great  excitement  among  her  people,  who  made 
diligent  search  for  her  recovery  in  their  own  villages.  Being  unsuccessful,  they 
made  war  upon  the  neighboring  tribes  in  the  hope  of  finding  the  place  of  her  con- 
cealment. Grieved  because  of  so  much  bloodshed  and  sorrow,  she  besought  the 
great  chief  of  the  eternal  hunting  grounds  to  make  retribution.     She  was  accordingly 


NOTES    AM)    PARALLELS  IT'.' 

appointed  to  call  a  counc'l  of  her  people  at  the  forks  of  the  Wayeh  Pigeon  river. 
She  appeared  unto  the  chiefs  in  a  dream,  and  charged  them  to  meet  the  spirits  of  the 
hunting  ground  with  fear  and  reverence, 

"  \i  the  hour  appointed  the  head  men  of  the  Cherokees  assembled.  The  high 
Balsam  peaks  were  shaken  by  thunder  and  aglare  with  lightning.  The  cloud,  as 
black  as  midnight,  Bettled  over  the  valley,  then  lifted,  leaving  upon  a  large  rock  a 
cluster  of  strange  men,  armed  and  painted  as  for  war.  An  enraged  brother  of  the 
abducted  maiden  swung  his  tomahawk  and  raised  the  war  whoop,  but  a  swift 
thunderbolt  dispatched  him  before  the  echo  had  died  in  the  hills.  The  chiefs, 
terror-stricken,  fled  to  their  towns. 

"The  bride,  grieved  by  the  death  of  her  brother  and  the  failure  of  the  council, 
prepared  to  abandon  her  new  home  and  return  to  her  kindred  in  the  valleys.  To 
reconcile  her  the  promise  was  granted  thai  all  brave  warriors  and  their  faithful 

women  should  have  an  eternal  home  in  the  happy  hunting  gr id  above,  after 

death.    The  great  chief  of  the  forest  bey I  the  clouds  became  the  guardian  spirit  oi 

the  Cherokees.     All  deaths,  either  from  wounds  in  battle  or  disease,  were  attributed 

to  his  desire  to  make  additions  to  the  celestial  hunting  ground,  or,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  his  u  rath,  which  might  cause  their  unfortunate  spirits  to  be  turned  over  to 
the  disposition  of  the  i'\il  genius  of  the  mountain  tops."  —  Heart  of  the  A  Mechanics, 
pp.  22-24. 

K&nv/ga — An  ancient  Cherokee  town  on  Pigeon  river,  in  the  present  Haywood 
county.  North  Carolina.  It  was  deserted  before  the  beginning  of  the  historic  period, 
but  may  have  been  located  about  the  junction  of  the  two  forks  of  Pigeon  river,  a  leu 
miles  east  of  Waynesville,  where  there  are  still  a  number  of  mounds  and  ancienl 
cemeteries  extending  for  some  miles  down  the  stream.  Being  a  frontier  town,  it  was 
probably  abandoned  early  on  account  of  its  exposed  position.  The  name,  signifying 
"scratcher,"  is  applied  to  a  comb,  used  for  scratching  the  ballplayers,  and  is  con- 
nected with  kd.nngH/'lBi  or  nuffA^ld,,  a  blackberry  bush  or  brier.  There  are  other 
mounds  on  Richland  creek,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Waynesville. 

'l'snf  l;,il,'/  Tsiim  'inu'ii'i — Abbreviated  Tsunegun'yl;  the  mountain  in  which  the 
giant  is  supposed  to  have  his  residence,  is  Tennessee  bald,  in  North  Carolina,  where 
the  Haywood.  Jackson,  and  Transylvania  county  lines  come  together,  on  the  ridge 
separating  the  waters  of  Pigeon  river  from  those  flowing  into  Tennessee  .-reek  and 
Cany  fork  of  the  Tuckasegee,  southeastward  from  Waynesville  and  Webster.  The 
name  seems  to  mean,  "at  the  white  place,"  from  une'ga,  "white,"  and  may  refer  to 
a  bald  spot  of  perhaps  a  hundred  acres  on  the  top.  locally  known  among  the  whites 
as.Jutaculla  old  fields,  from  a  tradition,  said  to  be  derived  from  the  Indians,  that 
u  w  as  a  clearing  made  by  "Jutaculla"  (i.  e.,  Tsul'kahV  i  for  a  farm.  Some  distance 
farther  west,  on  the  north  side  of  Cany  fork  and  about  ten  miles  above  Webster,  in 
Jackson  county,  is  a  rock  known  as  Jutaculla  rock,  covered  with  various  rude  carv- 
ings, which,  according  to  the'  same  tradition,  are  scratches  made  by  the  giant  in 
jumping  from  his  farm  on  the  mountain  to  the  creek  below.  Zeigler  and  Grosscup 
refer  to  the  mountain  under  the  name  of  "  Old  Field  mountain"  and  mention  a  tra- 
dition among  the  pioneers  that  it  was  regarded  by  the  Indians  as  tin-  special  abode 
of  the  Indian  Satan! 

"On  the  top  of  the  mountain  there  is  a  prairie-like  tract,  almost  level,  reached  by 
steep  -lope-  covered  with  thickets  of  balsam  and  rhododendron,  which  seem  to  garri- 
son the  reputed  sacred  domain.  It  was  undersj 1  among  the  Indians  to  be  for- 
bidden territory,  but  a  party  one  day  permitted  their  curiosity  to  tempt  them.  They 
forced  a  way  through  the  entangled  thickets,  and  with  merriment  entered  the  open 
ground.  Aroused  from  sleep  and  enraged  by  their  audacious  intrusion,  the  devil, 
taking  the  form  of  an  immense  snake,  assaulted  the  party  and  swallowed  fifty  of 
them  before  the  thicket  could  lie  gained.     Among  the  first  whites  who  settled  among 

the  Indians,  and  traded  with  them,  was  a  party  of  hunters  w  ho  used  this  superstition 


480  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

to  escape  punishment  for  their  reprehensible  conduct.  They  reported  thai  thej 
were  in  league  with  the  great  spirit  of  evil,  and  to  prove  that  they  were,  frequented 
this  'old  field.'  They  described  his  bed,  under  a  large  overhanging  rock,  as  a 
model  of  neatness.  They  had  frequently  thrown  into  it  stones  and  brushwood 
during  the  day,  while  the  master  was  out,  but  the  place  was  invariably  as  clean 
the  next  morning  'as  if  it  had  been  brushed  with  a  bunch  of  feathers'  "  (  Heart  of 
the  Alleghanies,  p.  22). 

Tin  ft  a  ,t prints  run  still  In-  s,,n — Shining  ruck  or  Cold  mountain,  between  the  Forks 
of  Pigeon  river,  in  Haywood  county,  North  Carolina,  is  known  to  the  Cherokee  as 
Datsu'natesgufi'yf,  "where  their  tracks  are  this  way,"  on  account  of  a  rock  at  its 
base,  toward  Sonoma  and  three  miles  south  of  the  trail,  upon  which  are  impressions 
said  to  be  the  footprints  made  by  the  giant  ami  his  children  on  their  way  to 
Tsunegufi'yl      \\  ithin  the  mountt'.in  \:  also  the  legendan  abode  c.i  invisible  spirits. 

Havw 1  confounds  this  with  Track  Kock  gap,  near  Blairsville,  Georgia,  where  are 

other  noted  petroglyphs  (see  number  125,  Minor  Legends  of  Georgia). 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  two  children  is  paralleled  in  many  other  tribal  mytholo- 
gies. The  sequence  of  growth  as  indicated  by  the  footprints  reminds  us  of  the  con- 
cluding incident  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  when  Queen  Scheherazade  stands  before  the 
king  to  make  a  last  request:  "And  the  king  answered  her,  'Request,  thou  shalt 
receive,  O  Scheherazade.'  So  thereupon  she  called  out  to  the  nurses  and  the  eunuchs 
and  said  to  them,  '  Bring  ye  my  children.'  Accordingly  they  brought  them  to  her 
quickly,  and  they  were  three  male  children;  one  of  them  walked,  and  one  crawled, 
and  one  was  at  the  breast." 

Must  nut  raise  the  war  whoop — See  note  under  number  79,  "The  Removed  Town- 
houses." 

XL'.  K  an  a 'sta,  the  lost  settlement  (p.  341):  This  story,  obtained  from  Swimmer, 
bears  resemblance  to  those  of  Tsul'kalu',  Tsuwe'nithl,  The  Removed  Townhouses, 
and  others,  in  which  individuals,  or  even  whole  settlements,  elect  to  go  with  the 
invisible  spirit  people  in  order  to  escape  hardships  or  coming  disaster. 

Kana'sta— Abbreviated  from  Kanastufi'yi,  a  name  which  can  not  be  translated,  is 
described  as  an  ancient  Cherokee  town  on  the  French  Broad  where  the  trail  from 
Tennessee  creek  of  the  Tuckasegee  comes  in,, near  the  present  Brevard,  in  Transyl- 
vania county,  North  Carolina.  No  mounds  are  known  there,  and  we  find  no  notice 
of  the  town  in  history,  but  another  of  the  same  name  existed  on  Hiwassee  and  was 
destroyed  in  177li. 

Tsuwa'tel'da — Abbreviated  from  Tsuwa'telduii'yi,  and  known  to  the  whites  as  Pilot 
knoli,  is  a  high  mountain  in  Transylvania  county,  about  eight  miles  north  of  Bre- 
vard. On  account  of  the  peculiar  stratified  appearance  of  the  rocks,  the  faces  of  the 
cliffs  are  said  frequently  to  present  a  peculiar  appearance  under  the  sun's  rays,  as  of 
shining  walls  with  doors,  windows,  and  shingled  roofs. 

Datsu/nAldsgufl,yt — Shining  rock.     See  note  under  number  81,  "TsuTkahY." 

Fust  seven  days — This  injunction  of  a  seven  days'  fast  upon  those  who  would  join 
the  spirit  people  appears  in  several  Cherokee  myths,  the  idea  being,  as  we  learn 
from  the  priests,  to  spiritualize  the  human  nature  and  quicken  the  spiritual  vision 
by  abstinence  from  earthly  food.  The  doctrine  is  exemplified  in  an  incident  of  the 
legend  of  Tsuwe'nahl,  q.  v.  In  a  broader  application,  the  same  idea  is  a  foundation 
principle  of  every  ancient  religion.  In  ordinary  Cherokee  ceremonial  the  fast  is 
kept  loi  one  day— i.  e.,  from  midnight  to  sunset.  On  occasions  of  supreme  importance 
it  continues  four  or  even  seven  days.  Among  the  plains  tribes  those  who  volunta- 
rily enter  the  Sun  dance  to  make  supplication  and  sacrifice  for  their  people  abstain 
entirely  from  food  and  drink  during  the  four  days  and  nights  of  the  ceremony. 

The  riminli  rs— See  number  3,  "Kana'tl  and  Selu"  and  notes,  and  number  8,  "The 
Moon  and  the  Thunders,"  with  notes. 

s:;.  TsrwK'NAui,   a  legend  of  Pilot  knob   (p.  343):  This  story,  from  Swimmer, 


moonsy]  NOTES    AN' I)    PARALLELS  1^1 

is  of  the  same  order  as  the  legends  of  Tsul'killu',  Kilna'sta,  etc.     The  i pli   whom 

the  hunter  met  inside  the  enchanted  mountain  are  evidently  the  same  described  in 
the  last-named  story  (number  82),  with  the  guests  from  the  losl  settlement. 
The  name  Tsuwe'nah)  can  not  !"•  translated,  but  may  possibly  have  a  connection 

With  tnr,  'nnln,    "  rich." 

Kanu'ga  "<"/  Tsuwdtel'da — See  notes  under  number  si,  "TsuTkahV,"  and  num- 
ber 82,  "  Kana'sta." 

Parchedcorn — This  was  the  standard  provision  of  the  warrior  when  on  the  march 

among  all  the  tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  probably  a ngall  the rn-growing 

tribes  of  America.  It  is  the  pinole  of  the  Tarumari  and  other  Mexican  tribes.  The 
Cherokee  call  it  gtth&wVsita.  Hawkins  thus  describes  it  as  seen  with  his  Cherokee 
guides  in  1796;  "They  are  small  eaters,  use  no  salt  and  but  little  bread.  Thej  carrj 
their  parched  corn  meal,  wissactaw,  and  mix  a  handful  in  a  pint  of  water,  w  hich  they 
drink.  Although  they  had  plenty  of  corn  and  fowls,  they  made  no  other  provision 
than  a  small  bag  of  this  for  the  path.  I  have  plenty  of  provisions  and  give  them 
some  at  every  meal.  I  have  several  times  drank  of  the  wissactaw,  and  am  fond  of  it 
with  the  addition  of  some  sugar.     To  make  of  the  best  quality,  I  am  (old  the  corn 

should  tirst  be  boiled,  then  parched  in  hot  ashes,  silted,  powdered,  and  mad.'  into 
flour."1 

Tin  seat  nil*  a  turtle — This  incident  also  occurs  in  number  84,  "The  Man  who  Mar- 
ied  the  Thunder's  Sister."  The  species  meant  is  the  saligu'gl  or  common  water 
turtle. 

Like  dogs'  paws — No  reason  is  given  for  this  peculiarity,  which  is  nowhere  else 
mentioned  as  a  characteristic  of  the  mountain  spirits. 

Oldtobacco — Tsal-agSyufi'li,  "ancient  tobacco,"  the  Nicotiana  rustica,  sacred  among 
all  the  eastern  tribes.  See  number  6,  "How  they  Brought  back  the  Tobacco,"  and 
number  1  :.'(>,  "Plant  Lore." 

Thorns  of  honey  locust — This  incident  occurs  also  in  number  63,  " Uiitsaiyl',  The 
Gambler." 

84.  The  man  who  harried  the  Thunder's  sister  (p.  345) :  This  story  was  heard 
first  from  John  Ax,  and  afterward  with  additions  and  variants  from  Swimmer  and 
others.  It  is  also  briefly  noted  in  Hagar's  manuscript  "Stellar  Legends  of  tin- 
Cherokee." 

As  explained  elsewhere,  the  Thunder  spirits  are  supposed  to  have  their  favorite 
residence  under  cataracts,  of  which  Tallulah  falls  is  probably  the  greatest  in  the 
Cherokee  country.  The  connection  of  Thunder  and  Rain  spirits  with  snakes  and 
water  animals  is  a  matter  of  universal  primitive  belief  and  has  already  been  noted. 
One  Cherokee  informant  told  Hagar  (see  above)  that  "  Thunder  is  a  horned  snake  (?), 
and  lightning  its  tongue,  and  it  lives  with  water  and  rains."  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  state  that  the  dance  was,  and  is,  among  all  the  tribes,  not.  only  the  most  frequent, 
form  of  social  amusement,  but  also  an  important  part  of  every  great  religious  or 
other  ceremonial  function. 

SdkuA'yl — Abbreviated  S&kwi',  an  ancient  town  about  on  the  site  of  the  present 
village  of  Soquee  on  the  creek  of  the  same  name  near  Clarkesville,  in  Habersham 
county,  Georgia. 

Marry  him — Among  nearly  all  the  tribes,  with  the  exception  of  the  Pueblo,  the 
marriage  ceremony  was  simple,  consisting  chiefly  of  the  giving,  by  the  lover,  of  cer- 
tain presents  to  the  parents  of  the  intended  bride,  by  way  of  compensating  them  for 
the  loss  of  their  daughter,  after  she  herself  had  tirst  signified  her  consent  to  the  union. 
Although  this  has  been  represented  as  a  purchase,  it  was  really  only  a  formal  ratili- 
cation  of  the  contract,  which  the  girl  was  free  to  accept  or  reject  as  she  chose.  <  >n 
the  other  hand,  should  the  presents  be  insufficient  to  satisfy  the  parents,  they  were 

1  Manuscript  Journal.  17'ji;,  with  Georgia  Historical  Society,  Savannah. 

19    ETH— 01 31 


482  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

refused  or  returned  and  the  marriage  could  not  take  place,  however  willing  the  girl 
might  be.     The  young  man  usually  selected  a  friend  to  act  as  go-between  with  the 

girl's  family,  and  in  all  tribes — as  now  in  the  West — the  result  seems  to  have  been 
largely  at  the  disposal  of  her  brother,  who  continued  to  exercise  some  supervision 
and  claim  over  her  even  after  her  marriage. 

Lawson's  statement  concerning  the  eastern  Carolina  tribes  in  1700  will  hold  almost 
equally  good  to-day  in  any  part  of  the  West:  "As  for  the  Indian  marriages,  I  have 
read  and  heard  of  a  great  deal  of  form  and  ceremony  used,  which  I  never  saw;  nor 
yet  could  learn  in  the  time  I  have  been  amongst  them  any  otherwise  than  I  shall  here 
give  you  an  account  of,  which  is  as  follows: 

'•  When  any  young  Indian  has  a  mind  fur  such  a  girl  to  his  wife,  he,  or  some  one 
for  him,  goes  to  the  young  woman's  parents,  if  living;  if  not,  to  her  nearest  relations, 
where  they  make  offers  of  the  match  betwixt  the  couple.  The  relations  reply,  they 
will  consider  of  it;  which  serves  for  a  sufficient  answer,  till  there  be  a  second  meeting 
about  the  marriage,  which  is  generally  brought  into  debate  before  all  the  relations 
that  are  old  people,  on  both  sides,  and  sometimes  the  king  with  all  his  great  men 
give  their  opinions  therein.  If  it  be  agreed  on  and  the  young  woman  approve 
thereof — for  these  savages  never  give  their  children  in  marriage  without  their  own 
consent — the  man  pays  so  much  for  his  wife,  and  the  handsomer  she  is  the  greater 
price  she  bears"  (History  of  Carolina,  pp.  302-303). 

According  to  Adair,  who  makes  it  a  little  more  formal  among  the  Gulf  tribes, 
"When  an  Indian  makes  his  first  address  to  the  young  woman  he  intends  to  marry, 
she  is  obliged  by  ancient  custom  to  sit  by  him  till  he  hath  done  eating  and  drinking, 
whether  she  likes  or  dislikes  him;  but  afterward  she  is  at  her  own  choice  whether 
to  stay  or  retire"  (Hist.  Am.  Indians,  p.  139). 

Would  surely  die — In  Cherokee  myth  and  ritual  we  frequently  meet  the  idea  that 
one  who  reveals  supernatural  secrets  will  die.  Sometimes  the  idea  is  reversed,  as 
when  the  discovery  of  the  nefarious  doings  of  a  wizard  or  conjurer  causes  his  death. 
The  latter  belief  has  its  parallel  in  Europe. 

Smooth  as  a  piimjikin — This  is  the  rendering  of  the  peculiar  tautologic  Cherokee 
expression,  i'ya  iya'-tdiui'skage — t&wi'skage  i'ya-iyu'stl,  literally,  "pumpkin,  of  pump- 
kin smoothness — smooth  like  a  pumpkin."  The  rendering  is  in  line  with  the  repe- 
tition in  such  children's  stories  as  that  of  "The  House  that  Jack  Built,"  but  the 
translation  fails  to  convey  the  amusing  sound  effect  of  the  original. 

A  large  turtle — This  incident  occurs  also  in  number  83,  "Tsuwe'nahl." 

A  horse — Although  the  reference  to  the  horse  must  be  considered  a  more  modern 
interpolation  it  may  easily  date  back  two  centuries,  or  possibly  even  to  De  Soto's  expe- 
dition in  1540.  Among  the  plains  tribes  the  horse  quickly  became  so  essential  a  part 
of  Indian  life  that  it  now  enters  into  their  whole  social  ami  mythic  system. 

The  bracelets  were  snakes — The  same  concept  appears  also  in  number  63,  "Unt- 
saiyl',"  when  the  hero  visits  his  father,  the  Thunder  god. 

85.  The  haunted  whirlpool  (p.  347):  This  legend  was  related  by  an  East  Cher- 
okee known  to  the  whites  as  Knotty  Tom.  For  a  description  of  the  whirlpool  rapids 
known  as  The  Suck,  see  notes  under  number  63,  "  Ufitsaiyi',  the  Gambler." 

86.  Yahula  (p.  347):  This  fine  myth  was  obtained  in  the  Territory  from  Watford, 
who  had  it  from  his  uncle,  William  Scott,  a  halfbreed  who  settled  upon  Yahoola 
creek  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  Scott  claimed  to  have  heard  the 
bells  and  the  songs,  and  of  the  story  itself  Watford  said,  "I've  heard  ;t  so  often  and  so 
much  that  I'm  inclined  t.  >  believe  it."  It  has  its  explanation  in  the  beliefs  connected 
with  the  NunnS'hl  (see  number  78  and  notes),  in  whom  Watford  had  firm  faith. 

Yahula — This  is  a  rather  frequent  Cherokee  personal  name,  but  seems  to  be  of 
Creek  origin,  having  reference  to  the  song  used  in  the  "black  drink"  or  "busk" 
ceremony  of  that  tribe,  and  the  songs  which  the  lost  trader  used  to  sing  may  have 
been  those  of  that  ceremony.     See  the  glossary. 


moo.ney]  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  483 

Tinkling  of  the  bells — Among  the  southern  tribes  in  the  old  days  the  approach  of  a 
trader's  cavalcade  along  tin'  trail  was  always  heralded  by  the  jingling  of  bells  hung 
about  tin-  necks  of  the  horses,  somewhat  in  the  manner  of  our  own  winter  sleighing 
parties.  Among  the  plains  tribes  the  children's  ponies  are  always  equipped  with 
collars  of  sleigh  hells. 

In  his  description  of  a  trader's  pack-train  before  the  Revolution,  Bartram  says 
(Travels,  p.  139) :  "  Every  horse  has  a  bell  on,  which  being  stopped,  when  we  start  in 
the  morning,  with  a  twist  of  grass  or  leaves,  soon  shakes  out,  and  they  are  never 
stopped  again  during  the  day.  The  constant  ringing  and  clattering  of  the  bells, 
smacking  of  the  whips,  whooping  and  too  frequent  cursing  these  miserable  quadru- 
peds, cause  an  incessant  uproar  and  confusion  inexpressibly  disagreeable." 

ST.  The  water  cannibals  (p.  349):  This  story  was  obtained  from  Swimmer  and 
contains  several  points  of  resemblance  to  other  Cherokee  myths.  The  idea  of  the 
spirit  changeling  is  common  to  European  fairy  lore. 

Tikw&li'ts't — This  town,  called  by  the  whites  Tuckalechee,  was  on  Tuckasegee  river, 
at  the  present  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina,  where  traces  of  the 
mound  can  still  be  seen  on  the  south  side  of  the  river. 

Afraid  of  the  witches    See  number  120,  "The  Raven  Mocker,"  and  notes. 

88.  First  contact  with  whites  (p  350):  The  story  of  the  jug  of  whisky  left  near 
a  spring  was  heard  first  from  Swimmer;  the  ulufisu'tl  story  from  Wafford;  the  loco- 
motive story  from  David  Blythe.     Each  was  afterward  confirmed  from  other  sources. 

The  story  of  the  book  and  the  how,  quoted  from  the  Cherokee  Advocate  of 
October  26,  1844,  was  not  heard  on  the  reservation,  but  is  mentioned  by  other  authori- 
ties. According  to  an  old  Cherokee  quoted  by  Buttrick,  "God  gave  the  red  man  a  book 
and  a  paper  and  told  him  to  write,  but  lie  merely  made  marks  on  the  paper,  and  as  he 
could  not  read  or  write,  the  Lord  gave  him  a  how  and  arrows,  and  gave  the  book 
to  the  white  man."  Boudinot,  in  "A  Star  in  the  West,"1  quoted  by  the  same 
author,  says:  "They  have  it  banded  down  from  their  ancestors,  that  the  book  which 
the  white  i pie  have  was  once  theirs;  that  while  they  had  it  they  prospered  exceed- 
ingly; but  that  the  white  people  bought  it  of  them  ami  learned  many  things  from  it, 
while  the  Indians  lost  credit,  offended  the  Great  Spirit,  and  suffered  exceedingly 
from  the  neighboring  nations;  that  the  Great  Spirit  took  pity  on  them  and  directed 
them  to  this  country,"  etc.  It  is  simply  another  version  of  the  common  tale  of  deca- 
dent nations,  "We  were  once  as  great  as  you." 

89.  The  Ikoquoiswaks  (p.  351):  Thi  Iroquois  league — The  Iroquois  league  consisted 
originally  of  a  confederacy  of  five  kindred  tribes,  the  Mohawk,  Oneida,  Onondaga, 
Cayuga,  and  Seneca,  in  what  is  now  the  state  of  New  York;  to  these  were  added  the 
cognate  Tuscarora  after  their  expulsion  from  Carolina  about  1715.  The  name  Iro- 
quois, by  which  they  were  known  to  the  French,  is  supposed  to  be  a  derivative 
from  some  Indian  term.  To  the  English  they  were  known  as  the  Five,  afterward  the 
Six  Nations.  They  called  themselves  by  a  name  commonly  spelt  Hodenosaunee,  and 
interpreted  "People  of  the  Long  House."  Of  this  symbolic  long  house  the  Mohawk 
guarded  the  eastern  door,  while  the  Seneca  protected  the  western.  Their  remarkable 
governmental  and  clan  system  is  still  well  preserved,  each  tribe,  except  the  Mohan  k 
and  i  Ineida,  having  eight  elans,  arranged  in  two  groups  or  phratries.  The  Mohan  k 
and  Oneida  are  said  to  have  now  but  three  clans  apiece,  probably  because  of  their 
losses  by  withdrawals  to  the  French  missions.  The  Seneca  clans,  which  are  nearly 
the  same  for  the  other  tribes,  are  the  Wolf,  Bear,  Turtle,  Beaver,  Deer,  Snipe, 
Heron,  and  Hawk.  The  confederacy  is  supposed  to  have  been  formed  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  by  16S0  the  Iroquois  had  conquered  and 
dest roved  or  incorporated  all  the  surrounding  tribes,  and   had  asserted  a  paramount 

'  I>r  El  in?  Boudinot,  A  Star  in  the  West,  or  a  Humble  Attempt  to  Discover  the  Long  Lost  Tun  Tribes 
of  Israel,  Preparatory  to  Their  Return  to  Their  Beloved  City.  Jerusalem;  Trenton,  N.  J.,  1816. 


484  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

claim  over  the  whole  territory  from  the  Cherokee  border  to  Hudson  bay  and  from 
southern  New  England  to  the  Mississippi.  According  to  a  careful  estimate  in  1677 
the  Five  Nations  then  numbered  2,150  warriors,  or  about  10,750  persons.  The  Tus- 
carora  in  Carolina  were  estimated  a  few  years  later  at  1,200  warriors,  or  5,000  persons, 
but  this  is  probably  an  exaggeration.  The  league  afterward  lost  heavily  by  wars 
with  the  French,  and  still  more  by  withdrawals  of  Christianized  Indians  to  the 
French  Catholic  mission  colonies  at  Caughnawaga,  Saint  Regis,  and  elsewhere,  the 
Mohawk  being  the  chief  sufferers.  The  Revolution  brought  about  another  separa- 
tion, when  about  two-fifths  of  those  remaining,  including  nearly  all  of  the  Mohawk 
and  Cayuga,  removed  in  a  body  to  Canada.  A  mixed  band  of  Seneca  and  Cayuga, 
known  as  the  "Seneca  of  Sandusky,"  had  previously  settled  in  Ohio,  whence  they 
removed  in  1831  to  Indian  Territory.  Between  1820  and  1826  the  greater  portion 
of  the  Oneida  removed  from  New  York  to  lands  in  Wisconsin  purchased  from  the 
Menomini.  In  spite,  however,  of  wars  and  removals  the  Iroquois  have  held  their 
own  with  a  tenacity  and  a  virility  which  mark  their  whole  history,  and  both  in  this 
country  and  in  Canada  they  are  fairly  prosperous  and  are  increasing  in  population, 
being  apparently  more  numerous  to-day  than  at  any  former  period.  Those  in  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania,  except  the  Saint  Regis,  and  on  the  Grand  River  reservation 
in  Canada,  constituting  together  about  one-half  of  the  whole  number,  still  keep  up 
the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the  ancient  league. 

According  to  a  special  bulletin  of  the  census  of  1890  the  total  number  of  Indians 
then  belonging  to  the  tribes  originally  constituting  the  Six  Nations  was  15,833,  of 
whom  8,483  were  living  in  Canada  and  7,350  in  the  United  States,  excluding  from  the 
latter  count  37  resident  members  of  other  tribes.  Those  in  the  United  States  were 
on  six  reservations  in  the  State  of  New  York,  one  in  Pennsylvania,  one  in  Wisconsin, 
and  one  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and  were  classed  as  follows: 
Mohawk  (including  Indians  of  Saint  Regis  and  Caughnawaga):  in  New  York.  1,162 

Oneida:  in  New  York,  212;  at  Green  Bay  agency,  Wisconsin,  1,716 1,  928 

Onondaga:  in  New  York,  470;  on  Cornplanter  reservation,  Pennsylvania,  11  .      481 

Cayuga:  in  New  York 183 

Seneca:  in  New  York,  2,680;  on  Cornplanter  reservation,  Pennsylvania,  87...  2,  767 

Tuscarora:  in  New  York 408 

Iroquois  mixed  -bloods,  separately  enumerated,  on  reservations  in  New  York . .  87 
Iroquois  outside  reservations  in  New  York,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts  . .  79 
Mixed  Seneca  and  Cayuga  at  Quapaw  agency,  Indian  Territory 255 

7,350 
Those  in  Canada  were  at  the  same  time  officially  reported  thus: 
Mohawk:  at  Caughnawaga,  1,722;  at  Saint  Regis,  1,190;  on  Grand  River  reser- 
vation, 1,344;  at  Bay  of  Quinte,  1,056 5,312 

Oneida:  on  Thames  river,  715;  on  Grand  River  reservation,  244 959 

Onondaga:  on  Grand  River  reservation 325 

Cayuga:  on  Grand  River  reservation  865 

Seneca:  on  Grand  River  reservation 183 

Tuscarora:  on  Grand  River  reservation 327 

Iroquois  of  Lake  of  Two  Mountains 375 

Iroquois  of  Gibson  137 

8,483 

A  few  Algonkin  are  included  among  the  Iroquois  of  Caughnawaga  and  Saint  Regis, 
the  Iroquois  of  these  two  settlements  having  been  originally  Catholic  emigrants  from 
the  Mohawk  villages  in  New  York,  with  a  few  Oneida  and  Onondaga.  When  the 
boundary  line  between  New  York  and  Canada  was  run  it  cut  the  Saint  Regis  reser- 
vation in  two.     The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  for  1900  shows 


> sey]  NOTES    AMt    PARALLELS  |s.r> 

7. Ton  Iroquois  living  on  the  reservations  in  New  York,  Wisconsin,  and  Indian 
Territory,  an  increase  \\  ithin  these  limits  of  527  in  nine  years.  Assuming  the  same 
rate  of  increase  in  Pennsylvania  and  on  the  Canada  si. K>,  the  whole  number  of 
Iroquois  to-day  would  be  approximately  17,000.  For  detailed  information  see 
Colden,  History  of  the  Five  Nations;  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  the  Iroquois;  Morgan, 
League  of  the  Hodenosaunee  or  Iroquois;  Parkman's  works;  reports  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  Indian  affairs  for  both  the  United  States  and  (ana. la.  and  the  excellent 
report  on  "The  six  Nations  of  New  York,"  by  Donaldson  and  Carrington,  con- 
tained in  an  extra  bulletin  of  the  Eleventh  Census  of  the  United  States. 

§  catox  ,  South  Carolina  The  statement  given  by  Schoolcraft  (Notes  on  Iroquois, 
161  i,  "ii  the  authority  of  Calhoun,  that  the  Seneca  once  live.]  at  Seneca  town,  in 
South  Carolina,  has  probably  no  foundation  in  fact,  the  story  having  evidently  arisen 
from  a  supposed  similarity  of  name.  The  Cherokee  call  it  fsu'nigti',  and  do  not  con- 
nect it  in  any  way  with  A-Se'nika  or  Ani'-Se'nilcQ.,  their  name  for  the  northern  tribe. 

/      I  war — ; The  Iroquois  story  of  the  war  between  themselves  and  the  Chero- 

kee is  from  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  panes  l'.VJ  ami  2.V>. 

/  days'  journey — This  statement  is  on  Morgan's  authority,  but  the  distance  was 
certainly  greater,  unless  we  are  to  understand  only  the  distance  that  separated  their 
extreme  accustomed  hunting  ranges,  not  that  between  the  permanent,  settlements  of 
the  two  peoples. 

7"//.  T,  nnessee  river  boundary — The  statement  from  Morgan  (League of  the  Iroquois, 
p.  337)  in  regard  to  the  truce  line  established  at  Tennessee  river  seems  to  find  con- 
firmation in  incidental  references  in  early  documents.  Boundaries  beyond  which 
war  parties  might  not  go,  or  neutral  grounds  where  hereditary  enemies  met  in  peace, 
were  a  regular  institution  in  ancient  Indian  society,  the  most  notable  instance  being 
perhaps  the  famous  pipestone  quarry  in  Minnesota.  Notwithstanding  the  claim  of 
the  Iroquois,  backed  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  to  all  the  country  north  of  the  Ten- 
nesse  •  river,  it  is  very  plain  from  history  and  the  treaties  that  the  Cherokee  asserted 
a  more  or  less  valid  claim  as  far  north  as  the  Ohio.  Their  actual  settlements,  how- 
ever, were  all  south  of  the  main  Tennessee. 

The  Buffalo  dance— The  origin  ascribed  to  the  Buffalo  dance  of  the  Iroquois  (Mor- 
gan, League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  287)  is  in  agreement  with  the  common  Indian  idea, 
according  to  which  dances  named  from  animals  are  performed  in  imitation  of  the 
peculiar  actions  and  cries  of  these  animals,  or  in  obedience  to  supposed  commands 
from  the  ruling  spirit  animals. 

The  peace  embassy — The  story  of  the  proposed  intertribal  alliance,  with  the  state- 
ments as  to  Cherokee  captives  among  the  Seneca,  are  from  Schoolcraft  (Notes  on 
Iroquois,  pp.  15S,  2o2,  257i.  The  records  of  the  conference  at  Johnson  Hall  in  17tis 
are  published  in  the  New  York  Colonial  Documents.  The  account  of  the  Iroquois 
peace  embassy  to  Echota  was  given  to  Wafford  by  two  eyew-itnesses,  one  of  whom 
was  his  mother's  cousin.  Sequoya.  As  the  old  man  said,  "Sequoya  told  me  all  about 
it."'  As  stated  in  the  narrative,  Wafford  himself  had  also  seen  the  belts  broughtout 
and  explained  in  a  great  intertribal  council  at  Tahlequah.  By  common  tribal  cus- 
tom ambassadors  of  peace  were  secure  from  molestation,  whatever  might  be  the  result 
of  the  negotiations,  although,  as  among  more  civilized  nations,  this  rule  was  some- 
times violated.  According  to  tradition,  the  ancient  peace  pipe  of  the  Cherokee,  and 
probably  of  other  eastern  tribes,  was  of  white  stone,  white  being  the  universal  peace 
color.  The  red  stone  pipe  of  the  Sioux  was  also  used  in  peace  ceremonials,  from  the 
peculiar  sacredness attached  to  it  among  the  western  tribes. 

The  accuracy  of  Wafford's  statement  from  memory  in  1891  is  strikingly  confirmed 
by  a  contemporary  account  of  the  great  intertribal  council  at  Tahlequah  in  1843,  bj 
the  artist,  Stanley,  who  was  present  and  painted  a  number  of  portraits  on  that 
occasion.  The  council  was  convened  by  John  Boss  in  June  and  remained  in  session 
tour  weeks,  some  ten  thousand  Indians  being  iii  attendance,  representing  seventeen 


486  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

tribes.     "During  the  whole  session  the  utmost  % 1  feeling  and  harmony  prevailed. 

The  business  was  brought  to  a  close  at  sundown,  after  which  the  various  tribes 
joined  in  dancing,  which  was  usually  kept  up  to  a  late  hour."  The  wampum  belt 
was  explained,  according  to  Stanley's  account,  by  Major  (-ieorge  Lowrey  (Agitt, 
"Rising"),  second  chief  of  the  Nation,  who  thus  recited  the  tradition  of  its  coming 
from  the  Seneca  [i.  e.  Iroquois].  The  talk  abounds  in  Indian  reference  and  sym- 
bolism: 

"You  will  now  hear  a  talk  from  our  forefathers.  You  must  not  think  hard  if  we 
make  a  few  mistakes  in  describing  our  wampum.  If  we  do,  we  will  try  and  rectify 
them. 

"My  Brothers,  you  will  now  hear  what  our  forefathers  said  to  us. 

"  In  the  first  place,  the  Senecas,  a  great  many  years  ago,  devised  a  plan  for  us  to 
become  friends.  When  the  plan  was  first  laid,  the  Seneca  rose  up  and  said,  I  fear 
the  Cherokee,  because  the  tomahawk  is  stuck  in  several  parts  of  his  head.  The 
Seneca  afterwards  remarked,  that  he  saw  the  tomahawk  still  sticking  in  all  parts  of 
the  Cherokee's  head,  and  heard  him  whooping  and  hallooing  say  [sir]  that  he  was 
too  strong  to  die.  The  Seneca  further  said,  Our  warriors  in  old  times  used  to  go  to 
war;  when  they  did  go,  they  always  went  to  tight  the  Cherokees;  sometimes  one  or 
two  would  return  home — sometimes  none.  He  further  said,  The  Great  Spirit  must 
love  the  Cherokees,  and  we  must  be  in  the  wrong,  going  to  war  with  them.  The 
Seneca  then  said,  Suppose  we  make  friends  with  the  Cherokee,  and  wash  his  wounds 
and  cause  them  to  heal  up,  that  he  may  grow  larger  than  he  was  before.  The 
Seneca,  after  thus  speaking,  sat  down.  The  Wyandot  then  rose  and  said,  You  have 
done  right,  and  let  it  be.  I  am  your  youngest  brother,  and  you  our  oldest.  This 
word  was  told  to  the  Shawnees;  They  replied,  We  are  glad,  let  it  be;  you  are  our 
elder  brothers.  The  Senecas  then  said,  they  would  go  about  and  pray  to  the  Great 
Spirit  for  four  years  to  assist  them  in  making  peace,  and  that  they  would  set  aside  a 
vessel  of  water  and  cover  it,  and  at  the  end  ot  every  year  they  would  take  the  cover 
off,  and  examine  the  water,  which  they  did;  every  time  they  opened  it  they  found 
it  was  changed;  at  the  end  of  four  years  they  uncovered  the  vessel  and  found  that 
the  water  had  changed  to  a  colour  that  suited  them.  The  Seneca  then  said,  The 
Great  Spirit  has  had  mercy  upon  us,  and  the  thing  has  taken  place  just  as  we 
wished  it. 

"The  Shawnee  then  said,  We  will  make  straight  paths;  but  let  us  make  peace 
among  our  neighbouring  tribes  first,  before  we  make  this  path  to  those  afar  off. 

"The  Seneca  then  said,  Before  we  make  peace,  we  must  give  our  neighboring  tribes 
some  fire;  for  it  will  not  do  to  make  peace  without  it, — they  might  be  traveling  about, 
and  run  against  each  other,  and  probably  cause  them  to  hurt  each  other.  These 
three  tribes  said,  before  making  peace,  that  this  fire  which  was  to  be  given  to  them 
should  be  kindled  in  order  that  a  big  light  may  be  raised,  so  they  may  see  each  other 
at  a  long  distance;  this  is  to  last  so  long  as  the  earth  stands;  They  said  further,  that 
this  law  of  peace  shall  last  from  generation  to  generation — so  long  as  there  shall  be  a 
red  man  living  on  this  earth:  They  also  said,  that  the  fire  shall  continue  among  us 
and  shall  never  be  extinguished  as  long  as  one  remains.  The  Seneca  further  said  to 
the  Shawnees,  I  have  put  a  belt  around  you,  and  have  tied  up  the  talk  in  a  bundle, 
and  placed  it  on  your  backs;  we  will  now  make  a  path  on  which  we  will  pass  to  the 
Sioux.  The  Seneca  said  further,  You  shall  continue  your  path  until  it  shall  reach 
the  lodge  of  the  Osage.  When  the  talk  was  brought  to  the  Sioux,  they  replied, 
we  feel  thankful  to  you  and  will  take  your  talk;  we  can  see  a  light  through  the  path 
you  have  made  for  us. 

"  When  the  Shawnees  brought  the  talk  to  the  Osages,  they  replied,  By  to-morrow, 
by  the  middle  of  the  day,  we  shall  have  finished  our  business.  The  Osage  said 
further,  The  (treat  Spirit  has  been  kind  to  me.  lie  has  brought  something  to  me,  I 
being  fatigued  hunting  for  it.    When  the  Shawnees  returned  to  the  lodge  of  the  ( >sages, 


NOTES     \N'I>    PARALLELS  187 

thej  \yere  informed  that  thej  were  to  be  killed,  and  they  ii Kliately  made  their 

escape. 

•■When  tin'  Shawnees  returned  to  their  homes  whence  they  ca they  said  they 

had  been  near  being  killed. 

"  The  Seneca  then  said  to  the  Shawnees,  that  the  Osages  must  be  mistaken.  The 
Shawnees  went  again  to  see  the  Osages  the)  told  them  their  business.  The  Osages 
remarked,  The  Great  spirit  Ikis  been  good  to  us,  to-morrow  bj  the  middle  of  the 
day  he  will  give  us  something  without  fatigue.  When  the  Shawnees  arrived  at  the 
lodge,  an  old  man  of  the  Osages  told  them  that  thej  had  better  make  their  escape; 
that  if  they  did  not,  by  the  middle  of  the  following  day,  they  were  all  to  be  destroyed, 
and  directed  them  to  the  nearest  point  of  the  woods.  The  Shawnees  made  their 
escape  about  midday.  They  discovered  the  Osages  following  them,  and  threw  away 
their  packs,  reserving  the  bag  their  talk  was  in,  and  arrived  at  their  camp  safe. 
When  the  Shawnees  arrived  home,  they  said  they  had  conic  near  being  killed,  and 

the  Osages  refused  to  receive  their  talk.     The  Sei a  then  said.  If  the  Osages  will 

not  take  our  talk,  let  them  remain  as  they  arc;  and  when  the  rising  generation  shall 
become  as  one,  the  Osages  shall  be  like  some  herb  standing  alone.  The  Seneca 
further  said,  The  Osages  shall  he  like  a  lone  cherry-tree,  standing  in  the  prairies, 
where  the  birds  of  all  kinds  shall  light  upon  it  at  pleasure.  The  reason  this  talk  was 
made  about  the  Osages  was,  that  they  prided  themselves  upon  their  warriors  and 
manhood,  and  .lid  not  wish  to  make  peace. 

"The  Seneca   further  said.    \\ c   have  succ led   in  making    peace  with  all  the 

Northern  and  neighbouring  tribes.  The  Seneca  then  said  to  the  Shawnees.  You 
must  now  turn  your  course  to  the- South:  you  must  take  your  path  to  tin-  Cherokees, 
and  even  make  it  into  their  houses.  When  the  Shawnees  started  at  night  they  took 
up  their  camp  and  sat  up  all  night,  praying  to  the  Great  Spirit  to  enable  them  to 
arrive  in  peace  and  safety  among  the  Cherokees.  The  Shawnees  still  kept  their 
course,  until  they  reached  a  place  called  Tahde-<|uah,  where  they  arrived  in  safety, 
as  they  wished,  and  there  met  the  chiefs  ami  warriors  of  the  Cherokees.  When 
they  arrived  near  Tah-le-quah,  they  went  to  a  house  and  sent  two  men  to  the  head 
chiefs.  The  chief's  daughter  was  the  only  person  in  the  house.  As  soon  as  she 
saw  them,  she  went  out  and  met  them,  and  shook  them  by  the  hand  and  asked 
them  into  the  house  to  sit  down.  The  men  were  all  in  the  field  at  work — the  girl's 
father  was  with  them.  She  ran  and  told  him  that  there  were  two  men  in  the  house, 
and  that  they  were  enemies.  The  chief  immediately  ran  to  the  house  and  shook 
them  by  the  hand,  and  stood  at  the  door.  The  Cherokees  all  assembled  around  the 
house,  and  said,  Let  us  kill  them,  for  they  are  enemies.  Some  of  the  men  said,  No, 
the  chief's  daughter  has  taken  them  by  the  hand;  so  also  has  our  chief.  The  men 
then  became  better  satisfied.  The  chief  asked  the  two  men  if  they  were  alone 
They  answered,  No;  that  there  were  some  more  with  them.  He  told  them  to  go 
after  them  and  bringthemto  his  house.  When  these  two  men  returned  with  the 
rest  of  their  people,  the  chief  asked  them  what  their  business  was.  They  then 
opened  this  valuable  bundle,  and  told  him  that  it  contained  a  talk  forpeace.  The 
chief  told  them.  I  cannot  do  business  alone;  all  the  chiefs  are  assembled  at  a  place 
called  Cho-qua-ta  [for  E-cho-ta],  where  J  will  attend  to  your  business  in  general 
council.  When  the  messengers  of  peace  arrived  at  Cho-qua-ta,  they  were  kindly 
received  by  the  chiefs,  who  told  thorn  they  would  gladly  receive  their  talk  of  peace. 
The  messengers  Of  peace  then  said  to  the  Cherokees,  We  will  make  a  path  for  you 
to  travel  in,  and  the  rising  generation  may  do  tie'  same, — we  also  will  keep  it  swept 
I  lean  and  white,  so  that  the   ri>iii'_r  generation    may  travel  in    peace.      The  Shawnee 

further  said,  We  will   keep  the  doors  of  our  houses  open,  so  that   when  the  rising 

generation   come  among  us  they  shall    be   wel ne.      He   further  said.    This  talk    is 

intended  for  all  the  different  tribes  of  our  led  brothers,  and  i^  to  last  to  the  end 
of  time.      He  further  said,  I    have  made  a  lire  out  of  the  dry  elm — this  tire  is  for  all 


488  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

the  different  tribes  to  see  by.  I  have  put  one  chunk  toward  the  rising  sun,  one 
toward  the  north,  and  one  toward  the  south.  This  fire  is  not  to  he  extinguished  .so 
long  as  time  lasts.  I  shall  stick  up  a  stick  close  by  this  fire,  in  order  that  it  may 
frequently  lie  stirred,  and  raise  a  light  for  the  rising  generation  to  see  by;  if  any  one 
should  turn  in  the  dark,  you  must  catch  him  by  the  hand,  and  lead  him  to  the 
light,  so  that  he  can  see  that  he  was  wrong. 

"I  have  made  you  a  fire-light,  I  have  stripped  some  white  hickory  bark  and  set  it 
up  against  the  tree,  in  order  that  when  you  wish  to  remove  this  fire,  you  can  take 
it  and  put  it  on  the  bark;  when  you  kindle  this  fire  it  will  be  seen  rising  up  toward 
the  heavens.  I  will  see  it  and  know  it;  lam  your  oldest  brother.  The  messenger 
of  peace  further  said,  I  have  prepared  white  benches  for  you,  and  leaned  the  white 
pipe  against  them,  and  when  you  eat  you  shall  have  but  one  dish  and  one  spoon. 
We  have  done  everything  that  was  good,  but  our  warriors  still  hold  their  tomahawks 
in  their  hands,  as  if  they  wished  to  fight  each  other.  We  will  now  take  their  toma- 
hawks from  them  and  bury  them;  we  must  bury  them  deep  under  the  earth  where 
there  is  water;  and  there  must  be  winds,  which  we  wish  to  blow  them  so  far  that 
our  warriors  may  never  see  them  again. 

"The  messenger  further  said,  Where  there  is  blood  spilt  I  will  wipe  it  up  clean — 
wherever  bones  have  been  scattered,  I  have  taken  them  and  buried  them,  and  cov- 
ered them  with  white  hickory  bark  and  a  white  cloth — there  must  be  no  more  blood 
spilt;  our  warriors  must  not  recollect  it  any  more.  Our  warriors  said  that  the  Chero- 
kees  were  working  for  the  rising  generation  by  themselves;  we  must  take  hold  and 
help  them. 

"The  messengers  then  said  that  you  Cherokees  are  placed  now  under  the  centre 
of  the  sun;  this  talk  1  leave  with  you  for  the  different  tribes,  and  when  you  talk  it, 
our  voice  shall  be  loud  enough  to  be  heard  over  this  island.  This  is  all  1  have 
to  say." 1 

Wampum — The  celebrated  wampum  was  a  species  of  bead  cut  from  the  shell  of  the 
clam,  conch,  or  other  shell-bearing  mollusk  of  the  coast  or  the  larger  streams.  The 
commi  >n  name  is  derived  from  an  Algonquian  word  signifying  white,  and  was  properly 
applied  only  to  one  variety,  the  generic  term  varying  with  the  tribe.  The  beads  were 
rather  cylindrical  than  globular,  and  were  of  two  colors,  white  and  purple  or  dark. 
They  were  rated  at  definite  values.  The  wampum  was  manufactured  by  the  coast 
tribes',  being  traded  by  them  to  those  of  the  interior,  and  was  largely  used  every- 
where  east  of  the  Mississippi  for  necklaces,  collars,  belts,  and  other  purposes  of  per- 
sonal adornment,  as  well  as  in  connection  with  the  noted  wampum  belts,  by  means 
of  which  the  memory  of  treaties  and  tribal  traditions  was  handed  down.  These 
belts  were  woven  with  various  designs  in  wampum,  either  pictographic  or  symbolic, 
tin-  meaning  of  which  was  preserved  and  explained  on  public  occasions  by  an  officer 
appointed  to  that  duty.  In  ancient  times  no  treaty  or  covenant  was  considered  bind- 
ing,  and  no  tribal  embassy  was  recognized  as  official,  without  the  delivery  of  a  wam- 
pum belt  as  a  guaranty  and  memorial.  The  colonial  documents  are  full  of  references 
to  this  custom.  Up  to  the  end  of  the  last  century  the  Cherokee  still  tendered  such 
belts  in  their  treaties  with  the  Government,  and  one  was  delivered  in  the  same  man- 
ner so  late  as  the  treaty  of  Prairie  des  Chiens  in  1S25.  The  Iroquois  still  preserve 
several  ancient  belts,  of  which  a  good  idea  is  afforded  by  the  illustration  and  accom- 
panying description  (figure  2,  page  354).  On  account  of  the  high  estimation  in 
which  these  shell  beads  were  held  they  were  frequently  used  in  the  East  as  a 
standard  of  exchange,  as  eagle  feathers  were  in  the  West,  and  among  the  Cherokee 
the  same  word,  atela,  is  used  alike  for  bead  and  for  money.     On  the  Pacific  coast, 

'J.  M.  Stanley,  Portraits  of  North  American  Indians,  with  sketches  of  scenery,  etc.,  painted  by 
J.  M.  Stanley,  deposited  with  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Washington:  Smithsonian  Institution, 
December,  1S52;  pp.  18-22.  The  Stanley  account  was  not  seen  by  the  present  author  until  after  the 
Watford  tradition  was  in  proofs. 


NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  189 

shells  were  more  generally  shaped  into  pendants  and  gorgets.  Fora  good  eye-witness 
account  of  the  manufacture  and  use  of  wampum  and  gorgets  of  shell  among  the  South 
Atlantic  tribes.see  Lawson,  History  of  Carolina,  315  316 

90.   Hiadeoni,  the  Seneca  (p.  356) :  Of  this  story  Schoolcraft  says:  "Thefollowing 

incident  in  the  verbal  annals  of  Iroquois  hardil I  and  heroism  was  related  to  me 

by  the  intelligent  Seneca,  Tetoyoah,  William  Jones  of  Cattaraugus,  along  with  other 
reminiscences  of  the  ancient  Cherokee  wars."  Hewitt  thinks  the  proper  Seneca; 
form  of  the  nan i.'  maj  be  Hflia'di'ofinl',  signifying  "  His  body  lies  supine." 

i  31  ipe  of  the  Seneca  boys  (p.  359) :  The  manuscript  notes  from  which  this 
and  several  following  traditions  are  arranged  are  in  the  archives  of  the  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  and  were  obtained  in  1886-87  among  the  Seneca  Indians  of 
New  York  by  Mr  Jeremiah  Cm-tin,  since  noted  as  the  author  of  several  standard 
collections  of  in. Han  and  European  myths  and  the  translator  of  the  works  of  the 
Polish  novelist,  Sienkiewicz. 

'  —This  is  a  long  drawn  halloo  wit  hunt  significance  except  as  a  signal  to  arrest 
attention.  It  strikingly  resembles  the  Australian  "bush  cry"  Coowe< '.'  used  for  the 
same  purpose. 

93.  The  Unseen  Helpers  (p.  859):  The  meaning  of  the  Seneca  name  can  not  he 
given. 

Animal  Protectors — The  leading  incident  of  this  tale  is  closely  paralleled  hy  a  Kiowa 
story,  told  by  the  old  men  as  an  actual  occurrence  of  some  fifty  years  ago,  concerning 
a  warrior  who,  having  been  desperately  wounded  in  an  engagement  with  Mexican 
troops  in  southern  Texas,  was  abandoned  to  die  hy  his  retreating  comrades.  At 
night,  while  lying  upon  the  ground  awaiting  death,  and  unable  to  move,  he  heard  a 
long  howl  in  the  distance,  which  was  repeated  nearer  and  nearer,  until  at  last  lie  heard 
tin-  patter  of  feet  in  the  sand,  ami  a  wolf  came  up  and  licked  the  festering  wounds  of 
the  warrior  with  such  soothing  effect  that  he  fell  asleep.  This  was  repeated  several 
times  until  the  man  was  able  to  sit  up,  when  the  wolf  left  him,  after  telling  him — not 
in  the  vision  of  a  dream,  but  as  a  companion  face  to  face — that  he  must  keep  up  his 
courage,  and  that  he  would  get  back  in  safety  to  his  tribe.     Soon  afterward   the 

wounded  warrior  was  found  bya  party  of  Comanche,  who  restored  him  to  his  ] pie 

At  the  next  Sun  dance  he  made  public  thanksgiving  for  his  rescue  (see  the  author's 
Calendar  History  of  the  Kiowa  Indians,  in  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  Bureau  of  Amer- 
ican Ethnology,  part  1,  1901).  The  story  is  not  impossible.  A  wolf  may  easily  have 
licked  the  wounded  man's  sores,  as  a  dog  might  do,  and  through  the  relief  thus 
afforded,  if  not  by  sympathy  of  companionship,  have  enabled  him  to  hold  out  until 
rescued  by  friends.  The  rest  is  easy  to  the  imagination  of  an  Indian,  who  believes 
that  there  is  no  essential  difference  between  himself  and  other  animals. 

Th,  War  Woman — The  women  described  as  having  power  to  decide  tin-  fate  ,,i  cap- 
tives, mentioned  also  in  the  next  story  (number  94),  are  evidently  the  female  digni- 
taries among  the  ancient  Cherokee  known  to  early  writers  as  "War  Women''  or 
"Pretty  Women."  Owing  to  the  decay  of  Cherokee  tradition  and  custom  it  is  now 
impossible  to  gather  anything  positive  on  the  subject  from  Indian  informants,  but  from 
documentary  references  it  is  apparent  that  there  existed  among  the  Cherokee  a  custom 
analogous  to  that  found  among  the  Iroquois  and  probably  other  Eastern  tribes, by 
which  the  decision  of  important  questions  relating  to  peace  and  war  was  left  to  a  vote 
Of  the  women.      Among  the   Iroquois    this   privilege  •     ercised    hy  a  council   of 

matrons,  the  mothers  of  the  tribes.  It  may  have  been  the  same  among  the  I  hero- 
kee.  with  the  "Pretty  Woman  "  to  voice  the  decision  of  the  council,  or  the  final  ren- 
dering may  have  been  according  to  the  will  of  the  "Pretty  Woman"  herself.  The 
institution  served  in  a  measure  to  mitigate  the  evils  of  war  and  had  its  origin  in  the 
elan   system.      Under   this   system    a  captive   enemy  was  Still   an  enemy  until  he  had 

been  adopted  into  the  tribe,  which  could  only  be  done  through  adoption  into  a  clan 
and  family.     As  clan  descent  was  reckoned  through  the  women  it  rested  with  them 


4.90  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

to  decide  the  question  of  adoption.  If  they  were  favorable  all  was  well,  ami  the  cap- 
tive became  at  once  a  member  of  a  family  and  clan  and  of  the  tribe  at  large.  <  >ther- 
wise,  as  a  public  enemy,  only  death  remained  to  him,  unless  he  was  ransomed  by 
friends.  The  proper  Cherokee  title  of  this  female  arbiter  of  life  and  death  isunknown. 
The  clan  of  the  Ani'-Gil&'hl,  or  "Long-hairs,"  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the.  Pretty- 
woman  clan,  and  the  office  may  have  been  hereditary  in  that  clan.  The  Seneca 
stories  imply  that  there  were  two  of  these  female  officers,  but  from  Haywoi  id's  ace.  .mil 
there  would  seem  to  have  been  hut  one.  An  upper  tributary  of  Savannah  rw  !n 
Georgia  bears  the  name  War-woman  creek. 

Timberlake  says  in  1765  (Memoirs,  p.  70):  "  These  chiefs  or  headmen  likewise  com- 
pose the  assemblies  of  the  nation,  into  which  the  war  women  are  admitted,     . 
many  of  the  Indian  women  being  as  famous  in  war  as  powerful  in  the  council." 

At  the  Hopewell  treaty  conference  in  1785  the  principal  chief  of  Echota,  after  an 
opening  speech,  said:  "I  have  no  more  to  say,  but  one  of  our  beloved  women  has, 
who  has  borne  and  raised  up  warriors."  After  delivering  a  string  of  wampum  to 
emphasize  the  importance  of  the  occasion,  "the  war  woman  of  Chota  then  addressed 
the  commissioners."  Having  expressed  her  pleasure  at  the  peace,  she  continued: 
"I  have  a  pipe  and  a  little  tobacco  to  give  to  the  commissioners  to  smoke  in  friend- 
ship. I  look  on  you  and  the  red  people  as  my  children.  Your  having  determined 
on  peace  is  most  pleasing  to  me,  for  I  have  seen  much  trouble  during  the  late  war. 
I  am  old,  but  I  hope  yet  to  bear  children,  who  will  grow  up  and  people  our  nation, 
as  we  are  now  to  be  under  the  protection  of  Congress  and  shall  have  no  more  dis- 
turbance. The  talk  I  have  given  is  from  the  young  warriors  I  have  raised  in  my 
town,  as  well  as  myself.  They  rejoice  that  we  have  peace,  and  we  hope  the  chain 
of  friendship  will  never  more  be  broken."  Two  strings  of  wampum,  a  pipe,  and 
some  tobacco  accompanied  her  words  (American  State  Papers;  Indian  Affairs,  i, 
p.  41,  1832). 

Haywood  says  in  1823:  "The  Cherokees  had  the  law  or  custom  of  assigning  to  a 
certain  woman  the  office  of  declaring  what  punishment  should  be  inflicted  on  great 
offenders;  whether,  for  instance,  burning  or  other  death,  or  whether  they  should  be 
pardoned.  This  woman  they  called  the  pretty  woman.  Mrs  Ward  exercised  this 
office  when  Mrs  Bean,  about  the  year  1776,  was  taken  from  the  white  settlements 
mi  the  upper  parts  of  Holston.  Being  bound  and  about  to  be  burned  on  one  of  the 
mounds,  the  pretty  woman  interfered  and  pronounced  her  pardon"  (Nat.  and 
Aborig.  Hist.  Tenn.,  p.  278).  See  also  historical  note  20,  "Peace  Towns  and  Towns 
of  Refuge." 

Ililirmi  In;,  lines  nf  jieuple — This  custom,  known  to  colonial  writers  as  "running 
the  gauntlet,"  was  very  common  among  the  eastern  tribes,  and  was  intended  not  so 
much  to  punish  the  captive  as  to  test  his  courage  and  endurance,  with  a  view  to 
adoption  if  he  proved  worthy.  It  was  practiced  only  upon  warriors,  never  upon 
women  or  children,  and  although  the  blows  were  severe  they  were  not  intended  to 
be  fatal.  The  prisoner  was  usually  unbound  and  made  to  run  along  a  cleared  space 
in  the  center  of  the  village  toward  a  certain  goal,  and  was  safe  for  the  time  being  if 
he  succeeded  in  reaching  it. 

94.  H.vr<  inoniion's  escape  from  the  Chekokee  (p.  362) :  The  Seneca  name  is  not 
translatable. 

Canebrake — The  tall  cane  reed  (Arundinaria),  called  i'hya  by  the  Cherokee,  is 
common  along  the  southern  streams,  as  such  names  as  Cany  fork,  Cut-cane  creek, 
and  Young-cane  creek  testify.  It  was  greatly  valued  among  the  Indians  for  fishing 
rods,  blowguns,  and  baskets,  as  well  as  for  fodder  for  stock.  The  best  canebrakes 
were  famous  far  and  wide,  and  were  resorted  to  from  long  distances  in  the  gathering 
season.  Most  of  the  cane  now  used  by  the  East  Cherokee  for  blowguns  and  baskets 
is  procured  by  long  journeys  on  foot  to  the  streams  of  upper  iSouth  Carolina,  or  to 
points  on  the  French  Broad  above  Knoxville,  Tennessee 


i key]  NOTES    AM>    PARALLELS  191 

v     vault    See  notes  to  number  I,  "How  the  World  was  Made." 

The  Seneca  name  for  the  Thunder  god  ia  in  the  singular  form.     In 
the  Cherokee  language  Thunder  and  the  Thunder  spirits  are  always  spoken  of  in  the 
plural.    The  messengers  in  the  story  ma)  have  been  Thunder  spirits. 
Si  e  uotes  I imber  76,  "The  Bear  .Man." 

Womai ■biters  Seethe  preceding  story,  number  93,  and  the  note  on  the  "Tin- 
War  Woman." 

My  grandson — Ann>n'_'  all  the  eastern  and  plain-  tribes  this  is  a  term  of  affectionate 
address  to  a  dependent  or  inferior,  as  "grandfather"  is  a  respectful  address  to  one 
occupyinga  superior  station,  or  venerable  by  reason  of  age  or  dignity,  both  words 
being  thus  used  without  any  reference  t"  kinship.  In  tribal  councils  nearly  all 
tin-  eastern  tribes  except  the  [roquois  addressed  the  Delaware  representatives  as 
"grandfather,"  ami  in  an  Arapaho  song  of  the  Ghost  dance  the  Whirlwind  is  thus 
addressed. 

95.  Hemp-carrier  (p.  364):  This  story  of  the  ..1.1  wars  was  obtained  from  Colonel 
William  H.  Thomas,  who  says  that  T&le'danigi'skl  was  a  chief  formerly  living  near 
Valleytown,  in  Cherokee  county.     The  name  is  variously  rendered  "Hemp-carrier," 

"Nettle-carrier,"  or  "Flax-toter,"  fr Idle'ta,  the  riehweed  I  Pilea  pwnila),  a  plant 

with  a  fibrous  stalk  from  which  the  Indians  wove  thread  and  cordage.  The  trail 
along  which  the  Seneca  came  ran  from  Valley  river  across  tin-  ridge  to  Cheowa 
(Robbinsville)  ami  thenee  aorthwest    to   connect   with    the  "great   war  path"  in 

Tennessee     see  historical  note  19). 

Stone  cairns  were  formerly  very  common  along  the  trails  throughout  the 
Cherokee  country,  hut  are  now  almost  gone,  having  been  demolished  by  treasure 
hunters  alter  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  whites.  They  were- usually 
sepulchral  monuments  built  of  large  stones  piled  loosely  together  above  the  body  to 
a  height  of  sometimes  6  feet  or  more,  with  a  corresponding  circumference.  This 
method  of  interment  was  used  only  when  there  was  a  desire  to  commemorate  the 
death,  and  every  passer-by  was  accustomed  to  add  a  stone  to  the  heap.  The  cus- 
tom is  ancient  and  world-wide,  and  is  still  kept  up  in  Mexico  ami  in  many  parts  of 
Europe  and  Asia.  Early  references  to  it  among  the  southern  tribes  occur  in  Lederer 
I  1670),  Travels,  page  10,  ed.  1891,  and  Lawson  I  L700),  History  of  Carolina,  pages 
4:!  and  78,  ed.  1860.  The  latter  mentions  meeting  one  day  "seven  heaps  of  stones, 
being  the  monuments  of  seven  Indians  that  were  slain  in  that  place  by  theSinnagers 

or  Troquois  [Iroquois].     <  'ur  Indian  guide  added  a  stone  to  each  heap."     Tl m- 

moii  name  is  the  Gaelic  term,  meaning  literally  "a  pile." 

wives — Polygamy  was  common  among  the  Cherokee,  as  among  nearly  all 
other  tribes,  although  not  often  to  such  an  exaggerated  extent  as  in  this  instance. 
The  noted  chief  YanugunskI,  who  died  in  1839,  had  two  wives.  With  the  plains 
tribes,  and  perhaps  with  others,  the  man  who  marries  the  eldest  of  several  daughters 
has  prior  claim  upon  her  unmarried  sisters. 

96.  The  Seneca  peacemakers  (p.365):  This  story  was  told  to  Schoolcraft  by  the 

Seneca  i v  than   fifty   years  ago.      A   somewhat  similar  story  is  related   by  Adair 

i  Hist.  American  Indian-,  p.  392)  of  a  young  "Anantooeah"  (i.  e.,  Ni'iudawegl  or 
Si  ueca  '  warrior  taken  by  the  Shawano. 

Death  song — It  seems  to  have  been  a  chivalrous  custom  among  the  eastern  tribes  to 
give  to  the  condemned  prisoner  who  requested  it  a  chance  to  recite  his  warlike  deeds 

and   to  sing  his  death  song  before  proceeding  to  the   final  torture.      lie  was  allowed 

the  widest  latitude  of  boasting,  even  at  the  expense  of  his  captors  and  their  tribe. 

The  death  song  was  a  chant    belonging  to  the  warrior  himself  or  to  the  wai  society 

of  which  he  wa.-  a  member,  the  burden  being  farewell  to  life  and  defiance  to  death. 
When  the  L'reat  Kiowa  war  chief,  Set-angya,  burst  his  shackles  at  Fort  sill  and 
sprang  upon  the  soldiers  surrounding  him.  with  the  deliberate  purpose  to  sell  his 
life  rather  than  to  remain  a  pris ■> .  he  iii>i  sang  the  war  song  --i  his  order,  the 


492  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEKOKEE  [eth.amn.19 

KaitsnVko,  of  which  the  refrain  is:  "O  earth,  you  remain  forever,  but  we  Kaitsefi'ko 
must  die"  (see  the  author's  Calendar  History  of  the  Kiowa  Indians,  in  Seventeenth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  American  Ethnology,  part  1,  1901). 

97.  Origin  of  the  YontoSwisas  dance  (p.  365):  This  is  evidently  the  one  called 
by  Morgan  I  League  <>f  Iroquois,  p.  290)  the  Cntowesus.  He  describes  both  this  and 
the  Oaskanea  as  a  "shuffle  dance"  fur  women  only.  The  spelling  of  the  Seneca 
names  in  the  story  is  that  given  in  the  manuscript. 

Not  l"  <j"  after — Morgan,  in  his  work  quoted  above,  asserts  that  the  Iroquois  never 
made  any  effort  to  recover  those  of  their  people  who  have  been  captured  by  the 
enemy,  choosing  to  consider  them  thenceforth  as  lost  to  their  tribe  and  kindred. 
This,  if  true,  is  doubly  remarkable,  in  view  of  the  wholesele  adoption  of  prisoners 
and  subjugated  tribes  by  the  Iroquois. 

Blazing  pine  knots — Torches  of  seasoned  pine  knots  are  much  in  use  among  the 
Cherokee  for  lighting  up  the  way  on  journeys  along  the  difficult  mountain  trails 
by  night.  ( »wing  to  the  accumulation  of  resin  in  the  knots  they  burn  with  a  bright 
and  enduring  flame,  far  surpassing  the  cloudy  glow  of  a  lantern. 

Wild  potatoes — As  is  well  known,  the  potato  is  indigenous  to  America,  and  our  first 
knowledge  of  it  came  to  us  from  the  Indians.  Many  other  native  tubers  were  in 
use  among  the  tribes,  even  those  which  practiced  no  agriculture,  but  depended  almost 
entirely  upon  the  chase.  Favorites  among  the  Cherokee  are  the  Cynara  scolymus  or 
wild  artichoke,  and  the  Pltaxruhm  or  pig  potato,  the  name  of  the  latter,  nuna,  being 
now  used  to  designate  the  cultivated  potato. 

Sky  people — These  spirit  messengers  are  mentioned  also  in  the  story  of  Hatcinondon 
(number  94),  another  Seneca  tradition.     Every  tribe  has  its  own  spirit  creation. 

Must  do  all  this — Every  sacred  dance  and  religious  rite,  as  well  as  almost  every 
important  detail  of  Indian  ceremonial,  is  supposed  to  be  in  accordance  with  direct 
instruction  from  the  spirit  world  as  communicated  in  a  vision. 

98.  Ga'na's  adventures  among  the  Cherokee  (p.  367):  This  story,  from  Curtin's 
Seneca  manuscript,  is  particularly  rich  in  Indian  allusion.  The  purificatory  rite, 
the  eagle  capture,  the  peace  ceremonial,  the  ballplay,  the  foot  race,  and  the  bat- 
tle are  all  described  in  a  way  that  gives  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the  old  tribal  life. 
The  name  of  the  Seneca  hero,  Ga'na',  signifies,  according  to  Hewitt,  "Arrow"  (cf. 
Cherokee  gun%  "'arrow"  |,  while  thename  of  the  great  eagle,  Shada'gea,  may,  accord- 
ing to  the  same  authority,  lie  rendered  "  Cloud-dweller."  The  Seoqgwageono,  living 
east  of  the  Chen  ikee  and  near  the  ocean,  can  not  be  identified.  They  could  m  it  have 
been  the  Catawba,  who  were  known  to  the  Iroquois  as  Toderigh-rono,  but  they  may 
possibly  have  been  the  Congaree,  Santee,  or  Sewee,  farther  down  in  South  Carolina. 
In  the  Seneca  form,  as  here  given,  ge  (ge')  is  a  locative,  and  ono  (ounon)  a  tribal  suffix 
qualifying  the  root  <  if  the  word,  the  whole  name  signifying  ' '  people  of,  or  at,  Seoqgwa" 
(cf.  Oyadageono,  etc.,  i.  e.,  Cherokee,  p.  186). 

Go  to  water — This  rite,  as  practiced  among  the  Cherokee,  has  been  already  noted 
in  the  chapter  on  stories  and  story  tellers.  Ceremonial  purification  by  water  or 
the  sweat  bath,  accompanied  by  prayer  and  fasting,  is  almost  universal  among  the 
tribes  as  a  preliminary  to  every  important  undertaking.  With  the  Cherokee  it  pre- 
cedes the  ballplay  and  the  Green-corn  dance,  and  is  a  part  of  the  ritual  for  obtaining 
long  life,  for  winning  the  affections  of  a  woman,  for  recovering  from  a  wasting  sick- 
ness, and  for  calling  down  prosperity  upon  the  family  at  each  return  of  the  new 
moon. 

Get  the  riujli-  fmlhi  rs — The  Cherokee  ritual  for  procuring  eagle  feathers  for  ceremo- 
nial and  decorative  purposes  has  been  described  in  number  35,  "The  Bird  Tribes." 
The  Seneca  method,  as  here  described,  is  practically  that  in  use  among  all  the  Indians  i  if 
the  plains,  although  the  hunter  is  not  usually  satisfied  with  a  single  feather  at  a  capture. 
Among  certain  western  tribes  the  eagle  was  sometimes  strangled  before  being  stripped 


mooneyJ  NOTES     \\l>    PARALLEL8  4'.*.'} 

of  it-  feathers,  bu1  it  was  essential  thai  the  body  must  not  be  mangled  or  any  bl 1  be 

drawn.     The  Pueblos  were  sometimes  accustomed  to  take  the  young  eagles  fr the 

nest  and  keep  them  in  cages  for  their  feathers.  A  full  tail  contains  twelve  large 
feathers  of  the  kind  used  for  war  bonnets  and  on  the  wands  of  the  Eagle  dance 

Stockctdt     Stockaded  villages  were  comi i  to  the  troquois  and  most  of  the  tribes 

along  the  Atlantic ast.     They  are  mentioned  also  i ng  the  ( Iherokee  in  some  oi 

the  exaggerated  narratives  of  the  earl)  Spanish  period,  but  were  entirely  unknown 
within  tin'  later  colonial  period,  and  it  is  very  doubtful  if  the  nature  of  the  country 
would  permit  such  compact  mode  of  settlement. 

Dancers  went  forward— The  method  of  ceremonial  approach  here  described  was 
bly  more  or  less  general  among  the  eastern  tribes.  <>n  the  plains  the  visitors 
usually  dismount  in  sight  of  the  other  camp  and  advance  on  foot  in  slow  procession, 
chantingthe  "visiting  song,"  while  the  leader  holds  out  the  red  stone  pipe,  which 
isthesymbol  of  truce  or  friendship.  Foragood  description  of  such  a  ceremonial, 
reproduced  from  Battey,  see  the  author's  Calendar  History  of  the  Kiowa  Indians, 
in  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  In  this 
instance  the  visiting  Pawm arried  a  flag  in  lieu  of  a  pipe. 

The  Cherokee  ceremonial  is  thus  described  by  Timberlake  as  witnessed  at  Citicc 
inl762:  '  About  100  yards  from  the  town-house  we  were  received  bya  body  of  between 
three  and  four  hundred  Indians,  ten  or  twelve  of  which  were  entirely  naked,  except 
a  piece  of  cloth  about  their  middle,  ami  painted  all  over  in  a  hideous  manner,  six  of 
them  with  eagles'  tails  in  their  hands,  which  they  shook  ami  flourished  as  they 
advanced,  danced  in  a  very  uncommon  figure,  singing  in  concert  with  some  drums 
of  their  own  make,  and  those  of  the  late  unfortunate  Capt.  Damere;  with  several 
other  instruments,  uncouth  beyond  description.     Cheulah,  the  headman  of  the  town. 

led  the  procession,  painted  1  >  1 l-red,  except  his  face,  which  was  half  black,  holding 

an  old  rusty  broad-sword  in  his  right  hand,  and  an  eagle's  tail  in  his  left.  As  they 
approached,  Cheulah,  singling  himself  out.  from  the  rest,  cut  two  or  three  capers,  as 
a  signal  to  the  other  eagle-tails,  who  instantly  followed  his  example.  This  violent 
exercise,  accompanied  by  the  hand  of  musick,  and  a  loud  yell  from  the  mob,  lasted 
about  a  minute,  when  the  headman,  waving  his  sword  over  my  head,  struck  it  into 
the  ground,  about  two  inches  from  my  left  foot;  then  directing  himself  to  me,  made 
a  short  discourse  (which  my  interpreter  told  me  was  only  to  bid  me  a   hearty  wel- 

e e)  and  presented  me  with  a  string  of  beads.     We  then  proceeded  to  the  door, 

where  Cheulah,  and  one  of  the  beloved  men,  taking  me  by  each  arm,  led  me  in, 
and  seated  me  in  one  of  the  first  seats:  it  was  so  dark  that  nothing  was  percep- 
tible till  a  fresh  supply  of  canes  were  brought,  which  being  burnt  in  the  middle  of 
the  house  answers  both  purposes  of  fuel  and  candle.  I  then  discovered  about  five 
hundred  faces;  and  Cheulah  addressing  me  a  second  time,  made  a  speech  much  to 
the  same  effect  as  the  former.  lgratulating  me  on  my  safe  arrival  thro'  the  numer- 
ous parties  of  northern  Indians,  that  generally  haunt  the  way  I  came.  He  then 
made  some  professions  of  friendship,  concluding  with  giving  me  another  string  of 
bead-,  as  a  token  of  it.  He  had  scarce  finished,  when  four  .if  those  who  had  exhibited 
at  the  procession  made  their  second  appearance,  painted  in  milk-white,  their  eagle- 
tails  in  one  hand,  and  small  gourds  with  beads  in  them  in  the  other,  which  they 
rattled  in  time  to  the  musick.  During  this  dance  the  peace-pipe  was  prepared." — 
Timberlake,  Memoirs,  pp.  36    '•'' 

Adair  also  makes  brief  mention  of  the  ceremony  among  the  I  rulf  tribes  (Hist.  Am. 

Indians,  p.  260),  but  his  account  istoobadlj  warped  by  theorizing  to  have  much  value. 

Adopt  a  relative— This  seems  to  poinl  to  a  custom  which  has  escaped  the  notice  of 

earlier  writers  on   the  eastern  tribes,  but  which   is  well   known  in  Africa  and  other 

parts  of  the  world,  and  is  closely  analogous  to  a  still  existing  ceremonj  among  the 

plains  Indians  by  which  two  young  men  of  the  same  tribe  formally  agree  to  In ne 

brothers,  and  ratify  the  c ipact  by  a  public  exchange  of  names  ami  L'itt>. 


494  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

White  wampum — As  is  well  known,  white  was  universally  typical  of  peace.  The 
traditional  peace-pipe  of  the  Cherokee  was  of  white  stone  and  the  word  itself  is 
symbolic  of  peace  and  happiness  in  their  oratory  and  sacred  formulas.  Thus  the 
speaker  at  the  Green-corn  dance  invites  the  people  to  come  along  the  white  path  and 
enter  the  white  house  of  peace  to  partake  of  the  new  white  food. 

Held  iij,  Hi,'  belt — As  already  noted,  every  paragraph  of  an  ambassador's  speech 
was  accompanied  by  the  delivery  of  a  string  or  belt  of  wampum  to  give  authority  to 
his  words,  and  to  accept  the  belt  was  to  accept  the  condition  or  compact  which  it 
typified.     On  the  plains  the  red  stone  pipe  took  the  place  of  the  wampum. 

Try  a  nice — Public  foot  races  were  common  among  many  tribes,  more  particularly 
in  the  West  among  the  Pueblos,  the  Apache,  and  the  Wichita,  either  as  simple  ath- 
letic contests  or  in  connection  with  religious  ceremonials.  On  the  plains  the  horse 
race  is  more  in  favor  and  is  always  the  occasion  of  almost  unlimited  betting. 

Thrum, hi  Kin,,,, i-  darts — The  throwing  of  darts  and  arrows,  either  at  a  mark  or 
simply  to  see  who  can  throw  farthest,  is  a  favorite  amusement  among  the  young 
men  and  boys.  The  arrows  used  for  this  purpose  are  usually  longer  and  heavier 
than  the  ordinary  ones,  having  carved  wooden  heads  and  being  artistically  painted. 
They  are  sometimes  tipped  with  the  end  of  a  buffalo  horn. 

99.  The  Shawano  wars  (p.  o70):  The  chief  authority  as  to  the  expulsion  of  the 
Shawano  from  Tennessee  is  Haywood  ( Natural  and  Aboriginal  History  of  Tennessee, 
pp.  222-224).  The  Schoolcraft  reference  is  from  Notes  on  the  Iroquois,  p.  160,  and  the 
notice  of  the  Cherokee- Delaware  war  from  Loskiel,  Mission  of  United  Brethren, 
p.  128,  and  Heckewelder,  Indian  Nations,  p.  88.  The  Tuna'I  story  is  from  Wafford; 
the  other  incidents  from  Swimmer. 

Shawano — The  Shawano  or  Shawnee  were  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Algon- 
quian  tribes.  Their  most  noted  chief  was  the  great  Tecumtha.  The  meaning  of  the 
name  is  doubtful.  It  is  commonly  interpreted  "Southerners,"  from  the  Algonquian 
shawan,  "the  south,"  but  may  have  come  from  another  Algonquian  word  signifying 
" salt "  {siutagan,  sewetagan,  etc.,  from  sewan,  "sweet,  pungent " ).  Unlike  the  south- 
ern Indians  generally,  the  Shawano  were  great  salt  users,  and  carried  on  an  exten- 
sive salt  manufacture  by  boiling  at  the  salt  springs  of  southwestern  Virginia,  furnish- 
ing the  product  in  trade  to  other  tribes.  They  have  thirteen  clans — Wolf,  Loon, 
Bear,  Buzzard,  Panther,  Owl,  Turkey,  Deer,  Raccoon,  Turtle,  Snake,  Horse,  and 
Babbit  (Morgan),  the  clan  of  the  individual  being  indicated  by  his  name.  They  are 
organized  also  into  four  divisions  or  bands,  perhaps  originally  independent  allied 
tril.es,  viz,  Piqua,  Mequachake,  Kiscopocoke,  and  Chilicothe.  To  the  second  of  these 
belonged  the  hereditary  priesthood,  but  the  first  was  most  prominent  and  appar- 
ently most  numerous.  The  Shawano  were  of  very  wandering  and  warlike  habit. 
Their  earliest  historical  habitat  appears  to  have  been  on  the  middle  Savannah 
river,  which  takes  its  name  from  them,  but  before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century 
we  find  a  portion  of  them,  apparently  the  main  body,  occupying  the  basin  of  the  Cum- 
berland river  in  Tennessee  and  the  adjacent  region  of  Kentucky.  About  the  year 
1692  most  of  those  remaining  in  South  Carolina  moved  northward  anil  settled  upon 
the  upper  Delaware  river,  with  their  relatives  and  friends  the  Delaware  and  Mahican. 
These  emigrants  appear  to  have  been  of  the  Piqua  division.  Up  to  about  the  year 
1730  the  Shawano  still  had  a  town  on  Savannah  river,  near  Augusta,  from  which 
they  were  finally  driven  by  the  Cherokee.  From  their  former  intimate  association 
with  the  I'chee,  living  in  the  same  neighborhood,  some  early  writers  have  incor- 
rectly suppi  «ed  the  two  tril  >es  to  1  te  t  he  same.  A  part  of  the  Shawano  joined  the  Creek 
confederary,  and  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  probably  until  the 
final  removal  to  the  West,  occupied  a  separate  town  and  retained  their  distinct 
language.  Those  settled  upon  the  Cumberland  were  afterward  expelled  by  the 
Cherokee  and  Chickasaw,  and  retired  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Ohio  under  protec- 
tion of  the  Delaware,  who  had  given  refuge  to  the  original  emigrants  from  South 


mooney]  NOTES    AM)    PARALLELS  195 

Carolina.  With  the  advance  of  the  white  settlements  the  two  tribes  moved  west- 
ward into  Ohio,  the  Shawano  fixing  themselves  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  Piqua 
and  Chillicothe  aboul  the  year  1750.  They  took  a  leading  pari  in  the  French  and 
Indian  war,  Pontiac's  war,  the  Revolution,  and  the  war  of  1812.  In  1793  a  consid- 
erable band  settled  in  Missouri  upon  lands  granted  by  the  Spanish  government.  As 
a  result  of  successive  sales  and  removals  all  thai  remain  of  the  tribe  are  now  estab- 
lished in  Indian  Territory,  about  one-half  being  incorporated  with  the  Cherokee 
Nation.  In  1900  they  numbered  about  1,580,  viz,  in  Cherokee  Nation  (in  1898), 
790;  Absentee  Shawnee  of  Sac  and  Fox  Agency,  509;  Absentee  Shawnee  of  Big  Jim's 

band,  special  agency,  1 s  I :  Eastern  Shawn i  Quapaw  Agency,  93.     There  arc  also 

a  few  scattered  among  other  tribes.  For  detailed  information  consult  Drake,  Life 
of  Tecumseh;  Heckewelder,  Indian  Nations;  Brinton,  Lenape  and  Their  Legends; 
American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  i  and  n;  Annual  Reports  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs. 

100    The  raid  on  TIkwali'tsi   (p.  374):   Swimmer,  from   wl i   this  story  was 

obtained,  was  of  opinion  that  the  event  occurred  when  his  mother  was  a  little  girl, 
say  about  1795,  but  it  must  have  been  earlier. 

The  I. .rations  are  all  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.  TIkwali'tsi  town  was  on 
Tuckasegee  river,  at  the  present  Bryson  City,  immediately  below  and  adjoining  the 
more  important  town  of  Kituhwa.  Deep  ereek  enters  the  Tuckasegeefrom  the  north, 
about  a  mile  above  Bryson  City.  The  place  where  the  trail  crossed  is  called  Uni- 
ga'yata'ti'yl,  "  Where  they  made  a  tish  trap."  a  name  which  may  have  suggested  tin- 
simile  nseil  by  the  story  teller.  The  place  where  the  Cherokee  crossed,  above  Deep 
ereek,  is  called  Uniya'hitufi'yl,  "Where  they  shot  it,"  The  cliff  over  which  the 
prisoners  were  thrown  is  called  Kala'asufiyl,  "Where  he  fell  off,"  near  Cold  Spring 
knob,  west  of  Deep  creek.  The  Cherokee  halted  for  anight  at  Agitsta'ti'yl,  "Where 
they  staid  up  all  night,"  a  few  miles  beyond,  on  the  western  head  fork  of  Deep  creek. 
Theypassed  Kunstutsi'yl.  "Sassafras  place,"  a  gap  about  the  head  of  Noland  creek, 
near  Clingman's  dome,  and  finally  gave  up  the  pursuit  where  the  trail  crossed  into 
Tennessee,  at  a  gap  on  the  main  ridge,  just  below  Clingman's  dome,  known  as  Duni- 
ya''ta'lun'vi,  "Where  there  are  shelves,"  so  called  from  an  exposure  of  Hat  rock  on 
the  top  of  the  ridge  (see  the  glossary  i. 

Magic  arts — It  is  almost  superfluous  to  state  that  no  Indian  war  party  ever  started 
out  without  a  vast  deal  of  conjuring  and  "making  medicine"  to  discover  the  where- 
abouts and  strength  of  the  enemy  and  to  insure  victory  and  safe  return  to  the  depart- 
ing  warriors. 

Wail  for  death — The  Indian  usually  meets  inevitable  fate  with  equanimity,  and 
n lore  than  once  in  our  Indian  wars  an  aged  warrior  or  helpless  woman,  unable  to 
escape,  has  sat  down  upon  the  ground,  ami,  with  blanket  drawn  over  the  head,  calmly 
awaited  the  fatal  bullet  or  hatchet  stroke. 

101.  The  last  Shawano  invasion  (p.  374):  This  story  also  is  from  Swimmer, 
whose  antiquarian  interest  in  the  history  of  these  wars  may  have  been  heightened  by 
the  fact  that  he  had  a  slight  strain  of  Shawano  blood  himself.  The  descendants  of 
the  old  chief  Sawanu'gi  and  his  brothers,  originally  of  Shawano  stock,  as  tin-  name 
indicates,  have  been  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  East  Cherokee  for  more  than 
half  a  century,  and  one  of  them,  1 'earing  the  ancestral  name,  is  now  second  chief  of 
the  band  and  starter  of  the  game  at  every  large  ballplay. 

Tht  cry  of  an  owl — One  of  the  commonest  claims  put  forth  by  the  medicine  men 
is  that  of  ability  to  understand  the  language  of  birds  and  to  obtain  supernatural 
kni  'W  ledge  from  them,  particularly  from  the  owl,  which  is  regarded  with  a  species  of 
fear  by  the  laity,  as  the  embodiment  of  a  human  ghost,  on  ace. unit  of  its  nocturnal 
habit  and  generally  uncanny  appearance.  A  medicine  man  who  died  a  few  years  ago 
among  the  Kiowa  claimed  to  derive  his  powers  from  that  bird.     The  body  of  an  owl, 


496  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

wrapped  in  red  cloth  and  decorated  with  various  trinkets,  was  kept  constantly  sus- 
pended from  a  tall  pole  set  up  in  front  of  his  tipi,  and  whenever  at  night  the  warn- 
ing cry  sounded  from  the  thicket  he  was  accusti  imed  to  leave  his  place  at  the  tire  and 
go  out,  returning  in  a  short  while  with  a  new  revelation. 

Rafts — The  Cherokee  canoe  is  hewn  from  a  poplar  log  and  is  too  heavy  to  be  car- 
ried about  like  the  bark  canoe  of  the  northern  tribes.  As  a  temporary  expedient 
the}-  sometimes  used  a  bear  or  buffalo  skin,  tying  the  legs  together  at  each  end  to 
fashion  a  rude  boat.  Upon  this  the  baggage  was  loaded,  while  the  owner  swam 
behind,  pushing  it  forward  through  the  water. 

102.  The  false  warriors  of  Chilhowee  (p.  375):  This  story  was  given  by  Swim- 
mer and  corroborated  by  others  as  that  of  an  actual  incident  of  the  old  times.  The 
middle  Cherokee  (Kituhwa)  settlements,  on  the  head-streams  of  the  Little  Ten- 
nessee, were  separated  from  the  upper  settlements,  about  its  junction  with  the  main 
Tennessee,  by  many  miles  of  extremely  rough  mountain  country.  Dialectic  differ- 
ences and  local  jealousies  bred  friction,  which  sometimes  brought  the  two  sections 
into  collision  and  rendered  possible  such  an  occurrence  as  is  here  narrated.  On 
account  of  this  jealousy,  according  to  Adair,  the  first  Cherokee  war,  which  began 
in  1760,  concerned  for  some  time  only  a  part  of  the  tribe.  "According  to  the  well- 
known  temper  of  the  Cheerake  in  similar  cases  it  might  either  have  remained  so,  or 
soon  have  been  changed  into  a  very  hot  civil  war,  had  we  been  so  wise  as  to  have 
unproved  the  favourable  opportunity.  There  were  seven  northern  towns,  opposite 
to  the  middle  parts  of  the  Cheerake  country,  who  from  the  beginning  of  the  unhappy 
grievances,  firmly  dissented  from  the  hostile  intentions  of  their  suffering  and  enraged 
countrymen,  and  for  a  considerable  time  before  bore  them  little  goodwill,  on  account 
of  some  family  disputes  which  occasioned  each  party  to  be  more  favourable  to  itself 
than  to  the  other.  These  would  readily  have  gratified  their  vindictive  disposition 
either  by  a  neutrality  or  an  offensive  alliance  with  our  colonists  against  them" 
(History  of  the  American  Indians,  page  248). 

Chilhowee  (properly  Tsu'luiVweor  Tsu'la'wi)  was  a  noted  settlement  on  the  south 
bank  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  opposite  the  present  Chilhowee,  in  Monroe  county, 
Tennessee.  Cowee  (properly  Kawi'yl,  abbreviated  Kawi')  was  the  name  of  two  or 
lucre  former  settlements.  The  one  here  meant  was  at  the  junction  of  Cowee  creek 
with  Little  Tennessee  river,  a  short  distance  below  the  present  Franklin,  in  Macon 
county,  North  Carolina.  Neither  name  can  be  analyzed.  The  gunstocker's  name, 
Gulsadi'hf  or  Gultsadi'hl,  and  that  of  the  original  owner  of  the  gun,  Guiiskali'ski, 
are  both  of  doubtful  etymology. 

Great  war  l rail — See  historical  note  19. 

Scalp  dance — This  dance,  common  to  every  tribe  east  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  was 
held  to  celebrate  the  taking  of  fresh  scalps  from  the  enemy.  The  scalps,  painted 
red  on  the  fleshy  side,  decorated  and  stretched  in  small  hoops  attached  tot  lie  ends  of 
poles,  were  carried  in  the  dance  by  the  wives  and  sweethearts  of  the  warriors,  while 
in  the  pauses  of  the  song  each  warrior  in  turn  recited  his  exploits  in  minute  detail. 
Among  the  Cherokee  it  was  customary  for  the  warrior  as  he  stepped  into  the  center  of 
the  circle  to  suggest  to  the  drummer  an  improvised  song  which  summed  up  in  one 
or  two  words  his  own  part  in  the  encounter.  A  new  "war  name"  was  frequently 
assumed  after  the  dance  (see  sketch  of  Tsunu'lahuiVskI,  page  164).  Dances  were 
held  over  the  same  scalps  on  consecutive  nights  or  sometimes  at  short  intervals  for 
weeks  together. 

Coming  for  imter — The  getting  of  water  from  the  neighboring  stream  or  spring  was 
a  daily  duty  of  the  women,  and  accordingly  we  find  in  Indian  stories  constant  allu- 
sion to  ambuscades  or  lovers'  appointments  at  such  places. 

To  have  "  ballplay — See  note  under  number  3,  Kana'tl  and  Selu. 

103.  Cowee  town:  See  the  preceeding  note 


mookby]  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  41*7 

104.  Tin:  i  \mii:\  rsiBES  (p.  378)  Delawan  The  Delawares  derive  their  popular 
name  from  the  nver  upon  which,  in  the  earliest  colonial  period,  they  had  their  prin- 
cipal settlements.  They  call  themselves  Lena'pe  or  Leni-lena'pe,  a  term  apparently 
signifying  "real,  or  original  men,"  or  "men  of  our  kind."  To  the  cognate  tribes 
of  the  <  >hio  valley  and  the  lakes  they  were  known  as  Wapanaq'ki,  "easterners,"  the 
name  being  extended  to  include  the  closelj  related  tribes,  the  Mahican,  Wappinger 
(i.e.  Wapanaq'ki),  Nanticoke,  and  Conoy.  By  all  the  widespread  tribes  of  kindred 
Algonquian  stock,  as  well  as  by  the  Winnebago,  Wyandot,  and  Cherokee,  they  were 
addressed  under  the  respectful  title  of  "grandfather,"  the  domineering  Iroquois 
alone  refusing  to  them  any  higher  designation  than  ••nephew." 

Their  various  bands  and  subtribes  seem  originally  to  have  occupied  the  ivhole 
basin  of  Delaware  river,  together  with  all  of  New  Jersey,  extending  north  to  the 
watershed  of  the  Hudson  and  west  and  southwest  to  the  ridge  separating  the  waters 
of  the  Delaware  and  Susquehanna.  Immediately  north  of  them,  along  the  lower 
Hudson  and  extending  into  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  were  the  closely  affili- 
ated Mahican  and  Wappinger,  while  to  the  south  were  their  friends  and  kindred. 
the  Nanticoke  and  Conoy,  the  former  in  Delaware  and  .m  the  eastern  shore  of  Mary- 
land, the  latter  between  Chesapeake  hay  and  the  lower  Potomac.  All  of  these, 
although  speaking  different  languages  of  the  common  Algonquian  stock,  asserted 
their  traditional  origin  from  the  Delawares,  with  whom,  in  their  declining  days, 
most  of  them  were  again  merged.  The  Delawares  proper  were  organized  into  three 
divisions,  which,  according  to  Brinton,  were  subtribes  and  not  elans,  although  each 
of  the  three  had  a  totemic  animal  by  whose  name  it  was  commonly  known.     These 

three  subtribes  were:   (1)  The  Minsi  or  Munsee  (people  of  the  "stony mtry"  ".'  ), 

otherwise  known  a-  the  Wolf  tribe,  occupying  the  hill  country  about  the  head  of 
the  Delaware;  (2)  the  Unami  (people  "downstream"),  or  Turtle  tribe,  on  the 
middle  Delaware,  and  (3)  the  Unalachtgo  (people  "near  the  ocean"  ?),  or  Turkey 

tribe,   in  the  southern   part   of  the  i mioti   territory,     (if   these   the   Turtle  tribe 

assumed  precedence  in  the  council,  while  to  the  Wolf  tribe  belonged  the  leadership 
in  war.  Each  oi  these  three  was  divided  into  twelve  families,  or  embryonic  elans, 
bearing  female  names.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  Delawares 
now  residing  with  the  Wichita,  in  Oklahoma,  still  use  the  figure  of  a  turtle  as  their 
distinctive  cattle  brand. 

Of  the  history  of  the  Delawares  it  is  only  possible  to  say  a  very  few  words  here. 
Their  earliest  European  relations  were  with  the  Dutch  and  Swedes.  In  1682  they 
made  the  famous  treaty  with  William  Pent),  which  was  faithfully  observed  on  both 
sides  for  sixty  years.  Gradually  forced  backward  by  the  whites,  they  retired  tir^-t 
to  the  Susquehanna,  then  to  the  upper  Ohio,  where,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
French  and  Indian  war  in  17o4,  they  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  French. 
They  fought  against  the  Americans  in  the  Revolution,  and  in  the  war  of  1812,  hav- 
ing by  that  time  been  driven  as  far  west  as  Indiana.  In  ISIS  they  ceded  all  their 
lands  in  that  State  and  wen-  assigned  to  a  reservation  in  Kansas,  where  they  were 
joined  by  a  considerable  body  that  had  emigrated  to  Missouri,  in  company  with  a 
band  of  Shawano,  some  years  before,  by  permission  of  the  Spanish  government. 
About  the  close  of  the  Revolution  another  portion  of  the  tribe,  including  most  of 
those  who  had  been  Christianized  by  Moravian  missionaries,  had  fled  from  Ohioand 
taken  up  a  permanent  abode  on  Canadian  soil.  In  1867  the  main  body  of  those  in 
Kansas  removed  to  Indian  Territory  and  became  incorporated  with  the  Cherokee 
Nation.  A  smaller  band  settled  on  the  Wichita  reservation  in  Oklahoma.  The  pre- 
sent number  of  Delawares  is,  approximately,  1,600,  viz:  "Moravians  and  Munseesof 
the  Thames,"  Ontario,  475;  incorporated  in  Cherokee  Nation,  870  (in  1898);  on 
Wichita  reservation,  95;  Munsee  in  Kansas  and  incorporated  with  Stockbridges  in 
Wisconsin,  perhaps  100;  Delawares,  etc.,  with  Six  Nations,  in  New  York.  50. 

Of  their  former  allies,  the  Wappinger  and  Conoy   have   long  sine,  disappeared 

19  ETH— 01 32 


498  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

through  absorption  into  other  tribes;  the  Mahican  are  represented  by  a  band  of 
about  530  Stockbridge  Indians,  including  a  number  of  Munsee,  in  Wisconsin,  while 
about  70  mixed  bloods  still  keep  up  the  Nanticoke  name  in  southern  Delaware. 

Tuscarora — The  Tuscarora,  a  southern  tribe. of  the  Iroquoian  stock,  formerly  occu- 
pied an  extensive  territory  upon  Neuse  river  and  its  branches,  in  eastern  North 
Carolina,  and,  like  their  northern  cousins,  seem  to  have  assumed  and  exercised  a 
certain  degree  of  authority  over  all  the  smaller  tribes  about  them.  As  early  as  1670 
Lederer  described  the  Tuscarora  "emperor"  as  the  haughtiest  Indian  he  had  ever 
met.  About  the  year  1700  Lawson  estimated  them  at  1,200  warriors  (6,000  souls?) 
in  15  towns.  In  1711  they  rose  against  the  whites,  one  of  their  first  acts  of  hos- 
tility being  the  killing  of  Lawson  himself,  who  was  engaged  in  surveying  lands  which 
they  claimed  as  their  own.  In  a  struggle  extending  over  about  two  years  they  were 
so  terribly  decimated  that  the  greater  portion  fled  from  Carolina  and  took  refuge 
with  their  kinsmen  and  friends,  the  Iroquois  of  New  York,  who  were  henceforth 
known  as  the  Six  Nations.  The  so-called  "friendly"  party,  under  Chief  Blount, 
waa  settled  upon  a  small  reservation  north  of  Roanoke  river  in  what  is  now  Bertie 
county,  North  Carolina.  Here  they  gradually  decreased  by  disease  and  emigration 
to  the  north,  until  the  few  who  were  left  sold  their  last  remaining  lands  in  1804. 
The  history  of  the  tribe  after  the  removal  to  the  north  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the 
Iroquois  or  Six  Nations.  They  number  now  about  750,  of  whom  about  380  are  on 
the  Tuscarora  reservation  in  New  York,  the  others  upon  the  Grand  River  reserva- 
tion in  Ontario. 

Xuala,  Suwali,  Sara  or  Chara/w — For  the  identification  and  earliest  notices  of  the 
Sara  see  historical  note  8,  "  De  Soto's  Route."  Their  later  history  is  one  of  almost 
constant  hostility  to  the  whites  until  their  final  incorporation  with  the  Catawba, 
with  whom  they  were  probably  cognate,  about  the  year  1720.  In  1743  they  still  pre- 
served their  distinct  language,  and  appear  to  be  last  mentioned  in  1768,  when  they 
numbered  about  50  souls  living  among  the  Catawba.  See  Mooney,  Siouan  Tribes 
of  the  East,  bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1894. 

Catawba — The  origin  and  meaning  of  this  name,  which  dates  back  at  least  two 
centuries,  are  unknown.  It  may  possibly  come  from  the  Choctaw  through  the 
Mobilian  trade  jargon.  They  call  themselves  Nieye,  which  means  simply  "people" 
or  "Indians."  The  Iroquois  call  them  and  other  cognate  tribes  in  their  vicinity 
Toderigh-rono,  whence  Tutelo.  In  the  seventeenth  century  they  were  often  known 
as  Esawor  Ushery,  apparently  from  iswd',  river,  in  their  own  language.  The  Chero- 
kee name  Ata'gwa,  plural  Ani'ta'gwa,  is  a  corruption  of  the  popular  form.  Their 
linguistic  affinity  with  the  Siouan  stock  was  established  by  Gatschet  in  1881.  See 
Mooney,  Siouan  Tribes  of  the  East. 

105.  The  southern  and  western  tribes  (p.  382):  The  Creek  confederacy — Next  in 
importance  to  the  Cherokee,  among  the  southern  tribes,  were  the  Indians  of  the  Creek 
confederacy,  occupying  the  greater  portion  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  immediately 
south  of  the  Cherokee.  They  are  said  to  have  been  called  Creeks  by  the  early  traders 
on  account  of  the  abundance  of  small  streams  in  their  country.  Before  the  whites 
began  to  press  upon  them  their  tribes  held  nearly  all  the  territory  from  the  Atlantic 
westward  to  about  the  watershed  between  the  Tombigby  and  the  Pearl  and  Pasca- 
goula  rivers,  being  cut  off  from  the  Gulf  coast  by  the  Choctaw  tribes,  and  from  the 
Savannah,  except  near  the  mouth,  by  the  Uchee,  Shawano,  and  Cherokee.  About 
the  year  1800  the  confederacy  comprised  75  towns,  the  people  of  47  of  which  were  the 
Upper  Creeks,  centering  about  the  upper  waters  of  the  Alabama,  while  those  of  the 
remaining  28  were  the  Lower  Creeks,  upon  the  lower  Chattahoochee  and  its  branches 
( Hawkins).  Among  them  were  represented  a  number  of  tribes  formerly  distinct  and 
speaking  distinct  languages.  The  ruling  tribe  and  language  was  the  Muscogee  (plu- 
ral, Museogiilgee),  which  frequently  gave  its  name  to  the  confederacy.  Other  lan- 
guages were  the  Alabama,  Koasati,  Hichitee,  Taskigi,  Uchee,  Natchee,  and  Sawanugi 


mooney]  NoTKS    AM)    PARALLELS  499 

or  Shawano.  The  Muscogee,  Alabama,  Koasati,  Hichitee,  and  Taskigi  (7  i  belonged  to 
the  Muskhogean  atock,  the  Alabama  and  Koasati,  however,  being  nearer  linguisticallj 
to  the  Choctaw  than  to  the  Muscogee.  Tlie  Hichitee  represent  the  conquered  or 
otherwise  incorporated  Muskhogean  tribes  of  the  Georgia  coast  region.  The  Apa- 
lachi  on  Appalachee  bay  in  Florida,  who  were  conquered  by  the  English  about  1705 
and  afterward  incorporated  with  the  Creeks,  were  dialectical!  y  closely  akin  to  the 
Hichitee;  the  Seminole  also  were  largely  an  offshool  from  this  tribe.  <  >f  the  Taskigi 
all  that  i>  known  lias  been  told  elsewhere  i  see  number  105) . 

The  Uchee,  Natchee,  and  Sawanugi  were  incorporated  tribes,  differing  radically  in 
language  from  each  other  and  from  the  Muskhogean  tribes.  The  territory  of  the 
Uchee  included  both  hanks  of  the  middle  Savannah,  below  the  Cherokee,  and 
extended  into  middle  Georgia.  They  had  a  strong  race  pride,  claiming  to  be  older 
in  the  country  than  the  Muscogee,  and  are  probably  identical  with  the  people  of 
Cofitachiqui,  mentioned  in  the  early  Spanish  narratives.  According  to  Hawkins, 
their  incorporation  with  the  Creeks  was  brought  about  in  consequence  of  intermar- 
riages about  the  year  1729.  The  Natchee  or  Natchez  were  an  important  tribe  residing 
in  lower  Mississippi,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  town  of  that  name,  until  driven 
out  by  the  French  about  the  year  1730,  when  most  of  them  took  refuge  with  the 
Creeks,  while  others  joined  the  Chickasaw  and  Cherokee.  The  Sawanugi  were 
Shawano  who  kept  their  town  on  Savannah  river,  near  the  present  Augusta,  after 
the  main  body  of  their  tribe  had  removed  to  the  north  about  1692.  They  probably 
joined  the  Creeks  about  the  same  time  as  their  friends,  the  Uchee.  The  Uchee  still 
constitute  a  compact  body  of  about  600  souls  in  the  Creek  Nation,  keeping  up  their 
distinct  language  and  tribal  character.  The  Natchee  are  reduced  to  one  or  two  old 
men,  while  the  Sawanugi  have  probably  lost  their  identity  long  ago. 

According  to  Morgan,  the  Muscogee  proper,  and  perhaps  also  their  incorporated 
tribes,  have  22  clans.  Of  these  the  Wind  appears  to  he  the  leading  one,  possessing 
privileges  accorded  to  no  other  clan,  including  the  hereditary  guardianship  of  the 
aiici.nt  metal  tablets  which  constitute  the  palladium  of  the  tribe.  By  the  treaty  of 
Washington  in  1832,  the  Creeks  sold  all  of  their  remaining  lands  in  their  old  country 
and  agreed  to  remove  west  of  the  Mississippi  to  what  is  nowthe  Creek  Nation  in  the 
Indian  Territory.  The  removal  extended  over  a  period  of  several  years  and  was  not 
finally  accomplished  until  1845.  In  1898  the  citizen  population  of  the  Creek  Nation 
numbered  14,771,  of  whom  10,014  were  of  Indian  blood  and  the  remainder  were 
negroes,  their  former  slaves.     It  appears  that  the  Indian  population  included  about 

700  fr ther  tribes,  chiefly  Cherokee.   There  are  also  about  300  Alabama,  "Cushatta" 

|  Koasati  |,  and  Muscogee  in  Texas.  See  also  Hawkins,  Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country; 
Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend;  Adair,  History  of  the  American  Indian-;  Bart- 
ram,  Travels;  The  Five  Civilized  Tribes,  Bulletin  of  the  Eleventh  Census;  Wyman, 
in  Alabama  Historical  Society  Collections. 

Chickasaw — This  tribe,  of  Muskhogean  stock,  formerly  occupied  northern  Missis- 
sippi and  adjacent  portions  of  Alabama  and  Tennessee,  and  at  an  early  period  had 
incorporated  also  several  smaller  tribes  on  Yazoo  river  in  central  Mississippi,  chief 
among  which  were  the  cognate  Chokchuma.     The  name  occurs  first  in  the  De  Soto 

narrative.     The  Chickasaw  language  was  simply  a  dialect  of  CI taw,  although  the 

two  tribes  were  hereditary  enemies  and  differed  widely  in  character,  the  former  being 
active  and  warlike,  while  the  latter  were  notoriously  sluggish.  Throughout  the 
colonial  period  the  Chickasaw  were  the  constant  enemies  of  the  French  and  friends 
of  the  English,  but  they  remained  neutral  in  the  Revolution.  By  the  treaty  of 
Pontotoc  in  1832  they  sold  their  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  agreed  to  remove 
to  Indian  Territory,  where  they  are  now  organized  as  the  Chickasaw  Nation. 
According  to  Morgan  they  have  12  clans  grouped  into  two  phratries.  In  L890, 
the  citizen  population  of  the  Nation  (under  Chickasaw  laws)  consisted  of  3,941  full- 
blood  and  mixed-blood  Chickasaw,  6S1  adopted  whites,  131  adopted  negroes,  and  946 


500  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.ahn.19 

adopted  Indians  from  other  tribes,  chiefly  Choctaws.  Under  the  present  law,  by 
which  citizenship  claims  are  decided  by  a  Government  commission,  "Chickasaw  by 
blood  "  are  reported  in  1898  to  number  4,230,  while  "  white  and  negro  "  citizens  are 
reported  at  4,818.  See  also  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend;  The  Five  Civilized 
Tribes,  Bulletin  of  Eleventh  Census. 

The  Choctaw  confederacy — This  was  a  loose  alliance  of  tribes,  chiefly  of  Muskho- 
gean  stock,  occupying  southern  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  with  the  adjacent  Gulf 
coast  of  western  Florida  and  eastern  Louisiana.  The  Choctaw  proper,  of  Muskho- 
gean  stock,  occupying  south  central  Mississippi,  was  the  dominant  tribe.  Smaller 
tribes  more  or  less  closely  affiliated  were  the  Mobilian,  Tohome,  Mugulasha,  Pasca- 
goula,  Biloxi,  Acolapissa,  Bayagoula,  Houma,  with  others  of  less  note.  It  had  been 
assumed  that  all  of  these  were  of  Muskhogean  stock  until  Gatschet  in  1886  estab- 
lished the  fact  that  the  Biloxi  were  of  Siouan  affinity,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that 
the  Pascagoula  also  were  of  the  same  connection.  All  the  smaller  tribes  excepting 
the  Biloxi  were  practically  extinct,  or  had  entirely  lost  their  identity,  before  the 
year  1800. 

The  Choctaw  were  one  of  the  largest  of  the  eastern  tribes,  being  exceeded  in  num- 
bers, if  at  all,  only  by  the  Cherokee;  but  this  apparent  superiority  was  neutralized 
by  their  unwarlike  character  and  lack  of  cohesion.  According  to  Morgan,  whose 
statement  has,  however,  been  challenged,  they  had  eight  clans  grouped  into  two 
phratries.  There  was  also  a  geographic  division  into  "Long  towns,"  "  Potato-eating 
towns,"  and  "Six  towns,"  the  last  named  differing  considerably  in  dialect  and  cus- 
tom from  the  others.  By  treaties  in  1820  and  1830  the  Choctaw  sold  all  their  lands 
east  of  the  Mississippi  and  agreed  to  remove  to  Indian  Territory,  where  they  ru  >W  con- 
stitute the  Choctaw  Nation.  A  considerable  number  of  vagrant  Choctaw  who  had 
drifted  into  Louisiana  ami  Arkansas  at  an  early  period  have  since  joined  their  kin- 
dred in  Indian  Territory,  but  from  1,000  to  2,000  are  still  scattered  along  the  swampy 
Gulf  coast  of  Mississippi.  In  1890  those  of  pure  or  mixed  Choctaw  blood  in  the 
Choctaw  Nation  were  officially  reported  to  number  10,211.  In  1899,  under  different 
conditions  of  citizenship,  the  "Choctaw  by  blood"  were  put  at  14,256,  while  the 
adopted  whites  and  negroes  numbered  5,150.  See  also  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration 
Legend;  The  Five  Civilized  Tribes,  Bulletin  of  Eleventh  Census. 

The  Osage — The  popular  name  is  a  corruption  of  Ouasage,  the  French  spelling  of 
Wasash,  the  name  used  by  themselves.  The  Osage  were  the  principal  southern 
Siouan  tribe,  claiming  at  one  time  nearly  the  whole  territory  from  the  Missouri  to 
the  Arkansas  and  from  the  Mississippi  far  out  into  the  plains.  Their  geographic 
position  brought  them  equally  into  contact  with  the  agricultural  and  sedentary  tribes 
of  the  eastern  country  and  the  roving  hunters  of  the  prairie,  and  in  tribal  habit 
and  custom  they  formed  a  connecting  link  between  the  two.  Whether  or  not  they 
deserved  the  reputation,  they  were  considered  by  all  their  neighbors  as  particularly 
predatory  and  faithless  in  character,  and  had  consequently  few  friends,  but  were 
generally  at  war  with  all  tribes  alike.  They  made  their  first  treaty  with  the  Gov- 
ernment in  1808.  In  1825  they  ceded  all  their  claims  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas, 
together  with  considerable  territory  in  what  is  now  Kansas.  They  have  decreased 
terribly  from  war  and  dissipation,  and  are  now,  to  the  number  of  about  1,780,  gath- 
ered upon  a  reservation  in  Oklahoma  just  west  of  the  Cherokee  and  south  of  the 
Kansas  line. 

106.  The  Giants  from  the  west  (p.  391):  This  may  be  an  exaggerated  account 
of  a  visit  from  sonic  warriors  of  a  taller  tribe  from  the  plains,  where  it  is  customary 
to  pluck  out  the  eyebrows  and  to  wear  the  hair  in  two  long  side  pendants,  wrapped 
round  with  otter  skin  and  reaching  to  the  knees,  thus  giving  a  peculiar  expression 
to  the  eyes  and  an  appearance  of  tallness  which  is  sometimes  deceptive.  The  Osage 
warriors  have,  however,  long  been  noted  for  their  height. 

With  the  exception  of  Tsul'kalu'  there  seem  to  be  no  giants  in  the  mythology  of 


mooney]  NOTES    AM)    PARALLELS  501 

the  Cherokee,  although  all  their  woods  and  waters  are  peopled  by  invisible  fairy 
tribes.  This  appears  to  be  characteristic  of  Indian  mythologies  generally,  the  giants 
being  comparatively  few  in  number  while  the  "little  people"  are  legion.  The 
Iroquois  have  a  story  of  an  invasion  by  a  race  of  stony-skinned  cannibal  giants  from 
the  west  (Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  Iroquois,  p.  266).  Gianl  races  occur  also  in  the 
mythologies  of  the  Navaho  (Matthews,  Navaho  Legends),  Choctaw  (Gatschet,  Creek 
Migration  Legend),  and  other  tribes.  According  to  the  old  Spanish  chroniclers, 
Ayllon  in  1520  met  on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina  a  tribe  of  Indians  whose  chiefs 
were  of  gigantic  size,  owing,  as  he  was  told,  to  a  special  course  of  dieting  and  mas- 
sage to  which  they  were  subjected  in  infancy. 

107.  Tim  losi  Cherokee  (p.  391):  This  tradition  as  hen-  given  is  taken  chiefly 
from  the  Wahnenauhi  manuscript.     There  is  a  persistent  belief  among  the  Cherokee 

that  a  pert  ion  of  their  people  once  wandered  far  to  the  west  or  south  «  est,  where  they 

were  sometimes  heard  of  afterward,  but  were  never  again  reunited  with  their  tribe.  It 
was  the  hope  of  verifying  this  tradition  and  restoring  his  lost  kinsmen  to  their  tribe 
that  led  Sequoya  to  undertake  the  journey  on  which  he  lost  his  life.  These  tradi- 
tional lost  Cherokee  are  entirely  distinct  from  the  historic  emigrants  who  removed 
from  the  East  shortly  after  the  Revolution. 

Similar  stories  are  common  to  nearly  all  the  tribes.  Thus  the  Kiowa  tell  of  a  chief 
who.  manj  years  ago,  quarreled  over  a  division  of  game  and  led  his  people  far  away 
across  the  Rocky  mountains,  when-  they  are  still  living  somewhere  about  the  British 
border  and  still  keeping  their  old  Kiowa  language.  The  Tonkawa  tell  of  a  band  of 
their  people  who  in  some  way  were  cut  off  from  the  tribe  by  a  sudden  inroad  of  the 
sea  on  the  Texas  coast,  and,  being  unable  to  return,  gradually  worked  their  way  far 
down  into  Mexico.  The  Tuscarora  tell  how,  in  their  early  wanderings,  they  came  to 
the  Mississippi  and  were  crossing  over  to  the  west  side  by  means  of  a  grapevine,  when 
the  vine  broke,  leaving  those  on  the  farther  side  to  wander  off  until  in  time  they 
became  enemies  to  those  on  the  eastern  bank.  See  Mooney,  Calendar  History  of  the 
Kiowa  Indians,  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  part  1, 
and  The  Last  of  Our  Cannibals,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  August,  1901;  Cusick,  quoted 
in  Schoolcraft,  Notes  on  the  Iroquois,  p.  478. 

L08.  The  massacre  of  the  Ani'-Kuta'ni  (p.  392):  Swimmer,  Ta'gwadihl',  Ayasta, 
and  Watford  all  knew  this  name,  which  Ayasta  pronounced  AnV-Kw&ta'nl,  but  none 
of  them  could  tell  anything  more  definite  than  has  been  stated  in  the  opening  sen- 
tence. The  hereditary  transmission  of  priestly  dignities  in  a  certain  clan  or  band  is 
rather  the  rule  than  the  exception  among  the  tribes,  both  east  and  west. 

109.  The  war  medicine  (p.  393):  The  first  two  paragraphs  are  from  Wafford,  the 
rest  from  Swimmer.  The  stories  are  characteristic  of  Indian  belief  and  might  be 
paralleled  in  any  tribe.  The  great  Kiowa  chief,  Set-angya, already  mentioned,  was — 
and  still  is — believed  by  his  tribe  to  have  possessed  a  magic  knife,  which  lie  carried 
in  his  stomach  and  could  produce  from  his  mouth  at  will.  The  Kiowa  assert  that  it 
was  this  knife,  which  of  course  the  soldiers  failed  to  find  when  disarming  him,  with 
which  lie  attacked  the  guard  in  the  encounter  that  resulted  in  his  death. 

110.  Incidents  of  personal  heroism  (p.  394):  The  incident  of  the  fight  at  Waya 
gap  is  on  the  authority  of  the  late  Maj.  .lames  Bryson,  of  Dillsboro,  North  Carolina, 
born  in  1818,  who  had  it  from  his  great-uncle,  Daniel  Bryson,  a  memberof  YVilliam- 
-  n'-  expedition. 

Speaking  of  the  Cherokee  "War  Women,"  who  were  admitted  to  the  tribal  councils, 
Timberlake  says  (Memoirs,  p.  70):  "The  reader  will  not  be  a  little  surprised  to 
find  the  story  of  Amazons  not  so  great  a  fable  as  we  imagined,  many  of  the  Indian 
women  being  as  famous  in  war  as  powerful  in  the  council." 

111.  The  mounds  and  the  constant  hue:  The  old  sacked  things  (p.  ::ti">  \:  What  is 
here  said  concerning  the  mounds,  based  chiefly  upon  Swimmer's  recital,  is  given  solely 


50'2  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


as  a  matter  of  popular  belief,  shaped  by  tribal  custom  and  ritual.  The  question  of 
fact  is  for  the  archeologist  to  decide.  The  Indian  statement  is  of  value,  however, 
in  showing  the  supposed  requirements  for  the  solemn  consecration  of  an  important 
work. 

A  note  by  John  Howard  Payne  upon  the  sacred  square  of  the  Creeks,  as  observed 
by  him  in  1835,  just  before  his  visit  to  the  Cherokee,  may  throw  further  light  on 
the  problem:  "In  the  center  of  this  outer  square  was  a  very  high  circular  mound. 
This,  it  seems,  was  formed  from  the  earth  accumulated  yearly  by  removing  the 
surface  of  the  sacred  square  thither.  At  every  Green-corn  festival  trie  sacred  square 
is  strewn  with  soil  yet  untrodden;  the  soil  of  the  year  preceding  being  taken  away, 
but  preserved  as  above  explained.  No  stranger's  foot  is  allowed  to  press  the  new 
earth  of  the  sacred  square  until  its  consecration  is  complete"  (Letter  of  1835  in 
Continental  Monthly,  New  York,  1862,  p.  19).     See  note  on  the  sa«red  fire. 

Oiiijitri'd  irit.lt  tlinetixe — The  practice  of  conjuring  certain  favorite  spots  in  order  to 
render  them  fatal  to  an  invading  enemy  was  common  to  many  if  not  to  all  tribes.  One 
of  the  most  terrible  battles  of  the  Creek  war  was  fought,  upon  the  "Holy  ground," 
so  called  because  it  was  believed  by  the  Indians  that  in  consequence  of  the  mystic 
rites  which  had  been  performed  there  for  that  purpose  by  their  prophets,  no  white 
troops  could  set  foot  upon  it  and  live. 

Tin  surred fire — The  method  described  for  producing  fire  and  keeping  it  constantly 
smoldering  in  the  townhouse  appears  to  have  been  that  actually  in  use  in  ancient 
times,  as  indicated  by  the  name  given  to  the  plant  (titsil'-stinti),  and  corroborated 
by  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the  old  people.  All  the  older  East  Cherokee  believe 
that  the  ancient  fire  still  burns  within  the  mounds  at  Franklin  and  Bryson  City,  and 
those  men  who  were  stationed  for  a  time  near  the  latter  place  while  in  the  Confed- 
erate service,  during  the  Civil  war,  assert  that  they  frequently  saw  the  smoke  rising 
from  the  adjacent  mound. 

The  missionary  Buttrick,  from  old  Cherokee  authority,  says:  "They  were  obliged 
to  make  new  fire  for  sacred  purposes  by  rubbing  two  pieces  of  dry  wood  together, 
with  a  certain  weed,  called  golden  rod,  dry,  between  them.  .  .  .  When  their 
enemies  destroyed  the  house  in  which  this  holy  fire  was  kept,  it  was  said  the  fire 
settled  down  into  the  earth,  where  it  still  lives,  though  unknown  to  the  people.  The 
place  where  they  lost  this  holy  fire  is  somewhere  in  one  of  the  Carolinas" 
(Antiquities,  p.  9). 

The  general  accuracy  of  Swimmer's  account  is  strikingly  confirmed  by  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  New-fire  ceremony  given  more  than  half  a  century  before  by  John 
Howard  Payne,  the  poet,  who  had  gone  among  the  Cherokee  to  study  their  ethnol- 
ogy and  was  engaged  in  that  work  when  arrested,  together  with  John  Ross,  by  the 
Georgia  guard  in  1835.  He  makes  the  kindling  of  the  new  fire  a  part  of  the  annual 
spring  festival.  At  that  time,  says  Payne,  "the  altar  in  the  center  of  the  national 
heptagon  [i.  e.  townhouse]  was  repaired.  It  was  constructed  of  a  conical  shape,  of 
fresh  earth.  A  circle  was  drawn  around  the  top  to  receive  the  fire  of  sacrifice.  Upon 
this  was  laid,  ready  for  use,  the  inner  bark  of  seven  different  kinds  of  trees.  This 
bark  was  carefully  chosen  from  the  east  side  of  the  trees,  and  was  clear  and  free 
from  blemish. ' '  After  some  days  of  preliminary  purification,  sacrifice,  and  other  cere- 
monial performances,  the  day  appointed  for  the  kindling  of  the  new  fire  arrived. 

"  Early  in  the  morning  the  seven  persons  who  were  commissioned  to  kindle  the 
fire  commenced  their  operations.  One  was  the  official  fire-maker;  the  remaining  six 
his  assistants.  A  hearth  was  carefully  cleared  and  prepared.  A  round  hole  being 
made  in  a  block  of  wood,  a  small  quantity  of  dry  golden-rod  weed  was  placed  in  it. 
A  stick,  the  end  of  which  just  fitted  the  opening,  was  whirled  rapidly  until  the  weed 
took  fire.  The  flame  was  then  kindled  on  the  hearth  and  thence  taken  to  every 
bouse  l>y  the  women,  who  collectively  waited  for  that  purpose.  The  old  fires  having 
been  everywhere  extinguished,   and  the  hearths  cleansed,  new  fires  were  lighted 


mooney]  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  503 

throughout  the  country,  and  a  sacrifice  was  made  in  each  one  of  them  of  the  lii-t 
meat  killed  afterwards  by  those  to  whom  they  respectively  belonged." — Payne  MS, 
quoted  in  Squier,  Serpent  Symhol,  pp.  I L6  1 18. 

Similar  ceii' nirs  were  common  to   many  tribes,  particularly  the  southern  tribes 

and  the  Puehloa,  in  connection  with  the  annual  kindling  of  the  Bacred  new  Bre.    See 

Adair,  History  of    the   American    Indians;    I  lawkins,  Sketch  of    the   Creek   Country, 

quoted  by  Gatschet,  Creek  Migration  Legend;  Bartram,  Travels;  Fewkes,  The  New- 
Bre  Ceremony  at  Walpi,  in  American  Anthropologist  for  January,  1900;  Squier, 
Serpent  Symbol.     Going  beyond  our  own  boundaries  it  may  he  said  briefly  that  fire 

Worship  was  probablj   as  ancient  as  ritual  itself  and  well-nigh  as  universal. 

Wooden  box — The  sacred  ark  of  the  Cherokee  is  described  by  Adair  (  History  of 
the  American  Indians,  pp.  161-162),  and  its  capture  by  the  Delaware's  is  mentioned  by 
Washburn  (Reminiscences,  pp.  191,  221),  who  states  that  to  its  loss  the  old  priests 
of  the  tribe  ascribed  the  later  degeneracy  of  their  people.  They  refused  to  tell  him 
the  contents  of  the  ark.     (In  this  subject  Adair  says: 

"  \  gentleman  who  was  at  the  Ohio  in  the  year  1756  assured  me  he  saw  a  stranger 
there  very  importunate  to  view  the  inside  of  the  Cheerake  ark,  which  was  covered 
with  a  drest  deerskin  and  placed  on  a  couple  of  short  blocks.  An  Indian  centinel 
watched  it.  armed  with  a  hiccory  buw  and  brass-pointed  barbed  arrows;  and  he  was 
faithful  to  his  trust,  for  finding  the  stranger  obtruding  to  pollute  the  supposed  sacred 

vehicle,  he  drew  an  arrow  to  the  head,  and  would  have  shot  him  through  the  body 
had  he  not  suddenly  withdrawn.  The  interpreter,  when  asked  by  the  gentleman 
what  it  contained,  told  him  there  was  nothing  in  it  but  a  bundle  of  ('(injuring  traps. 
This  shows  what  conjurers  our  common  interpreters  are,  and  how  much  the  learned 
world  have  really  profited  by  their  informations.  " 

Such  tribal  palladiums  or  "  mei I icines,"  upon  which  the  existence  and  prosperity 
of  the  tribe  are  supposed  to  depend,  are  still  preserved  among  the  plains  Indians,  the 
sacred  receptacle  in  each  case  being  confided  to  the  keeping  of  a  priest  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  who  alone  is  privileged  to  undo  the  wrappings  or  expose  the  contents. 
Among  these  tribal  "medicines"  may  be  mentioned  the  sacred  arrows  of  the  ( Ihey- 
enne,  the  "flat  pipe"  of  the  Arapaho,  the  great  shell  of  the  Omaha,  and  the  taime 
image  of  the  Kiowa  (see  reference  in  the  author's  Ghost-dance  Religion  and  Calen- 
dar History  of  the  Kiowa  Indians). 

White  peace  pipe — This  statement  concerning  the  ancient  seven-stem  peace  pipe 
carved  from  white  stone  is  given  on  the  authority  of  Swimmer,  who  said  that  the 
stone  was  procured  from  a  quarry  near  the  present  town  of  Knoxville,  Tennessee. 
A  certain  district  of  western  North  Carolina  has  recently  acquired  an  unenviable 
reputation  for  the  manufacture  of  spurious  "Indian  pipes,"  ostensibly  taken  from 
the  mounds,  carved  from  soapstone  and  having  from  three  to  half  a  dozen  stem- 
holes  encircling  the  bowl. 

Turtl  drum — This  statement  is  on  the  authority  of  Wafford,  who  had  talked  with 
men  who  claimed  to  have  known  those  who  had  seen  the  drum.  He  was  not  posi- 
tive as  to  the  town,  hut  thought  it  was  Keowee.  It  is  believed  that  the  drum  was 
hidden  by  the  Indians,  in  anticipation  of  their  speedy  return,  when  the  country  was 
invaded   by  Williamson  in   1776,   but  as  the  country  was  never  recovered  hy  the 

Cherokee  the  drum  was  lost. 

112-115.  Short  humorous  stories  (pp.  397,  399):  These  short  stories  are  fairly 
representative  of  Cherokee  humor.  Each  was  heard  repeatedly  from  several 
informants,  both  east  and  west. 

Ilti.  Tiik  STAR  FEATHERS  (p. 399) :  This  story  was  obtained  from  John  A\.  with 
additional  details  from  ( 'hief  Smith  and  others,  to  whom  it  was  equally  familiar.  It 
is  told  as  an  actual  happening  in  the  early  days,  before  the  Indian  had  much  acquaint- 
ance with  the  whites,  and  is  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  methods  of  medicine- men. 


504  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.iu 

The  deception  was  based  upon  the  I  Jherokee  belief  that  the  stars  are  living  creatines 
with  feathers  (see  number  9,  "What  the  Stars  are  Like  "). 

The  Indian  lias  always  been  noted  for  his  love  of  feather  decorations,  and  more 
than  any  from  his  native  birds  he  prized  the  beautiful  feathers  of  the  peacock  when- 
ever it  was  possible  to  procure  them  from  the  whites.  80  far  back  as  1670  Lederer 
noted  of  a  South  Carolina  tribe:  "The  Oshery  delight  much  in  feather  ornament,  of 
which  they  have  great  variety;  but  peacocks  in  most  esteem,  because  rare  in  these 
parts"  (Travels,  p.  32,  ed.  1891  1. 

117.  The  mother  bear's  song  (p.  400):  The  first  of  these  songs  was  obtained  from 
Ayasta,  and  was  unknown  to  Swimmer.  The  second  song  was  obtained  also  from 
Ayfista,  who  knew  only  the  verses,  while  Swimmer  knew  both  the  verses  and  the 
story  which  gives  them  their  setting. 

The  first  has  an  exact  parallel  among  the  Creeks,  which  is  thus  given  in  the  "Baby 
Songs"  of  the  Tuggle  manuscript: 

All  tan  Down  the  stream 

Ah  yah  chokese  if  you  hear 

Mali  kah  eho  kofe  chase  going 

Hoehe  yoke  saw  up  the  stream 

Lit  kahts  chars,  run, 

Lit  kahts  chars.  run. 

A  thle  poo  Up  the  stream 

Ahyohchokese  if  you  hear 

Mah  kah  cho  kofe  the  chase  going 

Thorne  yoke  saw  to  the  high  mountain 

Lit  karts  chars,  run, 

Lit  karts  chars.  run. 

Translation 

If  you  hear  the  noise  of  the  chase 
Going  down  the  stream 
Then  run  up  the  stream. 

If  you  hear  the  noise  of  the  chase 
Going  up  the  stream 
Then  run  to  the  high  mountain, 
Then  run  to  the  high  mountain. 

118.  Baby  song,  to  please  the  children  (p.  401):  This  song  is  well  known  to  the 
women  and  was  sung  by  both  Ayasta  and  Swimmer. 

119.  When  babies  are  born:  The  wren  and  the  cricket  (p.  401):  These  little 
bits  of  Indian  folklore  were  obtained  from  Swimmer,  but  are  common  tribal  property. 

li>0.  The  Raven  Mocker(p.  401):  The  grewsome  belief  in  the  "Raven  Mocker"  is 
universal  among  the  Cherokee  and  has  close  parallels  in  other  tribes.  Very  near  to 
it  is  the  Iroquois  belief  in  the  vampire  or  cannibal  ghost,  concerning  which  School- 
craft relates  some  blood-curdling  stories.  He  says:  "It  is  believed  that  such  doomed 
spirits  creep  into  the  lodges  of  men  at  night,  and  during  sleep  suck  their  blood  and  eat 
their  flesh.  They  are  invisible"  (Notes  on  the  Iroquois,  p.  144).  On  one  occasion, 
while  the  author  was  among  the  Cherokee,  a  sick  man  was  allowed  to  die  alone  because 
his  friends  imagined  they  felt  the  presence  of  the  Raven  Mocker  or  other  invisible 
witches  about  the  house,  and  were  consequently  afraid  to  stay  with  him.  The  descrip- 
tion of  the  flying  terror  appears  to  be  that  of  a  great  meteor.  It  is  a  universal  prin- 
ciple of  folk  belief  that  discovery  or  recognition  while  disguised  in  another  form  brings 
disaster  to  the  witch. 


mooney]  NOTES    AND    PARALLELS  505 

The  "diving"  of  the  raven  while  flying  high  in  air  i-  performed  bj  folding  one 
wing  close  to  the  body,  when  the  bird  falls  to  a  lower  plane,  apparently  turning  a  som- 
ersaull  in  the  descent.     It  seems  to  be  done  purely  for  amusement. 

121.  Herbert's  sprini  p  K)3  The  subject  of  this  old  trader's  legend  must  have 
been  oni  of  the  head-springs  of  t  lhattooga  river,  an  upper  branch  of  Savannah,  hav- 
ing its  rise  in  the  southern  pari  of  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina,  on  the  eastern 
slope  of  tin'  ridge  from  which  other  streams  flow  in  the  opposite  direction  t'i  join 
the  waters  of  the  Tennessee.  Ii  was  probably  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  high- 
lands in  Macoi unty,  where  the  trail  from  Chattooga  river  and  the  settlements  on 

Keowee  crossed  the  Blue  ridge,  thence  descending  Cullasagee  to  the  towns  on  Little 
Tennessee. 

126.  Plani  lore  (p  120):  For  ceremonies,  prayers,  and  precautions  used  by  the 
doctors  in  connection  with  the  gathering  and  preparation  of  medicinal  roots,  barks, 
and  herbs,  see  the  author's  Sacred  Formulas  of  the  ( Iherokees,  in  the  Seventh  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1891. 

i  The  Onondaga  name  signifies  "two  heads  entangled,"  referring,  we  are 

told,  to  "the  way  so  often  seen  where  the  heads  are  interlocked  and  pulled  apart  by 
the. steins"  \  \V.  M.  Beauchamp,  in  Journal  of   American  Folk-Lore,  October,  1888). 

i  'edar — For  references  to  the  sane  1  character  of  the  cedar  among  the  plains  tribes, 
see  the  author's  Ghost-dance  Religion,  in  the  Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology,  part  2,  1896. 

Jjinn  and  basswood — The  ancient  Tuscarora  believed  that  no  tree  but  black  gum 
was  immune  from  lightning,  which,  they  declared,  would  run  round  the  tree  a 
great  many  times  seeking  in  vain  to  effect  an  entrance.  Lawson,  who  records  the 
belief,  adds:  "Now,  you  must  understand  that  sort  of  gum  will  not  split  or  rive: 
therefore.  I  suppose  the  story  might  arise  from  thenee"  (Carolina,  pp.  345-346,  ed. 
1860).  The  Pawnee  claim  the  same  immunity  for  the  cedar,  and  throw  sprigs  of  it 
as  incense  upon  the  tire  during  storms  to  turn  aside  the  lightning  stroke  (Grinnell, 
Pawnee  Hero  Stories,  p.  126). 

iii,,:',  mi — For  more  concerning  this  plant  see  the  author's  Sacred  Formulas,  above 
mentioned. 


GLOSSARY  OF  CHEROKEE  WORDS 

The  Cherokee  language  has  the  continental  vowel  sounds  a,  e,  >.  and 
>/,  but  lacks  a.  which  is  replaced  by  a  deep  &.  The  obscure  or  short  u 
is  frequently  nasalized,  but  the  nasal  sound  is  seldom  heard  at  the  end 
of  a  word.  The  only  labial  is  m,  which  occurs  in  probably  not  more 
than  half  a  dozen  words  in  the  Upper  and  Middle  dialects,  and  is 
entirely  absent  from  the  Lower  dialect,  in  which  w  takes  its  place. 
The  characteristic  I  of  the  Upper  and  Middle  dialects  becomes  /■  in  the 
Lower,  but  no  dialect  has  both  sounds.  There  is  also  an  aspirated  1  ; 
I-  and  t  have  the  ordinary  sounds  of  these  letters,  but  ;/  and  <7  are 
medials,  approximating  the  sounds  of  I-  and  t.  respectively.  A  fre- 
quent double  consonant  is  ts,  commonly  rendered  ch  by  the  old  traders 
(seep.  188.  ''Dialects"). 

a         as  in  far. 

a         as  in  what,  or  obscure  as  in  showman. 

a         as  in  law,  all. 

d         medial  (semisonant),  approximating  t. 

e         as  in  the}'. 

e         as  in  net. 

g         medial  (semisonant),  approximating  k. 

li         as  in  hat. 

i  as  in  pique. 

I  as  in  pick. 

k         as  in  kick. 

1         as  in  lull. 

'1         surd  1  (sometimes  written  hi),  nearly  the  Welsh  11. 

in        as  in  man. 

n         as  in  not. 

r         takes  place  of  1  in  Lower  dialect. 

s         as  in  sin. 

t         as  in  top. 

u        as  in  rule. 

u         as  in  cut. 

un       u  nasalized. 

w       as  in  wit. 

y        as  in  you. 

a  slight  aspirate,  sometimes  indicating  the  omission  of  a 
vowel. 


• sev  GL08SARY  507 

A  number  of  English  words,  with  cross  references,  have  been  intro 
duced  into  the  glossary  .  and  these,  together  with  corrupted  Cherokee 
forms,  are  indicated  bj  small  capitals. 

ada'lanun'stl — a  staff  01  cane. 

adan'ta  -soul. 

ada'wehl-  a  magician  or  supernatural  being. 

ada'wehi'yu    a  very  great  magician;  intensive  form  of  ada'wehl. 

groundhog. 
\  -jii'U  ta  "Groundhog-sausage,"  from  d'g&nii,  groundhog,  ami  tsixiii'u,  ■■  I  am 
pounding  it."  understood  to  refer  to  pounding  meat,  etc.,  in  a  mortar,  after  h  i 
ing  Brstcrisped  it  before  the  fire.  A  war  chief  noted  in  the  Cherokee  war  of 
1760,  and  prominent  until  ahout  the  close  of  the  Revolution;  known  to  the  whites 
as  <  iconostota.  Also  the  Cherokee  name  for  Colonel  Gideon  Morgan  of  i  he  war 
of  1812,  for  Washington  Morgan,  his  son,  of  the  Civil  war,  and  now  for  a  full-blood 
upon  the  reservation,  known  to  the  whites  as  Morgan  <  lalhoun. 

A/gan-uni'tsI — "  Groundhogs'  -mother,"  from  d'g&ntt  and  uni'Uli,  their  mother, 
plural  of  xitsV,  his  mother  (eUsV,  agitsV,  my  mother).  The  Cherokee  name  of  a 
Shawano  captive,  who,  according  to  tradition,  killed  the  greal  [Jktena  serpenl 
and  procured  the  Ulunsu'tl. 

Agawe'la — "  t  >ld  Woman,"  a  formulistic  name-  for  corn  or  the  spirit  of  corn. 

agayun'li — for  agayHfl'lige,  old,  ancient. 

agidaYta-   see ed 

agidu'tfi — see  edu'tH,. 

Agi'll — "  Hi-  is  rising,"  possibly  a  contraction  of  an  old  personal  name,  Agin'-agiU, 
"Rising-fawn."  Major  George  Lowrey,  cousin  of  Sequoya,  and  assistant  chief 
of  the  Cherokee  Nation  ahout  18-40.  Stanley  incorrectly  makes  it  "  Keeth-la, 
or  Dog"  i  for  ./,'!;'. 

agini'sl — see  i  ni'tit. 

agi'sl — female,  applied  usually  to  quadrupeds. 

Agis'-e'gwa — "Great  Female,"  possibly  "Great  Doe."  A  being,  probably  an 
animal  god,  invoked  in  the  sacred  formulas. 

agitsl' — see  eteJ'. 

Agitsta'ti'yl — "  Where  they  stayed  up  all  night,"  from  tsigits&fi'tihii.',  "  I  stay  up  all 
night."  A  place  in  the  Great  Smoky  range  about  the  head  of  Noland  creek,  in 
Swain  county,   North  Carolina.      See  note-  to  number  100. 

AGUAQUIRI — see  <■!   o.'i  ii  I. 

Ahalu'na — "Ambush,"    Ahalun&H'yi,   "Ambush  place,"  or    Uni'h&lu'na,   "Where 

they  ambushed,"  from  alc&lu'ga,  "I  am  watching".     Soco  gap,  at  the  head  of 

Soco  creek,  on  the  line  between  Swain  and  Haywood  counties.  North  Carolina 

see  number   122  .     The  name  is  also   applied  to  a  lookout  station  for  deer 

hunters, 
ahanu'lahi — "he  is  bearded,"  from  ah&nii/UMi,  a  beard. 
Ahulude'gl— "He  throws  away    the  drum"    (habitual),    from   ahu'tl,  drum,  and 

akw&de'gCi,  "I  am  throwing  it  away"  (round  object).     The  Cherokee  name  of 

John  Jolly,  a  noted  chief  and  adopted  father  of  Samuel  Houston,  about  1S00. 
ahyeli'skt — a  mocker  or  mimic. 
akta' — eye;  plural,  diktS,'. 
akta'tl — a  telescope  or  field  glass.     The  name  denote-  something  with   which  to 

examine  or  look  into  closely,  from  ul.ti'i',  eye. 
akwandu'li — a  song  form  for  akwidu'li  (-Mi,  "I  want  it." 
Akwan'kl — see  Anal  u  ant  i. 
Akwe  ti'yl — a  location  on  Tuckasegee  river,  in  .Tack-on  county.  North  Carolina;  the 

meaning  of  the  name  i-  lost.     See  number  122. 
Alaska — see  Yaldgt. 


508  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE 


aliga' — the  red-horse  lish  (Moxostoma). 

Alkinf — the  last  woman  known  to  1 f  Natchez  descent  and  peculiarity  among  the 

East  Cherokee;  died  about  1890.     The  name  has  no  apparent  meaning. 

ama/ — water;  in  the  Lower  dialect,  ilinV:  of.  a'm&,  salt. 

amayfi'hl — "dwelling  in  the  water,"  from  &md/  [&mS/yi,  "in  the  water")  and  WvCif, 
"  I  dwell,"  "I  live." 

Amaye'l-e'gwa — "  Great  island,"  from  Q/m&yiU,  island  (from  HinCi',  water,  and 
ayiU,  "in  the  middle")  and  -'</"".  great.  A  former  Cherokee  settlement  <>n 
Little  Tennessee  river,  at  Big  island,  a  short  distance  below  the  mouth  of 
Tellico,  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee.  Timberlake  writes  it  Mialaquo,  while 
Bartram  spells  it  Nilaque.  Not  to  be  confounded  with  Long-island  town  below 
Chattanooga. 

Amaye'll-gunahi'ta — "Long  island,"  from  Hmdye'lt,  island,  and  gftnahi'la,  long. 
A  former  Cherokee  settlement,  known  to  the  whites  as  Long  Island  town,  at  the 
Long  island  in  Tennessee  river,  on  the  Tennessee-Georgia  line.  It  was  one  of 
the  Chickamauga  towns  (see  Ttilkiima'gl). 

ama'ylnS'hi — "dwellers  in  the  water,"  plural  of  ainaye'M. 

Anada'duntaskl — "Roasters,"  i.  e.,  Cannibals;  from  g&n'taskiV,  "I  am  putting  it 
(round)  into  the  fire  to  roast."  The  regular  word  for  cannibals  is  Ydfi'wini'gisM, 
q.  v.     See  number  3. 

anagahuiYufisku' — the  Green-corn  dance;  literally,  "they  are  having  a  ( ireen-corn 
dance":  anag&k&W'Cun&gti.fi'yi,  "where  they  are  having  the  Green-corn  dance  " ; 
the  popular  name  is  not  a  translation  of  the  Cherokee  word,  which  has  no 
reference  cither  to  corn  or  dancing. 

Anakwan'kl — the  Delaware  Indians;  singular  Akwan'ki,  a  Cherokee  attempt  at 
WapanaqkH,  "  Easterners,"  the  Algonquian  name  by  which,  in  various  corrupted 
forms,  the  Delawares  are  commonly  known  to  the  western  tribes. 

Anantooea h — see  A n i'-Xun'iln we'g) . 

a'ne'tsa,  or  a'netsa'gl — the  ballplay. 

a'netsa'unskl — a  ballplayer;  literally,  "a  lover  of  the  ballplay." 

ani' — a  tribal  and  animate  prefix. 

ani'da'wehl — plural  of  ada'wehi. 

a'niganti'skl — see  d&gantti,. 

Ani'-Gatage'wl — one  of  the  seven  Cherokee  clans;  the  name  has  now  no  meaning, 
but  has  been  absurdly  rendered  "Blind  savanna,"  from  an  incorrect  idea  that  it 
is  derived  from  igd'tt,  a  swamp  or  savanna,  and  dige'wl,  blind. 

Ani'-( tilii'hl — "Long-haired  people,"  one  of  the  seven  Cherokee  clans;  singular, 
Ai/ilii'lil.  The  word  comes  from  agtt&'M  (  perhaps  connected  with  agilge-nl,  "the 
back  of  (his)  neck"),  an  archaic  term  denoting  wearing  the  hair  long  or  flowing 
loosely,  and  usually  recognized  as  applying  more  particularly  to  a  woman. 

Ani'-Gill' — a  problematic  tribe,  possibly  the  Congaree.  See  page  381.  The  name 
is  not  connected  with  giW ,  dog. 

Ani'-Gusa — see  Aui'-Kn'm. 

a'nigwa — soon  after;  dine'Uana  a'rdgwa,  "soon  after  the  creation." 

Ani'-Ilyiin'ttkwala'skl — "The  Thunderers,"  i.  e.,  thunder,  which  in  Cherokee 
belief,  is  controlled  and  caused  by  a  family  of  supernatural.  The  word  lias 
reference  to  making  a  rolling  sound;  cf.  HkuMe'lu.,  a  wheel,  hence  a  wagon; 
tliw'i'-t'ikif.'tli ■Ii'iHi/i,  "rolling  water  place,"  applied  to  a  cascade  where  the  water 
falls  along  the  surface  of  the  rock;  alnjiiri'iiknala'atihu',  "it  is  thundering," 
applied  to  the  roar  of  a  railroad  train  or  waterfall. 

Ani'-Kawl' — "Deer  people,"  one  of  the  seven  Cherokee  clans;  the  regular  form  for 
deer  is  <i'ir}'. 

Ani'-Kawi'ta — The  Lower  Creeks,  from  Kawi'tft  or  Coweta,  their  former  principal 
town  on  Chattah ihee  river  near  the  present  Columbus,  Georgia;  the  Upper 


hooney]  GLOSSARY  509 

Creeks  on  the  head  streams  of    Alabama  river  were  distinguished  as    Ini'-Ku'sa 
q.  v.       \    small   creek   of    Little  Tennessee   river  above   Franklin,  in    Macon 

county,  North  Carolina,  is  ii"\v  known  as  Coweeta  creek. 
Ani'-Kltu'hwagI—  "Kltu'hwa  people,"  fr KUu'hwS,  (q.  v.),  an  ancient  Cherokee 

settlement;  for  explanation  see  page  182. 
Ani'-Ku'sfi  or  Ani'-Gu'sa— The  Creek  Indians,  particularly  the  Upper  Creeks  on  the 

waters  of  Alabama  river;  singular,  A-Ku'sH,  from  Kusa  or  Coosa  (Spanish,  Coca, 

i  !ossa  i  their  principal  ancient  town, 
Ani'-Knta'ui  (also  Ani'-Kwdta'rii,  or,  incorrectly,  Nicotani)—a  traditional  Cherokee 

priestly  society  or  clan,  exterminated  in  a  popular  uprising.     Sec  number  ins. 
anina'hili.lahi     " creatures  that  fly  about,"  from  tslnai'tt,  "I  am  flying,"  tstnd'ilidd'hH, 

"  I  am  flying  about."     The  generic  term  for  birds  and  flying  insects. 
Ani'-Na'tsl — abbreviated    AninUH,   singular   A-Na'UH.     The  Natchez    [ndians;    from 

coincidence  with  na'tsl,  pine,  the  name  has  been  incorrectly  rendered  "Pine 

Indians,"  whereas  it   is  really  a  Cherokee  plural  of  the  proper  name  of  the 

Natchez. 
Anin'tsl-  -see  Ani'-NtitsL 
Ani'-Nun'dawe'gl-  -singular,  NCun'd&vn  '</<•'  the  Iroquois,  more  particularly  the  Seneca, 

from  N&ndawao,  the  name  by  which  the  Seneca  call  themselves.      Adair  spells  it 

Anantooeah.    The  tribe  was  also  known  as  Ani'-SPnikH. 
Aiii'-Saha'ni — one  of  the  seven  Cherokee  clans;  possibly  an  archaic  form  for  "  nine 

people,"  from  sa'ka'ni,  sa'ka'nige'l,  blue. 
Ani'-Sa'nl,  Ani'-Sawaha  nl — ee    Ini'-Sawdnu'gl. 
Ani'-Sawanu'g)  (singular  Sawanv/gi) — the  Shawano  Indians.     Ani'-Sa'nl  and  Ani'- 

Sawahd'nl  (see  page  380)  may  be  the  same. 
Ani'-Se'nika — see  Ani'-Ntindiiwt  '(ft. 
anisga'ya — plural  of  asga'ya,  man. 
Anisga'ya   Tsunsdi'(-ga) — "The     Little    Men";    the    Thunder   Boys   in   Cherokee 

mythology.     See  numbers  '■>  ami  8. 
Ani'sgaya'yl — "  Men  town"  (?),  a  traditional  Cherokee  settlement  on  Valley  river,  in 

Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina, 
anisgi'na — plural  of  asgi'na,  q.  v. 

Ani'-Skala'll — the  Tuscarora  Indians;  singular,  Skal&'ti  or  A-SklU&'tt. 
Ani'skwa'nl — Spaniards;  singular,  Askwa'nl 
Ani'-Suwa'li,  or  Ani-'Suwa'la — the  Suala,  Sara,  or  Cheraw  Indians,  formerly  about 

the  headwaters  of  Broad  river,  North  Carolina,  the  Xuala  province  of  the  De 

Soto  chronicle,  and  Joara  or  Juada  of  the  later  Pardo  narrative. 
Ani'ta'gwa — the  Catawba  Indian-;  singular,  Ata'gviS  or  Tagwd. 
Ani'-Tsa'guhf — a  traditional  Cherokee  elan,  transformed  to  hears  i  see  number  75). 

Swimmer's  daughter  hears  the  name    'I'yiii/i'ihi,  which   is  not  recognized  as  dis- 
tinctively belonging  to  either  sex. 
Ani'-Tsa'lagi' — the  Cherokee.     See  "Tribal  Synonymy,"  page  ls2. 
Ani'-Tsa'ta — the  Choctaw  Indian-;  singular,   Tsa'ta. 
Ani'-Tsi'ksn — the  Chickasaw  In. Hans;  singular,   TWksti,. 
Ani'-Tsi'skwa — "  Bird  people;  "   one  of  the  seven  ( 'heiokee  clans. 
Ani'tsu'tsa — "The  Boys,"  from  ■itsu'txn,  hoy;   the  Pleiades.      See  number  hi. 

Ani'-Wa'di — "  Paint  people";  one  of  the  seven  ( Iherokee  clans. 

Ani'-Wadiht' — "Place  of  the  Paint  people  or  clan";  faint  town,  a  Cherokee  settle- 
ment On  lower  SOCO  creek,  within  the  reservation  in  Jackson  and  Swain  coun- 
ties. North  Carolina.      It  takes  its  name  from  the  Ani'-Wd'dX  or  Paint  clan. 

ani'wani'skl — the  bugle  weed,  Lycopw  virginicus;  literally,  "they  talk"  or  "talk- 
er-." in  mi  tsiwa'nihH,  "I  am  talking,"  awanVtHil,  "hi-  talks  habitually."  See 
number  26. 

Ani'-Wasa'si — the  Osage  Indian-,  singular,   Wasa'st 


510  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Ani'-Wa''ya — "Wolf  people";  the st  important  of  the  seven  Cherokee  clans. 

Ani'-Yu'tsi — the  Yuchi  or  Uchee  Indians;  singular  Yu'tsl. 

Ani'-Yufi'wiya' — Indians,  particularly  Cherokee  Indians;  literally  "principal  or  real 
people,"  from  yunwl,  person,  yd,  a  suffix  implying  principal  or  real,  and  ani', 
the  tribal  prefix.     See  pages  5  and  182. 

Annie  Ax — see  SadayV. 

Aquone — a  post-office  on  Nantahala  river,  in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina,  site  of 
the  former  Fort  Scott.     Probably  a  corruption  of  egwdni,  river. 

Arch,  John — sec  At&. 

asa/gwalihu/ — a  pack  or  burden;  as&'gvidtlii!,  or  asd'gwl'lV,  "there  is  a  pack  on  him." 
Cf  sd'gwdW. 

as£hl' — surely. 

Ase/nika — singular  of  Ani'-Se/nik&.     See  Am'-Ntind&we'g't. 

asga'ya — man. 

Asga'ya  Gi'gagel — the  "Red  Man";  the  Lightning  spirit. 

asgi'na — a  ghost,  either  human  or  animal;  from  the  fact  that  ghosts  are  commonly 
supposed  to  be  malevolent,  the  name  is  frequently  rendered  "devil." 

Asheville — see  Kdsdu'yi  and  Unia'HyastVyl. 

asl — the  sweat  lodge  and  occasional  winter  sleeping  apartment  of  the  Cherokee  and 
other  southern  tribes.  It  was  a  low-built  structure  of  logs  covered  w:ith  earth, 
and  from  its  closeness  and  the  fire  usually  kept  smoldering  within  was  known  to 
the  old  traders  as  the  "hot  house." 

a'siyu'  (abbreviated  sii/ii') — good;  the  common  Cherokee  salute;  gd'svyu',  "I  am 
good";  lni'xii/u'.  " thou  art  good" ;  d'siyu,  "he  (it)  is  good";  dstA,  "very  good" 
(intensive!. 

Askwa'nl — a  Spaniard.     See  Ani'skwa'rit. 

astu' — very  good;  dsttt  ttiltet',  very  good,  best  of  all.     Cf  d'siyu'. 

Astu'gata/ga — A  Cherokee  lieutenant  in  the  Confederate  service,  killed  in  1862.  See 
page  170.  The  name  may  be  rendered,  "  Standing  in  the  doorway"  but  implies 
that  the  man  himself  is  the  door  or  shutter;  it  has  no  first  person;  gatd'ga,  "he 
is  standing";  stutt,  a  door  or  shutter;  slnhi'i',  a  closed  door  or  passage;  stugi'sti, 
a  key,  i.  e.  something  with  which  to  open  a  door. 

asufi'tli,  asuntlun'yi — a  footlog  or  bridge;  literally,  "log  lying  across,"  from  asi'ta, 
log. 

ata' — wood;  ata/yd,,  "principal  wood,"  i.  e.  oak;  cf.  Muscogee  iti,  wood. 

Ataga'hl — "Gall  place,"  from  a'tugu',  gall,  and  !u,  locative;  a  mythic  lake  in  the 
Great  Smoky  mountains.  See  number  69.  The  name  is  also  applied  to  that 
part  of  the  Great  Smoky  range  centering  about  Thunderhead  mountain  and 
Miry  ridge,  near  the  boundary  between  Swain  county,  North  Carolina,  and 
Blount  county,  Tennessee. 

a'tagii'— gall. 

AtiV-gul'kalu' — a  noted  Cherokee  chief,  recognized  by  the  British  government  as 
the  head  chief  or  "emperor"  of  the  Nation,  about  1760  and  later,  and  commonly 
known  to  the  whites  as  the  Little  Carpenter  (Little  Cornplanter,  by  mistake, 
in  Haywood).  The  name  is  frequently  spelled  Atta-kulla-kulla,  Ata-kullakulla 
or  Ata-culculla.  It  may  be  rendered  "Leaning-wood,"  from  at&',  "wood"  and 
•li'ifkrtla  a  verb  implying  that  something  long  is  leaning,  without  sufficient 
support,  against  some  other  object;  it  has  no  first  person  form.  Bartram 
describes  him  as  "a  man  of  remarkably  small  stature,  slender  and  of  a  delicate 
frame,  the  only  instance  I  saw  in  the  Nation;  but  he  is  a  man  of  superior 
abilities." 

Ata'gwft — a  Catawba  Indian.     See  Ani'ta'gwd. 

A'tahi'ta — abbreviated  from  A'tdhit&fi'yl,  "Place  where  they  shouted,"  from 
gatd'hW,  "  I  shout,"  and  yl,  locative.     Waya  gap,  on  the  ridge  west  of  Franklin, 


mooney]  GLOSSAR1  511 

Ma i  county,  North  Carolina,     See  number  13.     The  map  name  is  probably 

fnmi  the  Cherokee  wa'ya,  wolf. 

Ata-kii.i.akii.i.a — see  Atd  '-gOitkaW. 

ft'taMI— mountain ;  in  the  Lower  dialect  d'ttirl,  whence  the  "Ottare"  or  Upper 
Cherokee  of  Adair.  The  form  .;'/,.'.  i-  used  only  in  composition;  a  mountain  in 
situ  is  dUMMy)  or  gatu'sX. 

a/tall-gull' — "it  climbs  the  mountain,"  i.e.,  "mountain-climber";  the  ginseng  plant, 
iquefolium;  from  d't&tl,  mountain,  an. I  gGXP,  "it  climbs"  i  habitually  ); 

or  tsW,  "I  am  climbing."     Also  called  in  the  sacred  formulas,  )< 

Usdi',  "Little  Man."     See  number  126. 

a'talulu' — unfinished, premature,  unsuccessful;  whence  utalu'U,  "it  is  not  yet  time." 

Ata'lufiti'ski — a  chief  of  the  Arkansas  Cherokee  al i  L818,  who  had  originally  emi- 
grated from  Tennessee.     The  name,  i monly  spelled  Tollunteeskee,  Taluntiski, 

Tallotiskee,  Tallotuskee,  etc.,  denotes  one  who  throws  si  une  h\  m»  object  I'ri  .n i  a 
place,  as  an  enemy  from  a  precipice.      See  number  Kill  for  instance. 

aVtarl — see  <i'iali. 

atasl'  (or  &t&8&',  in  a  dialectic  form) — a  war  club. 

atatsun'skl — stinging;   literally,  "hestings"  i  habitually  i. 

A'tla/nuwa/— "Tla'nuwa  hole";  the  Cherokee  name  of  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  (see 
Tsatdnu'gi)  originally  applied  to  a  bluff  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee  river 
at  the  foot  of  the  present  Market  street.     See  number  124. 

A'tsI — the  Cherokee  name  of  John  Arch,  one  of  the  earliest  native  writers  in  the 
Sequoya  characters.     The  word  is  simply  an  attempt  at  the  English  name  Arch. 

atsi'la — fire;  in  the  Lower  dialect,  atsi'ra. 

Atsil'-dihye'gl — "Fire  Carrier":  apparently  the  Cherokee  name  for  the  will-of-the- 
wisp.  See  page  335.  As  is  usually  the  case  in  Cherokee  compounds,  the  verbal 
form  is  plural  ("it  carries  tires");  the  singular  form  is  akye'gi. 

at>il'->un'tl  (abbreviated  M'-stmU) — fieabane  (Eriycnm  >;,,,,,<!, ,,,.,  i;  the  name  sig- 
nifies "material  with  which  to  make  fire,"  from  atsi'la,  fire,  and  gas&fCtt, 
(gaisufi'n  or  gall ini'ti),  material  with  which  to  make  something;  from  gas&fi'skfi 
(or  gatL6.fi' sh6),  "I  make  it."     The  plant  is  also  called  ihyd'ga.     See  number  126. 

Atsil'-tluntii'tsI — "Fire  panther."     A  meteor  or  comet.     See  notes  to  number  9. 

Atsi'la-wa'I — "Fire ";  a  mountain,  s times  known  as  Rattlesnake  knob,  about 

two  miles  northeast  of  Cherokee,  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.  See  number 
122. 

a'tslna' — cedar;  cf.  Muscogee,  achena  or  auchenau. 

A'tsina'-k'ta'ufi — "Hanging  cedar  place";  from  a'tsin&',  cedar,  and  Uta6.fl,  "where 
it  (long)  hangs  down";  a  Cherokee  name  for  the  old  Taskigi  town  on  Little 
Tennessee  river  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee.     See  number  105. 

atsi'ra — see  atsi'la. 

AtsuiVsta'ti'yl  (abbreviated  Ats&fl'sta'ti') — "Fire-light  place,"  (cf.  atsil-surt/'l~i), 
referring  to  the  "fire-hunting"  method  of  killing  deer  in  the  river  at  night.  The 
proper  form  for  Chestatee  river,  near  Dahlonega,  in  Lumpkin  county,  Georgia. 

AXTAKtrLLAKCLLA — See  AU'l -gill ' h'llii' . 
awa' — Se. 

awa'hlli — eagle;  particularly  Aquila  ckryssetus,  distinguished  as  the  "pretty-feathered 

eagle." 
a'wl' — deer;  also  sometimes  written  and  pronounced,  ahawV;  the  name  is  sometimes 

applied  to  the  large  homed  beetle,  the  "  flying  stag"  of  early  writers, 
a'wl'-ahanu'lahl — goat;  literally,  "bearded  deer." 
a'wl'-akta' — "deer  eye";  the  Rudbeckia  or  black-eyed  Susan, 
a'wl'-ahyeli'skl — "deer  mocker";  the  deer  bleat,  a  sort  of  whistle  used  by  hunters 

tn  call  the  due  by  imitating  the  cry  of  the  fawn. 


512  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


a'wI'-e'gwS  (abbreviated  aw-e'gxiiQ,) — the  elk,  literally  "great  deer.'' 

a'wi'-unade'na — sheep;  literally  "woolly  deer." 

A'wl'  CJsdi' — "  Little  Deer";  the  mythic  chi(  f  of  the  Deer  tribe.     See  number  15. 

Ax,  Annie — see  SadayV . 

Ax,  John — see  TUig&'nSM. 

Aya'sta — "The  Spoiler,"  from Isiyd'stihti,  "I  spoil  it";  cf.  uyd'i,  bad.  A  prominent 
woman  and  informant  on  the  East  Cherokee  reservation. 

aye'li — half,  middle,  in  the  middle. 

Ayrate — see  e'h'uJV . 

Ayuhwa'sl — the  proper  form  of  the  name  commonly  written  Hiwassee.  It  signifies 
a  savanna  or  meadow  and  was  applied  to  two  (or  more)  former  Cherokee  settle- 
ments. The  more  important,  commonly  distinguished  as  Ayuhwa'sl  Egwd'hX  oi 
Great  Hiwassee,  was  on  the  north  bank  of  Hiwassee  river  at  the  present  Savan- 
nah ford  above  Columbus,  in  Polk  county,  Tennessee.  The  other  was  farther 
up  the  same  river,  at  the  junction  of  Peachtree  creek,  above  Murphy,  in  Chero- 
kee county,  North  Carolina.     Lanman  writes  it  Owassa. 

A'yun'inl — '•Swimmer";  literally,  "lie  is  swimming,"  from  gaijuninY,  "I  am  swim- 
ming."    A  principal  priest  and  informant  of  the  East  Cherokee,  died  in  1899. 

Ayulsu' — see  liniii'ilxiiu'tfi. 

Beaverdam — see  Vy,gUd'gl. 
Big-island — see  Am&ye'l-e'gwa. 

BlG-COVE — see  Ki'i'hitu'itl't/t. 

Big-mush— see  GctMifl'wdH. 

Big-witch — see  TskU-i  'gwa. 

Bird-town — set'  Tsiskwd'hi. 

Bloody-fellow — see  Iskagua. 

Blythe — see  Diskwdnl. 

Black-fox — see  liui'1.1. 

Boudinot,  Ei. ias — see  G&l&gi'na. 

Bowl,  The;  Bowles,  Colonel — see  Dinu'l'i. 

Brass — see  UntsaiyV. 

BRASSTI iWN — see  Ilxi'i/1. 

Breath,  The — see  Unli'hi. 

Briertown — see  K&nu'g&'ld'yt. 

Buffalo  (creek) — see  YuumVI. 

Bull-head — see  Uskmalt  'na. 

Butler,  John — see  Tsan'-uga'^UUi, 

Cade's  Cove — see  Ts'nja'hl. 

Canacaught — "Canacaught,  the  great  Conjurer,"  mentioned  as  a  Lower  Cherokee 
chief  in  1HS4;  possibly  kawgwd'ti,  the  water-moccasin  snake.     See  page  31. 

CaNALY — see  lii'ifiiul'li'i. 

Canas ag  i '  a — see  ( !i'i  nsd'gl. 

( '  wnastion,  Cannostee — see  Kana'sta. 

<  !anug  \ — see  K&nu'ga. 

Cartooga.ia — see  Gain' 'gitse' ';/< '. 

Cataluchee — see  Gadalu'Ul. 

Cauchi — a  place,  apparently  in  the  Cherokee  country,  visted  by  Pardo  in  1567  (see 

page  29) .     The  name  may  possibly  have  some  connection  with  Nacoochee  or 

Nagu'lsV,  q.  v. 
Caun asaita — given  as  the  name  of  a  Lower  Cherokee  chief  in  16S4;  possibly  for 

Xiiiii'iNst'ln,  "dogw 1"  [Cornus florida) .     .See  page  31. 

Chalaque — see  TsU'layl,  under  "Tribal  Synonymy,"  page  182. 


GLOSSARY  513 

CHATTANOOGA       See    / 

CHA GA,  <    HATUGA      -ir    Tsutll'gl. 

(  Iheeow  iii  i     see  Tsiyd'kl, 

tin  i  raki     -it  Ts&'l&gi,  under  "Tribal  Synonymy,"  page  182. 

Cheow  \  -sci-  Tsiyd'hi. 

Cheowa  M  lximum — see  Sehwalt  'ift. 

Cheraqui — see  Tsa'l&gl,  under  "Tribal  Synonymy,"  page  182. 

Cheraw— see  Ani'-Suwa'U. 

<  in  roeee — see  Ts&'Mgl,  under  "Tribal  Synonymy,"  page  182;  also  EM 

Chestatee— see  Atsufl'at&'ti'yt. 

ChESTUA — sec    Tsistu'fi). 

Cheuconsene  -si-f  !>£' yu-gunsi'ni. 

Cheulah — mentioned  by  Timberlake  as  the  chief  of  Settacoo  [Sl'tikd)  in  1762.     The 

name  may  be  intended  for  Isu'ld,  "Fox." 
( 'mi  kiiniM     see  Tsl'kOma'gl. 
Chilhowee— see  Tsu'lufl'we. 

<  'imiMi  Tops — see  Duni'skwa'lgAnl. 

Chisca — mentioned  in  the  De  Soto  narratives  as  a  mining  region  in  the  Cherokee 
country.  The  name  may  have  a  connection  with  T&i'skwa,  "bird,"  possibly 
ttiskwd'hl,  "  Bird  plan'." 

Cho \mka — see  Tsistu'yl. 

Chopped  Oak — see  Digalu'y&lun'yl. 

ChOQI  \  ll-sr  Ttsd'tt. 

Chota,  Chotte — see  Ttsd'tt. 

ClTlCO — see  S'i'tikiV. 

Clear-sky — see  Iskagua. 

Clennuse — see  Tlanusi'yl. 

Cleveland — see  Tsistetsi'yl. 

Coca — see  Ani'-Ku'sa. 

Coco — see  KnkiY. 

Cohi'tta — see  Gahu'Cl. 

COLANNEH,  Colon  \ — see   Kii'li'nll'l. 

Con  isauga — see  G&nsd'gt. 

CoNNEHoss — see  K&wdn' -urd' SUflyl. 
Coow  eescoowee — see  i  •  it  'wisguuV . 
Coosa     see  Ani'-Ku'sa  and  Kusa'. 

( 'cms  uv  ITEE — see  Ku's&weti'yt. 

Coram — see  Kd'M-nu. 

<  '•  ■: —  \ — see  Ani'-Ku'sa,  Kusa. 
Cowee' — see  Kawi'yi. 

Coweeta,  Coweta — see  Ani'-Kawi'tib. 

Coyatee  i  variously  spelled  Cawatie,  Coiatee,  Coytee,  Coytoy,  Kai-a-tee) — A  former 
Cherokee  settlement  on  Little  Tennessee  river,  some  ten  miles  below  the  junc- 
tion of  Tellico,  about  the  present  Coytee  post-office  in  Loudon  county.  Tennessee. 
The  correct  form  and  etymology  are  uncertain. 

Creek-path — sec  Ku'sH-n&nnd'Kt. 

Crow-tow  s — see  Kdgufi'yt. 

Cuhtahlatah — a  Cherokee  woman  noted  in  the  VVahnenauhi  manuscript  as  having 
distinguished  herself  by  bravery  in  battle.  The  proper  form  may  have  some  con- 
nection with gatuft'MVt,  "wild  hemp." 

Ci  1 1  vsagee — see  Kulst  'tsi'yt. 

CiLi.owiiEE.  Corrahee — see  Guldhi'yl. 

Ccttaw  i — see  Kltu'hwS,. 

19   ETH— 01 33 


514  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [kth.aks.19 

dSgan'tu — "he  makes  it  rain";  from  aga'skii,  "it  is  raining,"  aga'nii,  "it  has  begun 
to  rain";  a  small  variety  of  lizard  whose  cry  is  said  to  presage  rain.  Jt  is  also 
called  a/niganti'skl,  "they  make  it  rain"  (plural  form),  or  "rain-maker."  See 
number  59.    " 

dagufku — the  American  white-fronted  goose  [Anser  albifrons  gambeli).  The  name 
may  be  an  onomatope.     See  number  <•. 

dagu'nB — the  fresh  water  mussel;  also  a  variety  of  face  pimples. 

Daguiia'hi — "Mussel  place,"  from  dagtl'nQ.,  mussel,  ami  In,  locative.  The  Muscle 
shoals  on  Tennessee  river,  in  northwestern  Alabama.  It  was  sometimes  called 
also  simply  Ihist&nal&n'yl,  "Shoals  place."     Cf.  iTstQma'U. 

Oagu'nawe'lahf — "Mussel-liver  place."  from  ilugu'in'i,  mussel,  uwe'ln,  liver,  and  III, 
locative;  the  Cherokee  name  for  the  site  of  Nashville,  Tennessee.  No  reason 
can  now  be  given  for  the  name. 

Dahlonega — A  town  in  Lumpkin  County,  Georgia,  near  which  the  first  gold  was 
mined.  A  mint  was  established  there  in  1838.  The  name  is  from  the  Cherokee 
dal&'nige'i,  yellow,  whence  ate'lA-dald'nige'i,  "yellow  money,"  i.  e.,  gold. 

daks&wa'ihu — "he  is  shedding  tears." 

dakwa' — a  mythic  great  fish;  also  the  whale.     See  number  68. 

Dakwa'I — "Dakwit  place,"  from  a  tradition  of  Adtikwa'  in  the  river  at  that  point.  A 
former  Cherokee  settlement,  known  to  the  traders  as  Toqua  or  Toco,  on  Little 
Tennessee  river,  about  the  mouth  of  Toco  creek  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee. 
See  number  68.  A  similar  name  and  tradition  attaches  to  a  spot  on  the  French 
Broad  river,  about  six  miles  above  the  Warm  springs,  in  Buncombe  county, 
North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

dakwa'nitlastestl — "  I  shall  have  them  on  my  legs  for  garters"  ;  from  ariMa'sCi  {  plural 
tliiiilla'sll),  garter;  d-,  initial  plural;  akwii,  first  person  particle;  and  estt,  future 
suffix.     See  number  77. 

da'liksta' — "vomiter,"  from  dagik'siihH,',  "I  am  vomiting,"  daliksla',  "he  vomits" 
(habitually);  the  form  is  plural.  The  spreading  adder  (Heterodon),  also  some- 
times called  kwanMya/hd,  a  word  of  uncertain  etymology. 

1  >a''n;lgasta — iorDa''na  wd-gdsta'ya ,  "SI  iarp-\var,"  i.e.  "  Eager-warrior  " ;  a  Cherokee 
woman's  name. 

l>a''na\va-(a)sa'tsun'yT  "War  ford,"  from  dafnaiDa,  war,  ami  aadtxtfi/yi,  a  crossing- 
place  or  ford.  A  ford  on  Cheowa  river  about  three  miles  below  Robbinsville, 
in  Graham  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Danda'ganu' — "Two  looking  at  each  other,"  from  detsi'gtinu',  "I  am  looking  at 
him."  A  former  Cherokee  settlement,  commonly  known  as  Lookout  Mountain 
town,  on  Lookout  Mountain  creek,  near  the  present  Trenton,  Dade  county, 
Georgia.  One  of  the  Chickamauga  towns  (see  TWk&ma'gi),  so  called  on  account 
of  the  appearance  of  the  mountains  facing  each  other  across  the  Tennessee  river 
at  Chattanooga. 

Da'si'giya'gl — an  old  masculine  personal  name,  of  doubtful  etymology,  but  commonly 
rendered  by  the  traders  "Shoe-boots,"  possibly  referring  to  some  peculiar  style 
of  moccasin  or  leggin.  A  chief  known  to  the  whites  as  Shoe-boots  is  mentioned 
in  the  Revolutionary  records.  Chief  Lloyd  Welch,  of  the  eastern  band,  was 
known  in  the  tribe  as  Da'si'giya'gl  and  the  same  name  is  now  used  by  the  East 
Cherokee  as  the-  equivalenl  of  the  name  Lloyd. 

Da'skwltun'yl — "  Rafters  place,"  from  daskiott&fl'l,  "rafters,"  and  iii,  locative.  A 
former  settlement  on  Tusquittee  creek,  near  Hayesville,  in  Clay  county,  North 
Carolina. 

dasuiVtall — ant;  damn'Vdi  atats&n/skl,  "stinging  ant,"  the  large  red  cow-ant  (Myr- 
mical),  also  called  sometimes,  on  account  of  its  hard  body-case,  nO/H'yunu/vfl, 
"  stone-clad,"  after  the  fabulous  monster.     See  number67. 

Datle'yasta'I — "Where  they  fell  down,"  a  point  on  Tuckasegee  river,  a  short  dis- 
tance above  Webster,  in  Jackson  county.  North  Carolina.  For  tradition  see 
number  122. 


GLOSSARY  .r)l") 

i l:\t>i    ;i  traditional  water  monster.     See  number  122. 

Datsi'yl — " Datsl  place";  .1  place  on  Little  Tennessee  river,  near  the  junction  of 
Eagle  creek,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.    See  number  122. 

Datsu'n&lasgufi'yl — " where  there  are  tracks  or  footprints,"  from  uld'sintifl'tfl  or 
uldsgtifl'y'l,  footprint.  Track  [lock  gap,  near  Blairsville,  Georgia.  Also  some- 
tirnes  called  /<.  'g&yi  Uvn'hQ.,  "place  of  branded  marks";  1  digO.li  tQ,n6.fl'hX,  branded, 
or  printed  1.     See  number  125. 

da'yl— beaver. 

Dayulsufi'yl-  "  Place  where  they  cried,"  a  spot  on  the  ridge  at  the-  head  of  Tuckase- 
gee  river,  in  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina;  so  called  iron,  an  old  tradition. 
See  number  80. 

da'yuni'sl — "beaver's  grandchild,"  from  ddyl,  beaver,  and  uni'til,  son's  child,  of 
either  sex  (daughter's  child,  either  sex,  uli'el).  The  water  beetle  or  mellow 
hug  1  Dhu  uies  discolor). 

Degal'gun'yl  a  cairn,  literally  "Where  they  an-  piled  up";  a  scries  of  cairns  on 
the  south  side  of  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham  county,  North  Carolina.  See  num- 
ber 122. 

De'gatA'ga— The  Cherokee  name  of  General  stand  Watie  and  of  a  prominent  early 
western  chief  known  to  the  whites  as  Takatoka.  The  word  is  derived  from 
tsitd'gH,  "I  am  standing,"  da'nitd'gA,  "they  are  standing  together,"  and  conveys 
the  subtle  meaning  of  two  persons  standing  together  and  so  closely  unite. 1  in 
sympathy  as  to  form  hut  one  human  body. 

De'gayelun'ha — see  DcUsu'naldsgtifi'yl. 

detsanun'll — an  iuclosure  or  piece  of  level  ground  cleared  for  ceremonial  purposes; 
applied  more  particularly  to  tin-  Green-corn  dance  ground.  Tin-  word  has  a 
plural  form,  hut  can  not  he  certainly  analyzed. 

De'tsata — a  Cherokee  sprite.     See  number  7s. 

detsinu'lahungu' — "I  tried,  hut  failed." 
■  Dida'laski'yi — "Showering  place."  In  the  story  (number  17  j  the  name  is  understood 
to  mean  •'The  place  where  it  rains  tire."  It  signifies  literally,  however,  the 
place  where  it  showers,  or  comes  down,  and  lodges  upon  something  animate 
and  has  no  definite  reference  to  live  {atsi'la)  or  rain  {agiXshi,  "it  is  raining"); 
degaldshA' ',  "they  are   showering  down  and  lodging  upon  him." 

Dida'skasti'yl — "Where  they   were  afraid   of  each  other."      A   spot  on   Little  Ten- 
'    river,  near  the  mouth  of  Alarka  creek,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina. 
See  number  122. 

diga'gwanl' — the  mud-hen  or  didapper  {Gallimda  galeala).  The  name  is  a  plural 
form  and  implies  "lame,"  or  "crippled  in  the  legs"  (cf.  detM/mgw&'vA,  "I  am 
kneeling"),  probably  from  the  bouncing  motion  of  the  bird  when  in  the  water. 
It  is  also  the  name  of  a  dance. 

Ihga'kati'yi — see  Gakali'yi. 

di'galungun'yi — "where  it  vise,-,  or  comes  up"  ;  the  east.  The  sacred  term  is  Nfiftdd'yl, 
q.  v. 

digalufi'latiyun — a  height,  one  of  a  series,  from  gcMM'liiti,  "above."     See  number  I. 

Digalu'yatufi'yi — "Where  it  is  gashed  (with  hatchets)";  from  tsilu'yd,  "I  am  cut- 
with  a  chopping  stroke),"  di,  plural  prefix,  and  ///,  locative.     The  ('hopped 
t  lak,  formerly  east  of  Clarkesville,  ( reorgia.     See  number  125. 

Digane'sk! — "He  picks  them  up"  (habitually),  from  tslne'ii.,  "I  am  picking  il  up." 
\  Cherokee  Union  soldier  in  the  civil  war.     See  page  171. 
igel — the  plural  of  gi'g&ge'i,  red. 

digu'lanahi'ta — for  digti/ti-an&hi'la,  "having  long  ears,"  "long-eared";  from  .</»'.". 
"ear"  and  g&nahi'ta,  "long." 

Dihyufi'dula' — "Sheaths."  or  "Scabbards";  singular  ahyiifi'dvlA.',  "a  gun  sheath." 
or  other  scabbard.  The  probable  correct  form  of  a  name  which  appears  in  Rev- 
olutionary documents  a.-  "  In  too  la.  -.110111  Rod." 


Mil  MYTHS    OK    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.asx.19 

dikta'— plural  otaktil',  eye. 

dlla' — skunk. 

dilsta'yatl — "scissors"  ;  the  water-spider  (Dolomedes). 

dinda'skwate'ski — the  violet;  the  name  signifies,  "they  pull  eachother's  heads  off." 

dine'tlana — the  creation. 

di'm'iskl — "the  breeder";  a  variety  of  smilax  brier.     See  number  126. 

Disga'gisti'yl — "Where  they  gnaw";  a  i>lace  on  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham  county, 
North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

diskwa'nt — "chestnut  bread,"  i.e., a  variety  of  bread  having  chestnuts  mixed  with 
it.     The  Cherokee  name  of  James  Blythe,  interpreter  and  agency  clerk. 

distai'yl — '-'they  are  strong,"  plural  of  astai'yi,  "strong,  or  tough."  The  Tephrogia 
or  devil's-shoestring.     See  number  126, 

dista'stl — a  mill  (generic). 

dita/stayeski — "a  burlier,"  literally  "one  who  ruts  tilings"  (as  with  a  scissors),  from 
Isistit'i/i'i,  ''1  cut,"  (as  with  a  scissors).  The  cricket  [lalu'ln)  is  sometimes  so 
called.     See  number  59. 

Diwa^H — "  Bowl,"  a  prominent  chief  of  the  western  Cherokee,  known  to  the  whites 
as  The  Bowl,  or  Colonel  Bowles,  killed  by  the  Texans  in  1839.  The  chief  men- 
tioned on  page  100  may  have  been  another  of  the  same  name. 

diya'hall  (or  duyd'hOtl ) — the  alligator  lizard  (Sceloporue  undvlatus).     See  number  59. 

Diya'hali'yl — "Lizard  place,"  from  diyd'h&U,  lizard,  and  yl,  locative.  Joanna  bald, 
a  mountaii.  at  the  head  of  Valley  river,  on  the  line  between  Cherokee  and  Graham 
counties,  North  Carolina.     For  tradition  see  number  122;  also  number  59. 

Double-head — see  T&l-tgu' ghQ,' . 

Dragging-caxoe — see  Tsi'yu-gfoigi'rii. 

Dudi'nVleksun'yl — "  Where  its  legs  were  broken  off "  ;  a  place  on  Tuckasegee  river, 
a  few  miles  above  Webster,  in  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Dugilu'yl  (abbreviated  Dugilu',  and  commonly  written  Tugaloo,  or  sometimes  Too- 
gelah  or  Toogoola) — a  name  occurring  in  several  places  in  the  old  Cherokee 
country,  the  best  known  being  Tugaloo  river,  so  called  from  a  former  Cherokee 
settlement  of  that  name  situated  at  the  junction  of  Toccoa  creek  with  the  main 
stream,  in  Habersham  county,  Georgia.  The  word  is  of  uncertain  etymology, 
but  seems  to  refer  to  a  place  at  the  forks  of  a  stream. 

Duksa'I.  Dukw'sa'I — The  correct  form  of  the  name  commonly  written  Toxaway, 
applied  to  a  former  Cherokee  settlement  in  South  Carolina,  and  the  creek  upon 
which  it  stood,  an  extreme  head-stream  of  Keowee  river  having  its  source  in 
Jackson  county,  North  Carolina.  The  meaning  of  the  name  is  lost,  although 
it  has  been  wrongly  interpreted  to  mean  "Place  of  shedding  tears."  See  number 
123. 

DulastuiVyl — "  Potsherd  place."  A  former  Cherokee  settlement  on  Nottely  river  in 
Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

dule'tsl — "kernels,"  a  goitrous  swelling  upon  the  throat. 

dulu'sl — a  variety  of  frog  found  upon  the  headwaters  of  Savannah  river.  See  number 
125. 

Duniya'ta'luiVyl — "Where  there  are  shelves,  or  flat  places,"  from  aija'te'iu,  Hat, 
whence  da/ydtaruxWH'V ',  a  shelf,  and  yV,  the  locative.  A  gap  on  the  Great 
Smoky  range,  near  Clingman's  dome,  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.  See  notes 
to  number  100. 

Dunidu/lahuVyl — "Where  they  made  arrows";  a  place  on  Straight  creek,  ahead- 
stream  of  Oconaluftee  river,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Duni'skwa'lgufi'I — the  double  peak  known  as  the  Chimney  Tops,  in  the  Great 
Smoky  mountains  about  the  head  of  Deep  creek,  in  Swain  county,  North  Caro- 
lina. On  the  north  side  is  the  pass  known  as  Indian  gap.  The  name  signifies  a 
"forked  antler,"  from  uskmdlgu,  antler,  but  indicates  that  the  antler  is  attached 
in  place,  as  though  the  deer  itself  were  concealed  below. 


GLOSSARY  517 

Dti'stilyaliln'y)     "Where  ii   made  a   noise  a-  of   thunder  or  shooting,"  apparently 

referring  to  a  lightning  stroke  [detsiMya'hlhu,     ■  I  make  a  si ting,  <>v  tliun- 

dering,  noise,"  miirlit  In- a  first  person  form  used  by  tin-  personified  Thundei 

;.'"'!   :  a  spot  on  rliwassee  river,  about  the  junction  of  SI ting  creek,  near  Hayes 

villc,  in  (.'lay  county.  North  Carolina.  A  former  settlement  along  the  creek 
bore  tlu'  same  name.    See  imimiI.it  79. 

ilu'stu'  a  species  of  frog,  appearing  very  early  in  spring;  the  name  is  intended  lor 
an  onomatope.  It  ii  in  the  correct  form  of  the  nam.'  of  tin-  chief  noted  by 
VIcKenney  and  I  [all  as  "Tooantnh  or  Spring  Frog." 

Dutch— see  ZHtel". 

duwe'gS — t lie  sprint.'  lizard.     See  number  59. 

Eagle  dance — see  TsugiduW  Uhgi'stt. 
Eastinaulee    see  Wxttlna'li. 
Echoee — see  lise^yt. 

K.    Ill.l    \         -IT     ll.lli'll. 

Eiia'lii     "  He  goes  about "  (habitually);  a  masculine  name. 

Echota,  New— see  G&md'gt. 

eda'ta — my  father  (Upper  dialect) ;  the  Mi. I. lie  ami  Lower  dialect  form  is  agid&'tS,. 

edu'tu — my  maternal  grandfather  (Upper  dialect);  the  Middle  and   Lower  dialect 

form  is  ai/idii'ln;    cf  rni'xi. 

e'gwa — great;  cf  u'tdnu. 

egwa'nl — river. 

Egwanul'tl — "By  the  river,  from  egwd'nt,  river,  and  nu'UUi  or  nuftt,  near,  beside. 
The  proper  form  of  ( tconaluftee,  the  name  of  the  river  flowing  through  the  East 
Cherokee  reservation  in  Swain  and  Jackson  counties.  North  Carolina.  The 
Cherokee  town,  "Oconalufte,"  mentioned  by  Bartram  as  existing  about  I77"i, 
was  probably  on  the  lower  course  of  the  river  at  the  present  Birdtown,  on  the 
reservation,  where  was  formerly  a  considerable  mound. 

ela — earth,  ground. 

e'ladl' — low.  below;  in  the  Lower  dialect  e'r&dl',  whence  the  Ayrate  or  Lower 
Cherokee  of  A. lair  a-  distinguished  from  the  Ottare  {d't&rl,  d'tOM)  or  Upper 
Cherokee 

elanti — a  son;;  form  for  e'liidi,  q.  \ 

Elatse'yi  (abbreviated  El/Use') — possibly  "Green  (Verdant)  earth,"  from  eld,  earth, 

and  itse'yl,  green,  fr fresh-springing  vegetation.    The  name  of  several  former 

Cherokee  settlements,  commonly  known  to  the  whites  as  Ellijay,  Elejoy  or 
Allagae.  One  of  these  was  upon  the  headwaters  of  Keowee  river  in  South  Caro- 
lina; another  wa-  on  Ellijay  creek  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  near  the  present 

Franklin,  in  Macon  county.  North  Carolina;  another  was  about  the  present  Elli- 
jay in  Gilmer  county,  Georgia;  and  still  another  was  on   Ellejoy  creek  of  Little 

river  near  the  present  Marvville.  in    Blount  county.  Tennessee. 

Klawa'.livi  (abbreviated  El&wd'di)—"  Red-earth  place"  fromeM,  earth,  wddi,  brown- 
red  or  red  paint,  and  y\  the  locative.  I.  The  Cherokee  name  of  Yellow-hill 
settlement,  now  officially  known  as  Cherokee,  the  postoffice  and  agency  head- 
quarters for  the  East  Cherokee,  on  Oconaluftee  river  in  Swain  county,  North 
Carolina.  2.  A  former  council  ground,  known  in  history  as  Red  ('lav,  at  the 
site  of  the  present  village  of  that  name  in  Whitfield  county,  Georgia,  adjoining 
the  Tennessee  line. 

Ellijay — see  EUUse'yt. 

eni'sl — my  paternal  grandfather  (Upper  dialect);  the  Middle  and  Lower  dialect 
form  is  agini'st     Cf.  i  du'tft 

KsK  OjCA SCI-   IsK.M.lA. 

EsTANAULA,    ESTINAULA — see    I '" -In  ><,,' I , . 


518  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.asn.-19 

Etawa'hS.-tsistatla'skl     "Deadwood-lighter,"  a  traditional  Cherokee  conjurer.     See 

number  100. 
i'tl,  or  eti — old,  long  ago. 
Etowah — see  I't&wti/. 
EtsaiyI' — see  UnUaiyV. 
etsl' — my  mother  i  Upper  dialect  I;  the  Middle  and  Lower  dialect  form  is  agitsl'. 

EUHARLEE — See    Ynli, i'Ii. 

Feather  dance — see  Tsugidtilt,   Ulagi'sU. 
Fighting-town — see  Wolds' -unAlslVyl. 
Flax-toter—  see  T&Wdanigi'slit. 
Fly i NG-SQUiiHtEL — see  K&'lalvti/. 
French  Broad— see  UnLa'HyaMi'yt. 

Frogtowx — see    Will, hi' in. 

GadahrTu — the  proper  name  of  the  mountain  known  to  the  whites  as  Yonah  (from 
iniiiii,  "bear"  ),  or  upper  Chattahoochee  river,  in  White  county,  Georgia.  The 
name  has  no  connection  with  Tallulah  (see  Tahiln'),  and  can  not  be  translated. 

Gadalu'tsi — in  the  corrupted  form  of  Cataluchee  this  appears  on  the  map  as  the  name 
nl  a  peak,  or  rather  a  ridge,  on  the  line  between  Swain  and  Haywood  counties, 
in  North  Carolina,  and  of  a  creek  running  down  on  the  Haywood  side  into  Big 
Pigeon  river.  It  is  properly  the  name  of  the  ridge  only  and  seems  to  refer  to  a 
"  fringe  standing  erect,"  apparently  from  the  appearance  of  the  timber  growing 
in  streaks  along  the  side  of  the  mountain;  from  waMlu'ydUi,  fringe,  gaaWtfi., 
"standing  up  in  a  row  or  series." 

gahawl'sita — parched  corn;  improperly  spelled  wissacltzw  by  Hawkins.  See  note 
under  number  83. 

Gahutl  ( GahCiftH  and  Gwah&'Vl  in  dialectic  forms) — Oohutta  mountain,  in  Murray 
county,  Georgia.  The  name  comes  from  i/nlu'ilii'i/i,  "a  shed  roof  supported  on 
poles,"  and  refers  to  a  fancied  resemblance  in  the  summit. 

Gakati'yi — "  Place  of  setting  free"  ;  s.  .met  ii nes  spoken  in  the  plural  form,  Diga/k&ti'yi, 
"Place  of  setting  them  free."  A  point  on  Tuckasegee  river  about  three  miles 
above  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

gaktun'ta — an  injunction,  command  or  rule,  more  particularly  a  prohibition  or  cere- 
monial tabu.  Tsit/ii'tc'i/i'i,  "I  am  observing  an  injunction,  or  tabu";  adakte'gl, 
"he  is  under  tabu  regulations." 

Galagi'na — a  male  deer  (buck)  or  turkey  (gobbler) ;  in  the  first  sense  the  name  is 
sometimes  used  also  for  the  large  horned  beetle  (Dynastes  lilyusf).  The  Indian 
name  of  Elias  Boudinot,  first  Cherokee  editor.     See  page  111. 

gali'sgisida/hu — I  am  dancing  about;  from  gdli'sgid',  "I  am  dancing,"  and  eddhti,', 
"I  am  going  about." 

galufikw'ti'yu — honored,  sacred;  used  in  the  bible  to  mean  holy,  hallowed. 

gah'uVlati — above,  on  high. 

gane'ga— skin. 

ganidawa'ski — the  campion,  catchfiy  or  "rattlesnake's  master"  {Silene  si, Haiti ):  the 
name  sigmnso     it  disjoints  itself,"  from  gatvAawCskt'       it  is  urrj  lntang  itseli 
on  account  of  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  the  dried  stalk  breaks  off  at  the 
joints. 

Gansa'gl  (or  G&nsdgiyl) — the  name  of  several  former  settlements  in  the  old  Cherokee 
country;  it  cannot  be  analyzed.  One  town  of  this  name  was  upon  Tuckasegee 
river,  a  short  distance  above  the  present  Webster,  in  Jackson  county,  North 
Carolina;  another  was  mi  the  lower  part  of  Canasauga creek,  in  McMinn  county, 
Tennessee;  a  third  was  at  the  junction  of  Conasauga  and  Coosawatee  rivers, 
where  afterward   was   located    the   Cherokee   capital,   New    Echota,   m   Gordon 


gloss  Ma  5  19 

county,  Georgia;  a  fourth,  mentioned  in  the  De  Soto  narratives  as  Canasoga  or 

Canasagua,  was  located  in   1540  on  the  upper  Chattal Iiee  river,  possibly  in 

the  neighborhood  of  Kenesau  mountain,  <  ■ gia    si 

ti'v)  "Robbing  place,"  from  txina'saliiiilsktY,  "I  am  robbing  him."  Venge- 
ance creek  of  Vallej  river,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina.  The  name 
Vengeance  was  originally  a  white  man'-  nickname  for  an  old  Cherokee  woman, 
of  forbidding  aspect,  who  lived  there  before  the  Remo  a       ?ei    number  122. 

Ganse't)  —a  rattle;  as  the  Cherokee  dance  rattle  is  made  from  a  gourd  the  masculine 
name,  '  ranse'tl,  i-  usually  rendered  b)  the  w  hites,  "  Rattling  gourd." 

gatayustt  -the  wheel  and  stick  game  of  the  southern  tribes,  incorrectly  cal lei  1  h,i- 
tecawaw  by  Timberlake.     Sec  note  under  nun 

Gategwa      for  possibly  a  contraction  of  Igdt  Gi         wamp 

(-thicket  place."     A  high  peak  southeast  from  Franklin,  Ma i  county,  North 

Carolina,  and  perhaps  identical  with  Fodderstack  mountain.     See  number  75. 
.   i  -//,;'. 

Gatu'gitse'yl  (abbreviated    Gaiu'gitse')     "New-settlement    place,"    from  gai 

sgata'gt,  town,  settlement,    !     hi,   new,  especially   applied  to   new   vegetation, 
.  tlic  locative.     A   former  settlement  on  Carto  of  Little  Ten- 

nessei  rivi  r,  above  Franklin,  in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina. 

Gatuti'yH — "Tow  n-building  place,"  or  "Settlement  place,"  f rom gatu'gl, a  settlement, 
and  [ft,  locative.  A  place  on  Santeetla  creek,  near  Robbinsville,  in  Graham 
county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Gatun'lti'yl — "Hemp  plan-."   from  gat&n/Uiti,  "wild  hemp"   {Apocyrm 

num.),  and  yl,   locative.     A   former  Cherokee  settlement,  commonly  known  an 

Hemptown,  on  the  creek  of  the  same  name,  near  Morganton,  in  Fannin  i nty, 

irgia. 

Gatun'wa'lf— a  noted  western  Cherokee  about  1842,  known  to  the  whites  as  "  Hard- 
mush"  or  "Big-mush."  Gatufl'ivcCR,  from  ga'tV,  "bread,"  and  tinwuf'tt,  "made 
into  balls  or  lumps,"  is  a  sori  of  mush  of  parched  corn  meal,  made  very  thick, 
so  that  it  ran  be  dipped  oul  in  lumps  almosl  of  the  consistency  of  bread 

gel     down  stream,  down  the  road,  with  the  current;  isd'gt,  up  stream. 

geseTf-  was;  a  separate  word  which,  when  used  after  the  verb  in  the  present  tense, 
makes  it  pasl  tense  without  change  of  form:  in  the  form  hi'gesefl  it  usually 
accompanies  an  emphatic  repetition. 

Ge'yagu'ga  i  for  Ag>  a  formulistic  name  for  the  moon  i  nufi'dti?) ;  it  can- 
not   he  analyzed,  but    seems  t intain    the  word  age'hyd,   "woman."      See   al-o 

dfif. 
giga— blood;  cf.  gi'g&geft,  red. 
gi'ga-danegi'ski — " blood  taker."  from  gigCi,  bl I,  and  ada'negi'skX,  "one  who  takes 

liquid-."  from  tsi'negW,  "I  am  taking  it"  (liquid).    Another  name  forthetodm  '«1 

oi  scorpion  lizard.     See  number  59. 
gi'gage'I— red,  bright   red.   scarlet;   the  brown-red  of   certain  animals  and  clays  is 

distinguished  as  u  d'digt '  • 
L'i'-ja-tsuha''li— "lil ly-mouth,"    literally,   "havinglbl I   on  the  corners  of   his 

mouth":  from  gi'ga,  1  ■  1 1.  and  tmili&n&nsi'yt,  the  corners  of  the  mouth  {dha'tt, 

his  mouth  |.    A  large  lizard,  probably  the  Pleistodon.    See  number  59. 
Lo'h'  -dog;  in  the  Lower  dialect,  , 
Gi'U'-dinehun'yl— " Where  the  dogs  live,"  from  ;///;'.  dog  they  dwell" 

,;!,,;,     "I    dwell"  i.    and    yX,     locative.      A    plaee   on    Oconaluftee   river,    a    short 

distance  above  Cherokee,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.  See  number  I  Hi'. 
Gi'H'-utsun'stanufi'yl— "  Where  the  dog  ran,"  from  gtW,  dog,  and  ute&fi'st&nCuYyl, 

" footprints  made  bj  an  animal  running";  the  Milky  Way.  See  number  11. 
ginunti — a  song  form  for  ginOflil',   "to  lay  him  (animate  object)  upon  the '.'round." 

See  number  75. 


520  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

gi'ri'— see  gilt'. 

Gisehftfi'yl —  "Where  the  female  lives,"  from  agi'tf,,  female,  and  yi,  the  locative. 
\  place  "ii  Tuckasegee  river,  a  short  distance  above  Bryson  City,  Swain  countv, 

North  Carolina.     Sec  number  122. 
gitlu'— hair  (Upper  dialect) ;  in  the  Middle  and  tower  dialects,  gitsu'. 
gitsiV — see  giilti'. 
Glass,  The— see  Ta'gwadihi'. 
Gohoma — A  Lower  Cherokee  chief  in  ]tiS4;    the  form  cannot   be   identified.     See 

page  31. 
Going-ss  IKK— see  1'iiildtinal. 
Gorhalekf. — a  Lower  Cherokee  chief  in  1HS4;  the  form  cannot  be  identified.     See 

page  31. 
Great  island — see  Am&ye'l-e'gioa. 
Gregory  bald — see  TsiMu'yt. 
Guachoule — see  Guaxule. 
Guaquili  (  WaMli) — a  town  in  the  Cherokee  country,  visited  by  Pe  Soto  in  1540,  and 

again  in  1567  by  Pardo,  who  calls  it  Aguaquiri  (see  pages  25  and  28).     The  name 

may    have  a   connection    with    waguW,   "whippoorwill,"    or  with  u-)wd'gili, 

"foam." 

GUASULA — See  Gl'AXULE. 

Guasili — see  Guaxule. 

Guaxule — a  town  in  the  Cherokee  country,  visited  by  De  Soto  in  1540;  variously 
spelled  in  the  narratives,  Guasili,  Guachoule,  Guasula,  Guaxule,  Quaxule,  etc. 
It  was  probably  about  at  Nacooehee  mound,  in  White  county,  Georgia.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  the  Spaniards  may  have  changed  the  Indian  name  to  resemble 
that  of  a  town  in  Spain.     See  pages  2r)  and  194. 

gi'i'daye'wu — "I  have  sewed  myself  together";  "I  am  sewing,"  talye'miS/;  "I  am 
sewing  myself  together,"  gtidayeuriu.     See  number  31. 

gugwg'  (or  i/ffwc') — the  quail  or  partridge;  the  name  is  an  onomatope. 

gugwfi'-ulasula — "partridge  moccasin,"  from  gugwc'  or  g'gwi',  partridge,  and  utasula, 
moccasin  or  shoe:  the  ladyslipper  (Oypripedium). 

Gulahi'yl  (abbreviated  Ouhilii',  or  Gilrdhi',  in  the  Lower  dialect) — "GuUVhl  place," 
so  called  from  an  unidentified  spring  plant  eaten  as  a  salad  by  the  Cherokee.  The 
name  of  two  or  more  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country;  one  about  Currahee 
mountain  in  Habersham  county,  Georgia,  the  other  on  Cullowhee  river,  an  upper 
branch  of  Tuckasegee,  in  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina.  Currahee  Pick  was 
a  noted  chief  about  the  year  1820. 

i  iu'lani'yi — a  ( Iherokee  and  Natchez  settlement  formerly  about  the  junction  of  Brass- 
town  creek  with  Hiwassee  river,  a  short  distance  above  Murphy,  in  Cherokee 
county.  North  Carolina.     The  etymology  of  the  word  is  doubtful. 

mile' — acorn. 

gulc'-diska'nihl' — the  turtle-dove;  literally,  " it  cries,  or  mourns,  for  acorns,"  from 
i/i'lr',  acorn,  and  diska'nihi',  "it  cries  for  them"  (di-,  plural  prefix,-/)/,  habitual 
suffix).  The  turtle-dove  feeds  upon  acorns  and  its  cry  somewhat  resembles  the 
name.  guW. 

gule'gl — "climber,"  from  tsilahY,  "I  climb"  (second  person,  ht'lahV;  third  person, 
gi'ilnli'i'  i;  the  blacksnake  {Bascanion  conslrintor). 

Gul'kala'skl — An  earlier  name  for  Tsunu'l&kCifl'sKl,  q.  v. 

guTkwa'gl — seven;  also  the  mole-cricket  (  GryUotalpa) .     See  number  59. 

gul'kw:"i'gine( -I — seventh ;  ■  from  ijuf  kinh/i,  seven. 

Gulsadihl'  (or  GfiltxadiliV?) — a  masculine  personal  name,  of  uncertain  etymology. 

Gl'MLOG — see  Tsihihi'lii. 

gunahi'ta — l"ii«_'. 


> sf.^  GLOSSARY  521 

Gft'nilhitftiVyl  "Long  place"  i.e.,  Long  vallej  ,  from  gdnHhitn,  long,  and  »/7,  loca- 
tive. A  former  settlement,  known  to  the  whites  as  Valleytown,  where  1 1 ■  ■  w  i- 
the  town  of  the  same  name,  on  Valley  river,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina. 
The  various  settlements  on  Valley  river  and  the  adjacent  part  of  Hiwassee  were 
known  collectively  a-  tin'  "Valley towns." 

i  iitn'-dl  'gaduhufi'yl  I  abbreviated  Giin'-dlgadu'hun  i— "Turkej  settlement"  i  gd'nd, 
turkey),  so  called  from  the  chief,  Turkej  or  Little  Turkey.  A  former  settle- 
ment, known  to  the  whites  as  Turkeytov  n,  upon  the  west  bank  of  Coosa  river, 
opposite  the  present  <  tenter,  in  t  Iherok 'ounty,  Alabama. 

glYni' — arrow.    Cf.  Seneca  ga'na1. 

giin'nagel  (or  gtiil'n&ge)     black. 

(  omne'hi     see  N&ilnS'h'i. 

GOifiskSli'skl — a  masculine  personal  name  of  uncertain  etymology. 

to  STERS  LANDING,  Gl  \  I'KHsv  I  I.I.K — srr   h'n'.o'l-  Xihlini'li'i. 

Gfln-tsuskwa/'I'(— "Short  arrows,"  from  gtml',  arrow,  and  t»uskiva/'ti,  plural  of 
".</ara'/i,  short;  a  traditional  western  tribe.     See  number  105. 

<  lunuiVda'le'gl — see  Ntinnd'hl-dihV. 

<  ■  ti-t  i '    a  traditional  Cherokee  settlement  on  Tennessee  river,  near  Kingston,  Roane 

county,  Tennessee.  See  number  79.  The  name  cannot  be  analyzed.  Wafford 
thought  it  a  Cherokee  attempt  at  "Kingston,"  but  it  seems  rather  to  be  abo- 
riginal. 

Gu'wisguwl' — The  Cherokee  name  for  the  chief  John  Ross  and  for  tin-  district  named 

in  his  honor,  conn ily  spelled  Cooweescoowee.     Properly  an  onomatope  for  a 

large  bird  said  to  have  been  seen  formerly  at  infrequent  intervals  in  the  old 
Cherokee  country,  accompanying  the  migratory  wild  geese,  and  described  as 
resembling  a  large  snipe,  with  yellow  legs  and  unwebbed  feet.  In  boyhood  John 
Ross  was  known  as  Tsan'-iisdi',  "Little  John." 

i  rwai'g&'hl — "Frog  place."  from  gwatgft,  a  variety  of  frog,  and  hi,  locative.  A  place 
on  Hiwassee  river,  just  above  the  junction  of  Peachtree  creek,  near  Murphy,  in 
Cherokee  county.  North  Carolina;  about  1755  the  site  of  a  village  of  refugee 
Natchez,  and  later  of  a  Baptist  mission. 

gwehe'! — a  cricket's  cry.      See  number  11!'. 

ha! — an  introductory  exclamation  intended   to  attract  attention  or  add  emphasis; 

about  equivalent  to  Here!  Now! 
ha'-ina'ma' — a  song  term   compounded  of  ha!   an  introductory  exclamation,   and 

m&m&',  a  word  which  has  no  analysis,  but  is  used  in  speaking  to  young  children 

to  mean  "let  me  carry  yon  on  my  hack."     See  number  117. 
Hanging-maw — see  Ushvd'li-ffd'tu. 

ha'nia-lll'-lll' — an  unmeaning  dance  refrain.     See  number  24. 
IIaud-mish — see  GatHn'wa  I*. 
ha'snyak' — a  song  form  for  hasuya'gl',  "(thou)  pick  itout"  (imperative);   "I  pick 

it  out.  or  select  it."  gn'myHgiH';  second  person,  ha'suy&gHt'.     See  number  1!). 
ha'tlu — dialectic  form,  ga'tud,  "where'"  i  interrogative). 

ha'wive'ehr,  ha'u  iye'-hyuwe' — unmeaning  dance  refrains.    See  numbers  32  and  1 18. 
hayu' — an  emphatic  affirmative,  about  equivalent  to  "Yes,  sir!"     See  number  ll">. 
hayuya'haniwa' — an  unmeaning  refrain  in  one  of  the  bear  songs.     See  number 75. 
he-e! — an  unmeaning  song  introduction. 
1 1 1:  \i  i  •-<  akriek — see  TdWdam 

HeMPTOWS — see  GttUlnli't'l/i. 

hi! — unmeaning  di •  exclamation. 

hi'gtna'lil — "(you  are)   my    friend";   agina'lil,    "(he  is)    my    friend."     In    white 

man's  jargon,  canaty. 


522  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth. 


IIu  kory-log — see  IVaiu  '-as&fl'tli 

Hightower — see  Ft&tcG  '. 

hfla'gu?  -how  many?  how   much?     (Upper  dialect);   the   Middle   dialed    form    is 

liiui'iti' . 
hilahi'yu — long  ago;  the  final  yu  makes  it  more  emphatic, 
hi'lufinn — "(thou  i  %;••  to  sleep";  from  tst'lihu',  "  I  am  asleep." 
hi'skl — five;  cf.  Mohawk  wish.     The  Cherokee  numerals  including  10  are  as  follows: 

sd'gwu,  ii'i'li,  tsri'T.  ntin'g],  lil'skl,  tu't&H,  g&Ckwd'gl,  tsune'la,  saflve'la,  askd'lti. 
Hiwassee — see  Ayuhwa'it. 

hi'yagu'wS—  an  unmeaning  dance  refrain.     See  number  32. 
Urn  ston',  Sum  el     see  Kd'Umd. 
hungft' — scr  Ktta'gHt. 
huhu — the  yellow-breasted  chat,  or  yellow  mockingbird  (lcleria  uirens);  tlie  name  is 

an  onomatope.     See  number  45. 
huiiyahu'ska — "he  will  die." 
hwl'lahi'—  "tin  hi  i  must  I  go." 

igagu'tl — daylight.  The  name  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  iriunsiYtt  (q.  v.),  and  also 
to  the  clematis  vine. 

i'hya — the  rani'  reed  (Arundinaria)  of  the  Gulf  states,  used  by  the  Indians  for  blow- 
guns,  fishing  rods,  and  basketry. 

ihya 'ga — se( i  atsil 's& titi. 

i'naiUV — snake. 

I'nadu-nal — "Going-shake,"  a  Cherokee  chief  prominent  about  eighty  years  ago. 
The  name  properly  signifies  that  the  person  is  "going  along  in  company  with  a 
snake,"  the  verbal  part  oeing  from  the  irregular  verb  askt/1,  "I  am  going  along 
with  him."  The  name  has  been  given  to  a  district  of  the  present  Cherokee 
Nation. 

i'nagS'hl — dwelling  in  the  wilderness,  an  inhabitant  of  the  wilderness;  from  i  'n&gt  % 
"wilderness,"  and  Shi,  habitual  present  form  of  fln'i,  "he  is  dwelling";  /•'/(, 
"I  am  dwelling." 

['nage-utasiuVhl — "He  who  grew  up  in  the  wilderness,"  i.e.  "He  who  grew  up 
wild";  from  i'ndge%  "wilderness,  unoccupied  timber  land."  and  utdstifl'M,  the 
third  person  perfect  of  the  irregular  verb,  ga'tiffiskCi/ ,  "I  am  growing  up." 

Ina'll — Black-fox;  the  common  red  fox  is  tsn/'ln  (in  Muscogee,  chula).  Black-fox 
was  principal  chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  1810.     See  page  86. 

Iskagua — "Iskagua  or  Clear  sky,  formerly  Nenetooyah  or  the  Bloody-Fellow." 
The  name  appears  thus  in  a  document  of  1791  as  that  of  a  Cherokee  chief  fre- 
quently mentioned  about  that  period  under  the  name  of  "the  Bloody  Fellow." 
In  one  treaty  it  is  given  as  "Eskaqua  or  Bloody  Fellow."  Both  forms  and 
etymologies  are  doubtful,  neither  form  seeming  to  have  any  reference  either 

to    "sky"  (gQMin'lSM)  or   "bl 1"    [gi'ga).     The    lir>t    may  be   intended  for 

//,-.';//r,/,  "Great-day."     See  page  69. 

Istanait — see  I ''stilna'tt. 

I'su'nigu — an  important  Cherokee  settlement,  commonly  known  to  the  whites  as 
Seneca,  formerly  on  Keowee  river,  about  the  mouth  of  ( 'onneross  creek,  in  i  leo- 
nee  county,  South  Carolina.  Hopeweli,  the  country  seat  of  General  Pickens, 
where  the  famous  treaty  was  made,  was  near  it  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  The 
word  cannot  be  translated,  bin  has  n nnection  with  the  tribal  name,  Seneca. 

Itaba — see  Ftiiuti  '. 

Itagu'nahi — the  Cherokee  name  of  John  Ax. 

I'tawiV— The  name  of  one  or  more  Cherokee  settlements.  One,  which  existed  until 
the  Removal  in  1838,  was  upon  Etowah  river,  about  the  present  Hightower,  in 
Forsyth  county    Georgia.     Another   may  have    been   on    Hightower  creek  of 


GLOSSARY  523 

--.■■■    river    in    Towns    county,    Georgia.     The    name,    commonly   written 
Etowah  ami  corrupted  to  Hightower,  cannol  l>  I  and  seems  not   to  be 

of  < Cherokee  origin.  \  town  called  [taba,  Ytaua  or  Ytava  in  the  DeSoto  chron- 
ed  in  L540  among  the  Creeks,  apparently  on  Uabama  river. 
Itsa'tl — commonly  spelled  Bchota,  Chota,  Chote,  <  ihoquata  (misprint),  etc;  a  name 
occurring  in  several  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country:  the  meaning  is  lost. 
The  most  important  settlement  of  this  name,  frequently  distinguished  as  Great 
Echota,  was  on  the  south  side  of  Little  Tennessee  river  a  short  distauci 

>  creek  in  VIon  roe  county,  Tennessee.     It  was  the  ancient  capital  and  sacred 
■■  peace  town"  of  the  Nation.     Little  Echota  was  on  Sautee  (i.  e.,  IM't 

a  head  stream  of  the  Chattah u  I  larkesville,  Georgia.     New  Echota, 

pital  of  the  Nation  foi   some  years  before  the  Re val,  was  established  at 

i  originally  known  a-  i ,, ...  at   the  junction  of  the  Oostanaula 

and  Conasauga  rivers,  in  Gordon  county,  Georgia.  It  was  sometimes  called 
Newtown.  The  old  Macedonia  mission  on  Soco  creek,  of  the  North  Carolina 
reservation,  is  also  known  as  Itsa'tl  to  the  Cherokee,  as  was  also  the  great 
Nacoochee  mound.     See  Nagn  ! 

New  green  plan"  or  "Place  of  fresh  green,"  from  itsi  'hi,  "green  or  unripi 

egetation,"  and  yl,  the  locative;  applied  more  particularly  to  a  tract  of  ground 

made  green  by  fresh-springing  vegetation,  after  having  been  cleared  of  timber  or 

burned  over.     A  name  occurring  in  si  .Mia  I  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country, 

isly  written  Echia,  Echoee,  Etchowee,  and  sometimes  a  No  falsely  rendered 

"Brasstown,"  from  a  confusion  of  Itsi/yl  with  CnliaiyV,  "brass."     One  settle 

ment  of  this  name  was  upon  Brasstown  creek  of  Tugaloo  river,  in  Oconee  county, 

South  Carolina;  another  was  on  Little  Tennessee  river  near  tin-  present  Franklin, 

Macon  county,   North  Carolina,  and  probably  about  the  junction  of  Cartoogaja 

Galug-Hsi  'yl  I  creek;  a  third,  known  to  the  whites  as  Brasstown.  was  on  upper 

Brasstown  creek  of  Hiwassee  river,  in  Towns  county,  Georgia.     In  Cherokee  as 

.-i   other  Indian  languages  no  clear  distinction  is  made  between  green  and 

Line  i.«i'/.'n'./.. 

i'ya — pumpkin. 

iya'-iyu'stl — "like  a  pumpkin,"  from  lya  and  iyu'nd,  like. 

iva'-taw  i'skav'e — "of  pumpkin   smoothness.''   from   i'yn,   pumpkin,  and  Ub,vsi' 'singe, 
5; til. 

JACKSON —  see  7s<  kfslnV. 
Jessan-  - 

.in,     see  Tsi'sl-Ska'tsi. 
Joanna  bald — ee  Diyd'hali'yl. 
Joara,  Jcada— see  -1".'  Suwa'tt. 
John — ee  /  a'lii. 
John  A  \  — ee  It&g&'n&hi. 
Jolly,  John — ee  Ahu'lude'gi. 
J[\\n-K.  —see  TsanH'laMtfi'gki. 

n  .w  ;   the  name  is  an  onomatope. 

i  io»  place,"  from  k&'gti',  crow  and  yl,  locative.     See  number  6:?. 
ka'i  -grease,  oil. 

Kala'asufi'yl — " Where  he  fell  off,"  from  liUa'&ikdf,  "  I  am  fallingoff,"  and  yl,  loca- 
tive.    A  cliff  near  Cold  Spring  knob,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina. 
K&'lahft' — " All-bones,"  from  kd'Ut,  bone.     A  former  chief  of  the  East  Cherokee. 

also  known  in  the  tribe  as  Saw&nu'gi  (Shawano),  and  to  the  whites  as  Sawn 

6  ■  |uirrel. 


524  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.asn-.19 

Kiilniiu—"  The  Raven  " ;  Hie  name  was  used  as  a  war  tide  in  the  tribe  and  appears 
in  the  old  documents  as  Corani  (Lower  dialect,  Kd'rtinfi)  Colanneh,  Colona,  etc; 
It  is  the  Cherokee  name  for  General  Samuel  Houston  or  for  any  person  named 
Houston. 

Ka'lilnu  Ahyeli'ski— the  Raven  Mocker.     Sec  number  120. 

Ksi'lanuii'yl —  "  Raven  place,"  from  kd'lS/nu,  raven,  and  yi,  the  locative.  The  proper 
name  "l  Big-cove  settlement  upon  the  East  Cherokee  reservation,  Swain  county, 
North  Carolina,  sometimes  also  called  Raventown. 

kalas'-gunahi'ta  "long-hams"  {gUvAM'tn,  "long");  a  variety  of  bear.  See  num- 
ber 15. 

Kiil-detsi'yufiyi  — "  Where  the  bones  are,''  fr hi'i'lii,  bone,  and  detgi'y&nyi,  "  where 

(//?)  they  (ill — plural  prefix)  are  lying."  A  spot  near  the  junction  of  East 
Buffalo  creek  with  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham  county,  North  Carolina.  See 
number  122. 

kania'ma — butterfly. 

kama'mS  u'tanu — elephant;  literally  "great  butterfly,"  from  the  resemblance  of  the 
trunk  and  ears  to  the  butterfly's  proboscis  and  wings.     See  number  15. 

kanahe'na — a  sour  corn  gruel,  much  in  use  among  the  Cherokee  and  other  southern 
tribes;  the  tumfuU  or  " Tom  Fuller"  of  the  Creeks. 

kanane'ski — spider:  also,  from  a  fancied  resemblance  in  apjiearance,  a  wateh  or  clock; 
ki'iiidm'xh'i  niin'tiii'li'i,  the  water  spider. 

Kana'sta,  Kanasti'iii'vi — a  traditional  Cherokee  settlement  formerly  on  the  head- 
waters of  the  French  Broad  river  near  the  present  Brevard,  in  Transylvania 
county,  North  Carolina.  The  meaning  of  the  name  is  lost.  A  settlement  called 
Cannostee  or  Cannastioii  is  mentioned  as  existing  on  Iliwassee  river  in  177H. 
See  number  si'  and  notes. 

kana'talu'hl —  hominy  cooked  with  walnut  kernels. 

Kana'tT—  "  Lucky  Hunter";  a  masculine  name,  sometimes  abbreviated  Kaiml'.  The 
word  can  not  We  analyzed,  hut  is  used  as  a  third  person  habitual  verbal  form  to 
mean  "he  is  lucky,  or  successful,  in  limiting";  the  opposite  is  u'hua'lf.gtt, 
"unlucky,  or  unsuccessful,  in  hunting."     See  number  :;. 

kanegwa'tl — the  water-moccasin  snake. 

Kflnu'ga — also  written  Canuga;  a  Lower  Cherokee  settlement,  apparently  on  the 
waters  of  Keowee  river  in  South  Carolina,  destroyed  in  1761;  also  a  traditional 
settlement  on  Pigeon  river,  probably  near  the  present  Waynesville,  in  Hay- 
wood county,  North  Carolina.     SeenuniherSI  and  notes.     The  name  signifies  "a 

scratcher,"  a  sort  of   1 '-toothed   comb  with  which    hall-players  are  scratched 

upon  their  naked  skin  preliminary  to  applying  the  conjured  medicine; 
de'tsinuga'sh't,  "1  am  scratching  it." 

kauugiVla  (abbreviated  migfYia) — " scratcher,"  a  generic  term  for  the  blackberry, 
raspberry,  ami  other  brier  hushes.      Cf.  K&nu'ga. 

Kaiiu'gu'luyl,  or  Kanu'gu'lun'y! —  "  Brier  place,"  from  h'tmnjiY la,  brier  (cf.  Kanu'ga  ) ; 
a  Cherokee  settlement  formerly  on  Nantahala  river,  about  the  mouth  of  Brier- 
town  creek,  in  Macoi unty.  North  Carolina. 

kani'nVnawu' — pipe. 

Kasdu'vi —  "Ashes  place,"  from  hUdu,  ashes,  and  yi,  tin-  locative.      A  modern  ( Ihero- 
kee  name  for  the  town  of  Asheville.  in  Buncombe  county.  North  Carolina. 
The  ancient  name  for  the  same  site  is  Vntn'kiyasti'yi,  q.v. 

Katal'sta — an  East  Cherokee  woman  potter,  the  daughter  of  the  chief  Yanagufi'skl. 
The  name  conveys  the  idea  of  lending,  from  Myaldl'stil,  "  I  lend  it":  agatdl'std, 
"it  is  lent  to  him." 

Kawan'-ura'sunyl  (abbreviated  Ktiwdn'-urd'xufi  in  the  bower  dialect) — "Where  the 
duck   fell"  from  /.ami'iia,  duck,  urd's/i    (idd'*&),   "it  fell,"  and  lit,  locative      A 


QLOSSARY  525 

point  on  Conneross  creek  I  from  K&iedii'-urtVsi'tn  I,  near  Seneca,  in  Oconee i nty, 

South  Carolina.     See  number  123. 

Kawi'yi  (abbreviated  Knwi')    -a  former  important  Cherokee  settle nt,  commonly 

known  as  C.wcc.  about  tin-  mouth  of  Cowee  creek  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  some 

in  miles  belov    Franklin,   in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina.     The  na may 

possibly  It  a  contraction  of    Ani'-Kawi'yl,  "  Place  of  the  Deer  clan." 

K  n  i  >>\  in  i     see  K  eoweb. 

K  exes  i«     see  (idnx&'gi. 

Keowee — the  name  of  two  or  more  former  Cherokee  settlements.  One,  sometimes 
distinguisherl  as  "<  >  1  •  I  Keowee,"  the  principal  of  the  Lowert  Iherokee  tow  ns,  was 

on  the  ri\cr  ol  the  same  name,  near  the  present  Fort  <  ieorge,  in  Ocoi county, 

South  Carolina.  Another,  distinguished  as  Nev  Keowee,  was  on  the  headwaters 
of  Twelve-mile  creek,  in  Pickens  county,  s< mth  ( !arolina.  According  to  Wafford 
the  correct  form  is  Knwdhi'ifi,  abbreviated  Kuwdhi',  "Mulberry-grove  place"; 
says  Wafford,  "The  whites  murdered  t lie  name,  as  they  always  do."    Cf.  Kuwd'hl. 

Ke'sl-ka'g&mu — a  woman's  name,  a  ( Jherokec rruption  of  <  'assie  <  loekram;  hi'g&mti 

is  also  the  Cherokee  corruption  for  "  cucumber." 

K et< >< >w ,\ n  — set-  Kvn 'h wft . 

Kittowa — see  tCttu/hwd. 

KTtu'hwfl — An  important  ancient  Cherokee  settlement  formerly  upon  Tuckasegee 
river,  and  extending  from  above  the  junction  of '  Iconaluftee  down  nearly  to  the 
present  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.  The  name,  which 
appears  aN..  as  Kettooah,  Kittoa.  Kittowa,  etc.,  has  lost  its  meaning.  The 
people  of  this  and  the  subordinate  settlements  on  the  waters  of  the  Tuckasegee 
wen-  known  as  Ani'-KV.u'hwag\  and  the  name  was  frequently  extended  to  include 
the  whole  tribe.  Fortius  reason  it  was  adopted  in  later  times  as  the  name  ol 
the  Cherokee  seeret  organization,  commonly  known  to  the  whites  as  the  Ketoo- 
wah  Society,  pledged  to  the  defense  of  Cherokee  autonomy.  See  also  historical 
notes  1  and  47. 

kiyu'ga — ground-squirrel;  /<'»,,,  flying  squirrel;  sSM'U,  gray  squirrel. 

Klausuna — see  Tlanusi'yl. 

Knoxville — see  Kuwandd'td'liin'yl. 

kn!— an  introductory  exclamation,  to  tix  attention,  about  equivalent  to  "  .Yen/" 

kuku/ — '"  cymling";  also  the  "jigger  weed,"  or  "  pleurisy  root"!  Asclepiax  tub*  rom  i. 
Coco  creek  of  Hiwassee  river,  and  Coker  postoffice,  in  Monroe  county,  Ten- 
fjssee,  derive  their  name  from  this  word. 

Kiilsetei  yi  (abbreviated  Kfihe'isri)  -"Honey-locust  place,"  from  ktifoe'tsl,  honey- 
locust  til, o. ..irlii.i  i  and  i/J,  locative;  as  the  same  word.  k&lxe'Uii,  is  also  used 
for  "sugar."  the  local  name  has  commonly  been  rendered  Sugartown  by  the 
traders.  The  name  of  several  former  settlement  places  in  the  old  Cherokee 
country.  One  was  upon  Keowee  river,  near  the  present  Fall  creek,  in  Oconee 
county.  South  Carolina;  another  was  on  Sugartown  or  Cullasagee  [Kuhe'lxi) 
.■reek,  near  the  present  Franklin,  in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina;  a  third  was 
on  Sugartown  creek,  near  the  present  Morgantpn,  in  Fannin uity,  Georgia. 

Klnnesee — see  Tsi'yu-g&nxi'ril. 

Kunstutsi'vi — "Sassafras  place,"  from  k&nsl&'tsl,  sassafras,  and  >/?,  locative.  A  gap 
in  the  Great  Smoky  range,  about  the  head  of  Noland  creek,  on  the  line  between 
North  Carolina  and  Sevier  county,  Tennessee. 

kunu'nu  (abbreviated  ki'iimn'  i — the  bullfrog;  the  name  is  probably  an  onoinatope; 
the  common   green    frog   is  wnld'si  and  there   are  also   name-  for  several   other 

varieties  of  frogs  am!  toads. 
Kusa' — Coosa  creek,  an   upper  tributary  of   Xottely   river,   near  Blairsville,  Union 

county.    Georgia.     The   change   or   accent    from    Ku'sH      '   reek    Ani'-lin'xu) 

makes  it  locative.     See  page  383 


526  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Ku'sa-nunna'hl — "Creek  trail,"  from  Ku'sO.,  Creek  Indian,  ami  nitftnd'M,  path, 
trail;  cf.  Suwd'ti-nHalnd'lA.  A  former  important  Cherokee  settlement,  includ- 
ing also  a  dumber  of  (.'recks  and  Shawano,  where  the  trail  from  the  Ohio  region 
to  the  <  'reek  country  crossed  Tennessee  river,  at  the  present  Guntersville,  in  Mar- 
shall county,  Alabama.  It  was  know  n  to  the  traders  as  Creek-path,  and  lateras 
Gunter's  landing,  from  a  Cherokee  mixed-blood  named  Gunter. 

Ku'saweti'yl  (abbreviated  Ku'sHweti') — "Old  Creek  place,"  from  Ku'sti,  a  Creek 
Indian  (plural  AnV- Ku'sa) ,  uwe'ti,  old,  and  y%  locative.  Coosawatee,  an 
important  Cherokee  settlement  formerly  on  the  lower  part  of  Coosawatee  river, 
in  Gordon  county,  Georgia.  In  one  document  the  name  appears,  by  error, 
Tensawattee.     See  page  3S2. 

KuwA'hl — "Mulberry  place,"  from  ku'wd,  mulberry  tree,  and  hi,  locative;  Cling- 
man's  dome,  about  the  head  of  Deep  creek,  on  the  Great  Smoky  range,  between 
Swain  county,  North  Carolina,  and  Sevier  county,  Tennessee.     See  also  Keowee. 

Kuwanda'ta'lufi'yl  (abbreviated  Kuwandd'tciMlfl) — "Mulberry  grove,"  from  kn'na, 
mulberry;  the  Cherokee  name  for  the  present  site  of  Knoxville,  in  Knox  county, 
Tennessee. 

Kwa'll,  Kwaliifi'vl — Qualla  or  Quallatown,  the  former  agency  for  the  East  Cherokee 
and  now  a  postoffice  station,  just  outside  the  reservation,  on  a  branch  of  Soco 
creek,  in  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina.  It  is  the  Cherokee  form  for  "  Polly," 
and  the  station  was  so  called  from  an  old  woman  of  that  name  who  formerly 
lived  nearby;  Kwa'U,  "Polly,"  Kwai&fl'yt,  "Polly's  place."  The  reservation  is 
locally  known  as  the  Qualla  boundary. 

kwandaya'hu — see  da'tihgtQ/. 

la'lu — the  jar-fly  (Cicada  auletes).     See  number  59. 

Little  Carpenter,  Little  Cornplanter — see  AUV-giit  knh'i' . 

Lloyd — see  Da'sigiya'gi. 

Long-hair — a  Cherokee  chief  living  with  his  band  in  Ohio  in  1795.  See  page  ''■>. 
The  literal  Cherokee  translation  of  "Long-hair"  is  GMti'-gtimVii'ia,  but  it  is  not 
certain  that  the  English  name  is  a  correct  rendering  of  the  Indian  form.  Cf. 
Ani'-<lil<i'hi. 

Long  island — see  Am&yeVt-gtm&hi'ta. 

Lookout  Mountain  town — see  Danda/g&TvG.'. 

Lowrey,  Major  George — see  Agftt: 

Mayes,  J.  B. — see  TsiVwa  Gal/ski. 

Memphis — see  Tsudd't&leg&n'yl 

Mialaquo — see  Ammie'l-e'gvn. 

Morgan — see  Agangtd'ta. 

MoSEi — see   HVi'.si. 

Moytoy — a  Cherokee  chief  recognized  by  the  English  as  "emperor"  in  1730.  Both 
the  correct  form  and  the  meaning  of  the  name  are  uncertain;  the  name  occurs 
again  as  Moyatoy  in  a  document  of  1792;  a  boy  upon  the  East  Cherokee  reserva- 
tion a  few  years  ago  bore  the  name  of  Ma'tayl',  for  which  no  meaning  can  be 
given. 

Muscle  shoals — see  lhigiY ndhl. 

NaCOOCHEE — see  Xn'git 'tsi' '. 

Na'du'li' — known  to  the  whites  as  Nottely.  A  former  Cherokee  settlement  on  Not- 
tely  river,  close  to  the  Georgia  line,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina.  The 
name  cannot  be  translated  and  has  no  connection  with  ndtuli,  "spicewood." 

Nagu'tsi' — a  former  important  settlement  about  the  junction  of  Soquee  and  Santee 
rivers,  in  Naeooehee  valley,  at  the  head  of  Chattahoochee  river,  in  Habersham 
county,  Georgia.     The  meaning  of  the  word  is  lost  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  be  of 


GLOSSARY  527 

Cherokee  origin.     It  may  havi  tion  with  tin-  name  of  the  Uehei 

[ndians.  The  great  mound  farther  up  Sautee  river,  in  White  county,  was  know  n 
to  the  Cherokee  as  Tted'tl,  q.  v. 

nakwlsf  (abbreviated  star;  also  the  meadow  lark. 

nakuisi'  usdi' — "little  star";  the  puffball  fungus     Lycoperdori!). 

Na'na-tlu'gun'yl     (abbreviated     Nd'nd-tlu'glih'',  or     Nd'nA-lsu  Spruce-tree 

place,"  from  nd'nd,  spruce.  tlu'gdR"!  or  tsug&fl'X,  a  tree  (standing)  andt/2,  locative. 
1.  A  traditional  ancienl  Cherokee  settlement  on  the  site  of  Jonesboro,  Washing- 
ton county.  Tennessee.  The  name  of  Nolichucky  river  is  probably  a  corruption 
of  the  same  word.  2.  NdnA-tsugAft,  a  place  on  Nottely  river,  close  to  its  junc- 
tion with  Hiwassee,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina. 

Xaxehi — see  Xi'ifnit'lr,. 

N  kXTAH  M ,.\  —  st-c  Ntiitdi 

Nashville — sec  Dagft'ndwi  'Idhl. 

N  4TCHE2 — sec  A  in'- \<i l-f . 

Na'ts-asun'tlufiyi  (abbreviated  Na'is-as&ii'Miil)  — " Pine-footlog  place,"  from  nri'lsl, 
pine  asuil'tl}  or  asfintldn'1,  footlog,  l>rid'_'e.  ami  //;.  locative.  A  former  Chero- 
kee settlement,  commonly  known  as  Pinelog,  on  the  creek  of  the  same  name, 
in  Bartow  county,  Georgia. 

na'tsl — [line. 

na'tslkii' — "I  eat  it"  (tei'fcifi',  "I  am  eating"  I. 

na'tu'll — spicewood  i  Lindera  benzoin 

Nay e '111 — see  Xn'nii'h',. 

Nayixiwi — see  N&nyunu'u  ?. 

nehanduyanu' — a  song  form  for  nehadu'yanH',  an  irregular  verbal  form  denoting 
"conceived  in  the  womb."    See  number  75. 

Nki  i  ww.rmii — given  as  the  name  of  a  Lower  Cherokee  chief  in  1684.  Sec  page  31. 
Tin'  correct  form  and  meaning  are  both  uncertain,  but  the  final  part  seems  to  be 
the  common  suffix  dihV,  "killer."  Cf.  Ta'gw&diM'. 

N  I   SI    5    Ul — Sec    IsK  \(.l    \. 

3SEE — sec  Xl'kirasi'. 

Nettecawaw — see  gatayti'sti. 

Nettle-carrier — see  Tdle'danigi'skl. 

\ru   l.i  lioTA.  Newtown — see  Itsd'ti. 

NlCKAJACK — see  S'lknls,  './;. 

Nn  i  'i  ini— see  Ani'-Kula'tii 

NlkwasI'  i  or  Nikiv'sV) — an  important  ancient  settlement  on  Little  Tennessee  river, 
where  now  is  the  town  of  Franklin,  in  Macon  county.  North  Carolina.  A  large 
mound  marks  the  site  of  the  townhouse.  The  name  appears  in  old  documents 
as  Nequassee,  Nucassee,  etc.     Its  meaning  is  lost, 

NYkutse'gl  (also  N&kdtse'gt,  Nikwdtse'gt,  or  abbreviated  Nlkutseg') — Nickajack,  an 
important  Cherokee  setth  ment  about  1790  on  the  south  bank  of  Tennessee  rivet 
at  the  entrance  of  Nickajack  creek,  in  Marion  county.  Tennessee.  One  of  the 
five  Chickamauga  towns  (see  Ttilk&ma'gl).  The  meaning  of  the  word  is  lost  and 
it  is  probably  not  oi  Cherokei  origin,  although  it  occurs  also  in  the  tribe  as  a 
man's  name.  In  the  corrupted  form  of  "Nigger  .lack,"  it  occurs  also  as  thi 
name  of  a  creek  of  Cullasagee  river  above  Franklin,  in  Macon  county.  North 
Carolina. 

NlLAQUE — see  Amdye'l-t  'girii. 

Nolichucky — ee  A< 

Notcht — a  creek  entering  Tellico  river,  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee.  The  name 
evidently  refers  to  Natchez  Indian  refugees,  who  formerly  lived  in  the  vicinity 
see  Ani'-A 

Nottely — see  Xa'dltll'. 


528  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.an.\.19 

nu — used  as  a  suffix  to  denote  "and,"  or  "also";  u'li-nu,  "and  also";  na'ski-nti.', 

"and  that,"  "that  also." 
NUCASSEE — sec  NtfavtiM'. 

nu'dufinehV — he  did  x<>  mul  *<,,-  an  irregular  form  apparently  connected  with  the 
archaic  forms  adHnni'ga,  "it  lias  just  become  si>,"  and  udO/nmOf,  "it  is  matured,  or 
finished."     See  number  U.S. 

nufi'da' — the  sun  or  moon,  distinguished  as  nufl'dH'  igifhX,  "nUil'dd'  dwelling  in  the 
day,"  and  n&fl'dti,'  s&nnd'yihi,  " n&WdA'  dwelling  in  the  night."  In  the  sacred 
formulas  the  moon  is  sometimes  called  Gey&gu'ga,  q.  v.,  or  Su't&lidihV,  "Six- 
killer,"  names  apparently  founded  upon  myths  now  lost. 

nufi'da'-dika'nl — a  rare  bird  formerly  seen  occasionally  in  the  old  Cherokee  country, 
possibly  the  little  blue  heron  (Floridtii  cerulea).  The  name  seems  to  mean  "it 
looks  at  the  sun,"  i.  e.  ,  "sun-gazer,"  from  n&fl'dQ/,  sun,  and  du'ku'na'  or 
detsi'kanO,,  "I  am  looking  at  it."     See  number  35. 

NCuVdagun'yl,  Nunda'yJ — the  Sun  land,  or  east;  from  nufi'dd/,  sun,  and  »/7,  locative. 
Used  in  the  sacred  formulas  instead  of  dl' ' gS.ltfigtLfi'yl,  "where  it  rises,"  the 
common  word. 

Nuii'daye'll — "Middle  (i.  e.  Noonday)  sun,"  from  nCuUdQ.',  sun  and  aye  CI,  middle; 
a  former  Cherokee  settlement  on  Nantahala  river,  near  the  present  Jarrett 
station,  in  Macon  county.  North  Carolina,  so  called  from  the  high  cliffs  which 
shut  out  the  view  of  the  sun  until  nearly  noon.  The  name  appears  also 
as  Nantahala,  Nantiyallee,  Nuntialla,  etc.  It  appears  to  have  been  applied 
properly  only  to  the  point  on  the  river  where  the  cliffs  are  most  perpendicular, 
while  the  settlement  itself  was  known  as  Kaau'guld'y'i,  "Briertown,"  q.  v.  Set- 
number  122. 

Nugatsa'nl — a  ridge  sloping  down  to  Oconaluftee  river,  below  Cherokee,  in  Swain 
county,  North  Carolina.  The  word  is  an  archaic  form  denoting  a  high  ridge 
with  a  long  gradual  slope.     See  number  122. 

nun'gl' — four.     See  hl'skl. 

nugu'la — see  k&nugula. 

Nuhxayie — see  Ndnni'ht. 

nu'na — potato;  the  name  was  originally  applied  to  the  wild  "pigpotato"  {Phaseolus), 
now  distinguished  as  nu'na  igdlehl,  "swamp-dwelling  potato." 

Nundawe'gl — see  Ani'-Nwidawe'gt. 

nuiina'hl  (abbreviated  ntiilnd) — a  path,  trail  or  road. 

Nufina'hl-dihl'  (abbreviated  Xau'nd-tUhl') — "Path-killer,"  literally,  "He  kills 
(habitually)  in  the  path,"  from  ni'tu'ndhl,  path,  and  ahiliY,  "he  kills"  (habit- 
ually); "I  am  killing,"  txi'ilu)'.  A  principal  chief,  about  the  year  1813. 
Major  John  Ridge  was  originally  known  by  the  same  name,  but  afterward  took 
the  name,  Gunun'da'k'gl,  "One  who  follows  the  ridge,"  which  the  whites  made 
simply  Ridge. 

Nunna'hi-tsune'ga  (abbreviated)  XuH.nd-tmiiL>'ya — "White-path,"  from  n&flnd'hl, 
path,  and  tsune'ga,  plural  of  une'ga,  white;  the  form  is  in  the  plural,  as  is 
common  in  Indian  names,  and  has  probably  a  symbolic  reference  to  the  "white" 
or  peaceful  paths  spoken  of  in  the  opening  invocation  at  the  Green  corn  dance. 
A  noted  chief  who  led  the  conservative  party  about  1828.     See  pages  113,  132. 

Nunne'hl  (also  Guniie'Ii'i;  singular  NayPhl) — a  race  of  invisible  spirit  people.  The 
name  is  derived  from  the  verb  WMif,  "I  dwell,  1  live,"  r'lu',  "I  dwell  habitu- 
ally," and  may  be  rendered  "dwellers  anywhere,"  or  "those  who  live  any- 
where," but  implies  having  always  been  there,  i.  e.,  "Immortals."  It  has  been 
spelled  Nanehi  and  Nahnayie  by  different  writers.  The  singular  form  Nay&'hl 
occurs  also  as  a  personal  name,  about  equivalent  to  Edd'hl,  "One  who  goes 
about."     See  number  78. 

Miw-iiyu'stl — "potato-like,"  from  rni/nn,  potato,  ami  iyu'stt,  like.  A  flowering  vine 
with  tuberous  root  somewhat  resembling  the  potato.     See  number  126. 


m  i  isi  ■: !  GLOSS  \KV  529 

niiiiyu' — rock,  stone.     CI.  ndyii,  sand. 

Nuiiyu'-gunwani'skl—  "Rock  thai  talks."  from  n&flyli,',  rock,  and  tsiwa'nikH,  "I  am 

talking."     A    rock   from   which    Talking-rock   creek    of   Coosawatee   river   in 

i  Georgia  derives  its  name.     Sec  number  125. 
Xun'yunu'wl     contracted   from   NtiflyA-unu'vit.     "Stone-clad,"  from    n&ilyli,    rock. 

and  agw&nu'vfd,  "1  am  clothed  or  covered."     A  mythic-  monster,  invulnerable 

by  reason  ol  his  stony  skin.    See  number  67.     The  name  is  also  applied  - e- 

times  to  the  stinging  ant,  das&fUdli  atatt&nsM,  q.  v.     It  has  also  been 

Nayunuwi. 
Xunyu'-thi  guilt  (or  NAfiyA-tsugHill) — "Tree  rock."     A  notable  rock  on  Hiwassee 

river,  just  within  the  Ninth  Carolina  line.     See  number  66  and  notes, 

Nufiyu'-tawi'skS  "Slick  rock,"  from  niniiiii',  rock,  and  t&uriskA,  smooth,  >lick;  the 
form  remains  unchanged  for  the  locative.  1.  Slick-rock  creek,  entering  Little 
Tennessee  river  jnsi  within  the  west  line  of  Graham  county.  North  Carolina. 

2.    A  place  at  the  extreme  head  of    Brasstown  creek  of  Hiwassee  river,  in  Tofl  QS 
county,  Georgia. 

Ocoee — see  Uwag&'hX. 
Oconaluftee — see  EgwdnvZCt. 
Oconee — see  Vkuu'iii'i. 
Ocoxostota — see  Aganstd'ta. 
Old  Tassel — see  IM/dstUQ,'. 

OOLTEWAH — see    I  'Itnin'-i. 
OOLUNSADE — see    UKmS&'tt. 
(  losTANALLA See    V  St&W'tl. 

'  ins i  in  \leii — see  Usl&na'K. 

( ionic  aloga — see  Uy'git&'gi. 

Otacite,  Otassite — see  Outacity. 

Otari,  Otariyatiqtj] — mentioned  as  a  place,  apparently  on  the  Cherokee  frontier, 
visited  by  Pardo  in  1567.  Otari  seems  to  be  the  Cherokee  dtclrl  or  dt&U,  moun- 
tain, but  the  rest  of  the  word  is  doubtful.      See  page  28. 

(  )ttare — see  d'la/'i. 

Owasta — given  as  the  name  of  a  Cherokee  chief  in  16S4;  the  form  cannot  be  identi- 
fied.    See  page  31. 

(  ICi.II.LoGY — see    I'll'iJ'lu',/!. 

Outacity — given  in  documents  as  the  name  or  title  of  a  prominent  Cherokee  chief 
about  1720.  It  appears  also  as  otacite,  otassite,  Outassatah,  Wootassite  and 
Wrosetasatow  (  !  I,  but  the  form  cannot  be  identified,  although  it  seems  t,,  con- 
tain the  personal  name  suffix  diHl', "killer."  Timberlake says  (page  71  i:  "There 
are  some  other  honorary  titles  among  them,  conferred  in  reward  of  great  actions; 
the  first  of  which  is  Outacity  or  Man-killer,  and  the  second  Colona  or  the 
Raven." 

Ill    |  \-~  \  |  1H— See  I  II    I'ACITY. 

<  iu  issa — see  Ayuhwa'sl. 

Paint-town — see  Am'-  Wd'dihl'. 
Path-killer — see  N&find'hirdihV . 
I'ikenix,  Cherokee — see  TsuWhUan^ifi  hi. 
Pigeon  River — see  Wdyi. 
Pine  Indians — see  AnV-Ndtsl. 
Pineloo — see  NcCta-azCm'tlQA 

Qo  vlatchee — a  former  ( Iherokee  settlement  on  the  headwaters  of  the  ( lhattahoochee 
river  in  Georgia;  another  ol  the  same  name  was  upon  the  waters  of  Eeowee 
river  in  South  Carolina.     The  correct  form  is  unknown. 

19  ETH— 01 34 


530  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.akh.19 

Qualla — see  Kwali. 

t^i  ixule — see  Guaxule. 

Quinahaqui — a  place,  possibly  in  the  Cherokee  country,  visited  by  Pardo  in   1567. 

The  form  cannot  be  identified.     See  page  28. 
Quoneashee — see  Tlanusi'yt. 

Rattlesnake  springs — see  Visan&tiyi. 
Rattling-gourd — see  G&nsSU. 
Raventown — see  Kdl&nwYy't. 
Red  Clay — see  El&w&'diyl. 
Reid,  Jesse — see  Tse' 'si-Ska' 'ts'i. 
Ridge,  Major  John — see  NCunn&'lil-diW . 
Ross,  John — see  Gu'wisguvrt' '. 
Ross'  landing — see  Tsat&nu'gi. 

Sadayl' — a  feminine  name,  the  proper  name  of  the  woman  known  t<>  the  whites  as 
Annie  Ax;  it  cannot  be  translated. 

Sagwd'hl,  or  SagwuiYyl — "One  place,"  from  sd/gwd,  one,  and  In  or  y%,  locative. 
Soco  creek  of  Oconaluftee  river,  on  the  East  Cherokee  reservation,  in  Jackson 
county,  North  Carolina.  No  satisfactory  reason  is  given  for  the  name,  which  has 
its  parallel  in  Tidskd'M,  "Thirty  place"  a  local  name  in  Cherokee  county,  in  the 
same  state. 

s&'gw&U',  horse;  from  asdgw&lihti,,  a  pack  or  burden,  aedgwatW  \  "there  is  a  pack  on 
him." 

sa'gwSU  dlgu'lanahi'ta — mule:  literally  "long eared  horse,"  from  m'ym'il'i,  horse,  and 
digti/lan&M'ta,  q.  v. 

Sakwi'yi  (or  fiuki'yt;  abbreviated  S'ikiri'  or  SukV) — a  former  settlement  on  Soquee 
river,  a  head-stream  of  Chattahootcb.ee,  near  Clarkesville,  Habersham  county, 
Georgia.     Also  written  Saukee  and  Sookee.     The  name  has  lost  its  meaning. 

saWH — squirrel;  the  common  gray  squirrel;  other  varieties  are  kiyu'gd,  the  ground 
squirrel,  and  tevm,  the  Hying  squirrel.  Sahi'tl  was  also  the  name  of  an  East  Cher- 
okee inventor  who  died  a  few  years  ago;  S'lhi'lniti'ta,  "Young-squirrels,"  is  a 
masculine  personal  name  on  the  reservation. 

saligu'gl — turtle,  the  common  water  turtle;  soft-shell  turtle,  uWrnfi/wiX;  land  tortoise 
or  terrapin,  lukxi'. 

salikwa'yl — bear-grass  (Etryngium) ;  also  the  greensnake,  on  account  of  a  fancied 
resemblance;  the  name  of  a  former  Cherokee  settlement  on  Sallacoa  creek  of 
( !i  ii  isawatee  river,  in  Gordon  county,  Georgia. 

Sa'nigilaVgl  (abbreviated  SarigiL&'gt) — Whiteside  mountain,  a  prominent  peak  of  the 
Blue  ridge,  southeast  from  Franklin,  Macon  county,  North  Carolina.  It  is  con- 
nected with  the  tradition  of  O'tlufi'ta  (see  number  66  and  notes). 

Santeetla — the  present  map  name  of  a  creek  joining  Cheowa  river  in  Graham 
county,  North  Carolina,  and  of  a  smaller  tributary  (Little  Santeetla) .  The  name 
is  not  recognized  or  understood  by  the  Cherokee,  who  insist  that  it  was  given  by 
the  whites.  Little  Santeetla  is  known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Tsunda nilli' y%  q.  v. ;  the 
main  Santeetla  creek  is  commonly  known  as  Ndyu'hl  geyuii'i,  "Sand-place 
stream,"  from  Xi'iyu/hl,  "Sand  place"  (ndyfi,  sand),  a  former  settlement  just 
above  the  junction  of  the  two  creeks. 

Sara — sec  Ani'-Swwa/U. 

sa'sa' — goose;  an  onomatope. 

Sautee — see  Itsd'ti. 

Savannah — the  popular  name  of  this  river  is  derived  from  that  of  the  Shawano 
Indians,  formerly  living  upon  its  middle  course,  and  known  to  the  Cherokee  as 
Anl'-Siiiraun'ij'i,  q.v.,  to  the  Creeks  as  Surmnikii,  and  to  some  of  the  coast  tribes 


« sirs  OL08SARY  531 

of  Carolina  as  Snimma.  [nold  documents  the  river  is  also  called  Twndiga,  from 
I'si'i'niin'i  or  Seneca,  q.v.,  an  important  former  Cherokee  settlement  upon  its  upper 
waters.     See  number  99. 

Sawanu'gl — "Shawano"  (Indian);  a  masculine  personal  name  upon  the  East  Cher- 
okee reservation  and  prominent  in  the  history  of  the  band.  See  InV-Saidnu'tfl 
and  Kii'hiln'i'. 

Sam  \<«.k — see  Kd'lahti'. 

Sehwate'yl  "Hornet  plan',  from  » 'hwatCt.,  hornet,  and  yt,  locative:  Cheowa  Maxi- 
mum and  Swim  bald,  adjoining  bald  peaks  at  the  brail  of  <  iheowa  river,  <  rraham 
county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

selu — com;  sometimes  called  in  the  sacred  formulas  Agawe'Ui,  "TheOld  Woman" 
See  number  L26. 

sel-utsl'  (for  selu-visV)  "corn's  mother,"  from  selu,  corn  and  ulsl',  his  mother  [eUsV 
or  ni/itxT,  my  mother);  the  bead-corn  or  Job's-tears  (Cbir  laeryma).  See  num- 
ber 126. 

Seneca — see Ani'-Nim.'dd.we'g}  (Seneca tribe),  and  Vsdfmgii  (Sonera  town). 

SEQUATCHEE — see  S'/./ir,  Is'i  ' . 

Sequi  n  v     see  SUnvdyX. 

Set  si — a  mound  and  traditional  Cherokee  settlement  on  the  south  side  of  Valley 

river,  about  three  miles  below  Yalleytown,  in  Cherokee  county.  North  Carolina; 
the  name  lias  lo>t    its  meaning.      See  number  711.       A  settlement    called    Ti1.ii' 1st. 

[Tassetchii   in  some  old  documents)  existed  on  tin-  extreme  head  of  Hiwassee 

river,  in  Towns  county,  Georgia. 
Sevier-  -see  Zian'-iwcK'. 
Shoe-boots — see  Da'sCgiya'gl. 
Shooting  creek— sec  Dn'staini Ii'ih'i/i. 
Sl'gwetsl'— a  traditional  Cherokee  settlement  on  the  south  bank  of  the  French  Broad 

river,   not    far   from  Knoxville,    Knox  county,    Tennessee.     Near  by    was  the 

quarry  from  which  it  is  said  the  stone  for  the  white  peace  pipes  was  obtained. 

See  number  111  and  notes.     Sequatchee,  the  name  of  the  river  below  Chatta- 

_:i,  in  Tennessee,  is  probably  a  corruption  of  the  same  word. 

sl'kwa — hog;   originally   the   name   of   the   opossum,    now  distinguished  as   sYkwH 

uiset'slt,  q.  v. 
sl'kwS  utset'stl — opossum:  literally  "grinning  hog,"  from  fl/hod,  hog,  and  titset'stt,, 

"he  grins  i  habitually  I."     Cf.  sikud. 
Sikwa'yl— a  masculine  name,  commonly  written  Sequoya,  made   famous  as  that   of 

the  inventor  of  the  Cherokee  alphabet.     See  page  108.    The  name,  which  can 

not  be  translated,  is  still  in  use  upon  the  East  Cherokee  reservation. 
Sikwi'a — a  masculine  name,  the  Cherokee  corruption  for  Sevier.     See  also  Tsan-uidi'. 
SINN  HI  N.H— See  lli'i'liliui'l. 

sftiku'  (or  si.'ii'iijii',  in  dialectic  form) — a  former  Cherokee  settlement  on  Little  Ten- 
nessee river  at  the  entrance  of  Citico  creek,  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee.  The 
name,  which  can  not  be  translated,  is  com lily  spelled  Citico,  but  appears  also 

as  Sattiquo,  Settico,  Settacoo,  Sette,  Sittiquo,  etc. 

siyu' — see  i'i'siiiii' . 

skinta' — for  sldn'tdgQ.',  understood  to  mean  "put  a  new  tooth  into  my  jaw."  The 
word  ran  not  be  analyzed,  but  is  derived  from  g&nikd.'  {ganta'gH  in  a  dialectic 

form  i  a  tooth  in  place;  a  tooth  detached  is  k&yu'gd.      See  number  15. 
Skwan'-digii'gun'yi  i  for  Askwan'-digfi'glifl'y'i}     "  Where  the  Spaniard  is  in  the  water 
[or  other  liquid]".     A  plac i  Upper  Soco  creek,  on  the  reservation  in  Jackson 

county,  North  Carolina.      See  number  lL'2. 

Slice  rock — see  NAUyCi'-ldwi 
Smith,  N.  .1. — see  TsalAdikV 
Snow  bird — see  TuiVyi. 


532  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [f.th.ann.19 

Soco  creek — see  Sdgwd'ht. 

Soco  g  up— see  AhMu'na. 

Soquee — see  Sdkunfyt. 

Spray,  H.  W. — see  WU&nV. 

Spring-Frog — see  Du'stu'. 

Standing  Indian — see  YtifivSi-Umh  nij.fl/yt 

Stand  Watte — see  De'gaMgd. 

Stekoa — see  Stilcd'yt 

ste'tsi — your  daughter;  literally,  your  offspring;  agwe'ts\,  "my  offspring";  uwe'tsl, 
"his  offspring";  to  distinguish  sex  it  is  necessary  to  add  asga'ya,  "man"  or 
agefhya,  "woman." 

Stika'yl  (variously  spelled  Stecoe,  Steecoy,  Stekoah,  Stickoey,  etc.) — the  name  of 
several  former  Cherokee  settlements:  1.  On  Sticoa  creek,  near  Clayton,  Rabun 
county,  Gorgia;  2.  on  Tuckasegee  river  at  the  old  Thomas  homestead  just  above 
the  present  Whittier,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina;  3.  on  Stekoa  creek  of 
Little  Tennessee  river,  a  few  miles  below  the  junction  of  Nantahala,  in  Graham 
county,  North  Carolina.     The  word  has  lust  its  meaning. 

Strixgfield — see  Tlihji '.-;. 

stugi'stl,  stui'sti — a  key;  see  page  187  ami  under  Astu'gatd'ga. 

Sick,  The — see  Ufi'tiguhl'. 

Sugarto wx — see  Kfi  hi '  txi'y  l . 

su/nawa/ — see  tWn  »  wa . 

sunestla'ta — "split  noses";  see  tsunii liiii't'  mhii-slld/Ui. 

suiigT — mink;  also  onion;  the  name  seems  to  refer  to  a  smell;  the  various  mints  are 
called  generic-ally.  gaw's&R/gt.     See  number  29. 

Suki'yi — another  form  of  Sahvi'i/i,  q.v. 

su'll' — buzzard;  the  Creek  name  is  the  same. 

Sun  laxd — see  NCtUdd/yV. 

su'-Ba'-sai' — an  unmeaning  song  refrain.     See  number  66. 

Bu'talidihl' — see  ui'in'da'. 

Suwa'li — see  AnV-Suwa'U. 

Suwa'li-nunna'hl  (abbreviated  Swwa'U-ntifba&'hX) — "  Suwali  trail,"  the  proper  name 
for  the  gap  at  the  head  of  Swannanoa  (from  Siui-h'I'i-Xuh' iu'i  )  river,  east  of  Ashe- 
ville,  in  Buncombe  county,  North  Carolina.  Cf.  Kv/sA-nOMnd'ht  Seepages  194 
and  379,  also  AnV-Suwa'U. 

Suwa'nl — a  former  Cherokee  settlement  on  Chattahoochee  river,  about  the  present 
Suwanee,  in  Gwinnett  county,  Georgia.  The  name  has  no  meaning  in  the 
Cherokee  language  and  is  said  to  be  of  Creek  origin.     See  page  382. 

Suye'ta — "The  Chosen  One,"  from  ii.iui/i''tn,  "he  is  chosen,"  gam'yei'i,  "I  am  choos- 
ing"; the  same  form,  suye'ta,  could  also  mean  mixed,  from  g'lm'yalu'i,  "I  am 
mixing  it."  A  masculine  name,  at  present  borne  by  a  prominent  ex-chief  and 
informant  upon  the  East  Cherokee  reservation. 

Swannanoa — see  Suita'ti-nurinii'lil. 

Swim  bald — see  Sekwate/y\. 

Swimmer — see  A'yUM'inl. 

tadeya'statakuhl' — "we  shall  see  each  other."     See  number  75. 

Tae-keo-ge — see  TasM'gt 

ta'gu — the  June-bug  (A ttorhina   nitida),  also  called  tu'ya-diskcUaiv'sti'sM,,  "one  who 

keeps  fire  under  the  beans."     See  number  59. 
Ta'gwa — see  Ani'ta/gwa. 
Ta'gwadihi7  (abbreviated  Ta'gw&dV) — "Catawba-killer,"  from  Ata'giva  or  Tn'r/iva, 

Catawba    Indian,   and    diMhV.    "he   kills   them"    (habitually)     from   tsi'ilnY, 


GLOSSARY  533 

•■I  kill."     An  old  masculine  personal  name,  .-till  in  use  upon  the  East  ( !h<  rokee 

reservation.     It  was  the  proper  naj >f  the  chief  known  to  the  whites  about 

1790  as  "The  Glass,"  from  a  confusion  of  this  name   with  rtdak<S/'tt,   glass,  or 
mirror. 
Tagw&'hl-   "Catawba  place,"  from   Ata'gwa   or    Ta'gv/a,  Catawba    Indian,  and  ftl, 

locative.      \  nam icurring  in  several  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country.    A 

settlement  of  tins  name,  known  to  the  whites  as  T oa,  was  upon  Toccoa  creek, 

cast  of  Clarkesville,  in  Habersham  county,  Georgia;  another  was  uj Toccoa 

"iv  river,  about  the  present  Toccoa,  in  Fannin  county,  Georgia;  a  third 

may  have  been  on  Persimmon  creek,  which    is   known   to  the  Cherokee  as  Tag- 

led'M,  and  enters  Hiwassee  river  some  distance  below  Murphy,  in  Cherokee 
county,  North  Carolina. 
Tahkeyostee — tee  I  hta'kiyasti'jft. 

TaHUEQUAH — see   Tnlihun' 

Tahchee — see  T8M'. 

Takatoka — see  /'<  'g&id'gd 

ta'kldiV  (abbreviated  t&ldH,')-  twelve,  from  in'h,  two.    Cf.  t&la'lH,  cricket. 

Tft'lasI'  a  former  Cherokee  settlement  on  Little  Tennessee  river,  about  Talassee 
ford,  in  Blount  county,  Tennessee.     The  name  has  lost  its  meaning. 

Talassee — see  T&lasV. 

tala'tu — cricket;  sometimes  also  called  dita'staye'slA  (q.  v.  I ,  "the  barber."  Cf.  Ui'lAdW, 
twelve. 

Tale'danigi'ski  i  IMU  'danigi'sl  in  a  dialectic  form) — variously  rendered  by  the  whites 
"Hemp-carrier,"  "Nettle-carrier"  or  "  Flax-toter,"  from  tdWta  or  utdle'ta, 
flax  (Linum)  or  richweed  [Pika  pumila),  and  danigi'sH,  "he  carries  them 
(habitually)."  \  former  prominent  chief  on  Valley  river,  in  Cherokee  county, 
North  Carolina.     See  number  95  and  notes. 

Tai.ihina — given  as  the  name  of  the  Cherokee  wife  of  Samuel  Houston;  the  form 
cannot  be  identified.     See  page  223. 

Talikwa'  (commonly  written  Tellico,  Telliquo  or,  in  the  Indian  Territory,  Tahle- 
quah) — the  name  of  several  Cherokee  settlements  at  different  periods, viz:  1. 
Creat  Tellico,  at  Tellico  Plains,  on  Tellico  river,  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee; 
2.  Little  Tellico,  on  Tellico  creek  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  about  ten  miles  below 
Franklin,  in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina;  3.  a  town  on  Valley  river,  about 
rive  miles  above  Murphy,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina;  4.  Tahlequah, 
established  as  the  capital  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  Indian  Territory,  in  1839.  The 
meaning  of  the  name  is  lost. 

Tali'wa — the  site  of  a  traditional  battle  between  the  Cherokee  and  Creeks  about  1755, 
on  Mountain  (?)  creek  of  Etowah  river  in  upper  Georgia.  Probably  not  a  Chero- 
kee but  a  ( 'reek  name  from  the  Creek  ta'lua  or  Ua'hta,  town.  See  pages  38  and 
:;s4-385. 

Talking-rock — see  NUnyO.'-giifiwani'gkl. 

TalLVLAH — see  Tnlnlfi'. 

Tal-tsu'ska' — "Two-heads."  from  /.,'//.  two,  and  lxu'4;n'.  plural  of  uskd',  (his)  head. 
A  Cherokee  chief  about  the  year  1800,  known  to  the  whites  as  I  loiihlehead. 

talull — pregnant:  whence  aluOf,  (she  is)  a  mother,  said  of  a  woman. 

TSluhV  (commonly  written  Tallulah,  and  appearing  in  old  documents,  from  the 
Lower  dialect,  as  Taruraw,  Torino.  Turoree,  etc.) — a  name  occurring  in  two  or 
more  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country,  viz:  1.  An  ancient  settlement  on  the 
tipper  part  of  Tallulah  river,  in  Rabun  county,  Georgia;  '-'.  a  town  on  Tallulah 
creek  of  Cheowa   river,    in    Graham    county,    North    Carolina.      The  word    is  of 

uncertain  etymology.     The  dulu'sl  frog  is  said  to  cry  t&hdi.'.    See  number  125. 
The  noted  falls  upon  Tallulah  river  are  known  to  the  Cherokee  as  Ugtifi'tfl,  q.  v. 

T  \\  I'NTISKI — see  Ala' I u Til i' xk'l . 


534  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [rth.anx.19 

Tama'li — a  name,  commonly  written  Tomotley  or  Tomatola,  occurring  in  at  least  two 
places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country,  viz:  1.  On  Valley  river,  a  few  miles  above 
Murphy,  about  the  present  Tomatola,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina;  2.  on 
Little  Tennessee  river,  about  Tomotley  ford,  a  few  miles  above  Tellico  river,  in 
Monroe  county,  Tennessee.  The  name  can  not  be  translated,  and  may  lie  of 
Creek  origin,  as  that  tribe  had  a  town  of  the  same  name  upon  the  lower  Chatta- 
hoochee river. 

Tanas!' — a  name  which  can  not  be  analyzed,  comrnonly  spelt  Tennessee,  occurring  in 
several  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country,  viz:  1.  On  Little  Tennessee  river, 
about  halfway  between  Citico  and  Tom  creeks,  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee; 
2.  "Old  Tennessee  town,"  on  Hiwassee  liver,  a  short  distance  above  the  junc- 
tion of  Ocoee,  in  Polk  county,  Tennessee;  :;.  on  Tennessee  creek,  a  head-stream 
of  Tuckasegee  river,  in  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina.  Tanasqui,  visited  by 
Pardo  in  1567  (see  page  29),  may  have  been  another  place  of  the  same  name. 
See  number  124. 

Tanasqui — see  T&n&sV. 

Ta'ski'gi  (abbreviated  from  TdsHgi'yt  or  Ddskigi'yl,  the  locative  yl  being  commonly 
omitted) — a  name  variously  written  Tae-keo-ge  (misprint),  Tasquiqui,  Teeskege, 
Tnscagee,  Tuskegee,  etc.  derived  from  that  of  a  foreign  tribe  incorporated  with 
the  Cherokee,  and  occurring  as  a  local  name  both  in  the  Cherokee  and  in  the 
( ireek  country.  1.  The  principal  settlement  of  this  name  was  on  Little  Tennes- 
see river,  just  above  the  junction  of  Tellico,  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee; 
2.  another  was  on  the  north  bank  of  Tennessee  river,  just  below  Chattanooga, 
Tennessee;  3.  another  may  have  been  on  Tuskegee  creek  of  Little  Tennessee 
river,  near  Eobbinsville,  Graham  county.  North  Carolina.  See  page  29  and 
number  105. 

Tasquiqui — see  Tdski'gi. 

Tassel,  Old — see  Vlsi'ds&W. 

Tatsi' — "Dutch,"  also  written  Tahchee,  a  western  Cherokee  chief  about  1830.  See 
page  141. 

tatsu'hwa — the  redbird. 

tawa'li — punk. 

Tawa'li-ukwanuii'tl — "Punk-plugged-in,"  from  tawa'tt,  punk;  the  Cherokee  name  of 
a  traditional  Shawano  chief.     See  number  100. 

tawi'ska,  tttwi'skage — smooth,  slick. 

Tawi'skala — "Flint";  a  Cherokee  supernatural,  the  personification  of  the  rock  flint; 
tairi'sl-ah'ui'"i,  lairi'skala,  flint,  from  l&v-i'xkti,  smooth,  slick;  cf.  Iroquois  Tiiwis- 
kiirnn.     See  number  25  and  notes. 

Tayunkst — a  traditional  western  tribe;  the  name  can  not  be  analyzed.  See  num- 
"  ber  105. 

Tellico — see  Tdlikwa'. 

telun'latl — the  summer  grape  (  Vitis  aestivalis). 

Te.nsaw.vitee — see  Ku's&weH'yi. 

Terrapin — see  Tnkxi'. 

tewa — flying  squirrel;  mld'tt,  gray  squirrel;  kiyu'ga,  ground  squirrel. 

Thomas,  W.  II. — see  WU-usdi'. 

TlkwalPtsi — a  name  occurring  in  several  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country,  viz: 
1 .  Tuckalegee  creek,  a  tributary  of  War-woman  creek,  east  of  Clayton,  in  Rabun 
county,  Georgia;  2.  the  Tlkwali'tsl  of  the  story,  an  important  town  on  Tucka- 
segee river  at  the  present  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina;  3. 
Tuckalechee  cove,  on  Little  river,  in  Blount  county,  Tennessee,  which  probably 
preserves  the  aboriginal  local  name.  The  name  appears  in  old  documents  as 
Tuckarechee  (Lower  dialect)  and  Tuckalegee,  and  must  not  be  confounded  with 
TsIksi'tsT  or  Tuckasegee.     It  can  not  be  translated.     See  nuhiber  100  and  notes. 

Timossv — see  To.massee. 


GLOSSARY  535 

Field";  the  Cherokee  name  for  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  VV.  Stringfield  of 

Waynesville,  North  Carolina,  one  of  tl fficers  of  the  Cherok 'ontingenl    n 

the  Thomas  Legion.     It  is  an  abbreviated  rendering  of  his  proper  name, 
tlage'situfi'    a  song   form  for  tldge'tii  a-at0.tl%   "on  the  edge  of   the   Beld,"    from 

tMgeftit,  or UdgefsX,  field,  and  asMR/i,  edge,  border,  etc;  ctma'j/rtsftifi'',  "the  bank  of 

a  stream."     See  number  24. 
tla  meha — bat  (dialectic forms,  tsa'melUl,  (sa'wehd).     Seepage  187. 
Uanu'sl' — leech  (dialectic  form,  tsanu'tit').     See  page  is7. 
Tlanusi'yl  (abbreviated  Tlanusi')     "Leech  place,"  a  former  important  settlement  at 

tin'  junction  of  Hiwassee  and  Valley  rivers,  the  present  siteof  Murphj  .  in  <  Ihero- 
county,  Xorth  Carolina;  also  a  point  on  Nottely  river,  a  few  miles  distant, 

in  the  same  county.     See  number  "7  and  notes.     The  name  appears  also  as  Clen- 

nuse,  Klausuna,  Quoneashee,  etc. 
'1 wa'    (dialectic    forms,   US/nuwa' ,  tttifn&wll',    "sinnawah"     Adair)-  a    mythic 

great  hawk.     Seenumbers  :;•">.  64,  65,  also  page  1*7. 
tla'niiwa'  usdi' — " little  tla'nuwa'";  probably  tin-  goshawk  (Astur  atrieapillus).     See 

number  35. 
Tl:'i'tiuua'-atsi\rhifi'isuiVyi — "  Where  the  Tla/nuwS,  cut  it  up, "  from  UO/nuwd     q 

and  Isiihh'iu'isku',  an  archaic  form  for  Isiiii'inih'ui'hl-iY,  "1  am  cutting  it  up."       V 

place  on  Little  Tennessee  river,  nearly  opposite  the  entrance  of  Citico  .-reck,  in 

Blount  county,  Tennessee.    Sec  number  t>4  and  notes. 
Tla'nuwaO     "Tla'nuwa  place,"  a  cave  on  the  north  side  of  Tennessee  river  a  short 

distance  below  the  entrance  of  Citico  creek,  in   Blount  county,  Tennessee.     See 

number  04  and  notes. 
tlay'ku' — jay  (dialectic  form,  tsay'kti,'  l.     See  page  187. 

tlunti'stl — the  pheasant  {Bonam  umbella),  called  locally  grouse  or  partridge. 
tluthV — the  martin  bird  (dialectic  form,  (sutsO,'  I.     See  page  187. 
tlufltlVtsl — panther  (dialectic  form,  ts&TM/t&).     See  page  L87. 
Tocax— a  place,  apparently  in  the  Cherokee  country,  visited  by  Pardo  in   L567  (see 

page  29).     It   may  possibly  have  a  connection  with  Toxaway  (see   D&faal)  or 

Toccoa  I  see  Tagwd'Kt ). 
Toccoa — see  Tagwd'Kt. 
Toco — see  iMktru'-,. 

TO!  II  NTEESKEE — see  Aln'l I'lnii'sl,} . 

Tomassee  i  also  written  Timossy  ami  Tymahse) — the  name  of  two  or  more  former 
Cherokee  settlements.  \iz:  1.  (Ill  Tomassee  creek  of  Keowee  river,  in  Oconee 
county.  South  Carolina;  L'.  on  Little  Tennessee  river  near  the  entrance  of  I'.inii- 
ingtown  creek,  in  Macon  county.  South  Carolina.  Tic-  correct  form  ami  inter- 
pretation are  unknown. 

Tom  m. ii  \,  Tomotley — see  Tama'H 

Ton  Willi        -re    Thl'stU,'. 

Toogelah — see  Dugilu'yl. 

Toqua— see  Dtikwdl. 

Toxaway — see  D&hsal. 

Track  Kock  gap — see  Datm'naldsgti.fl'y'l. 

rsaga'sl — a  Cherokee  sprite.     See  number  78. 

upstream,  up  the  road;  the  converse  of  gen.     See  number  117. 
Tsaiyt' — see  UfltsaiyX'. 
Tsa'ladihl'— Chief  N.  J.  Smith  of  the  East  Cherokee.     The  name  might  be  rendered 

"Charley-killer,"  from  TbaU,  "Charley,"  and  diKP,  "killer"  (in  composition  i, 

but  is  really  a  Cherokee  equivalent  for  Jarrett  (Ibal&dV),  his  middle  name,  by 

which  he  was  frequently  addressed.     I'i.  Tagw&diht 
tsal-agayiifi'li — "old  tobacco,"  fr UdlA,  tobacco,  and  ag&y&fi'li,  or  agdy&fl'lige,  <•!<!, 

ancient;  the  Nicotiana  rmtica  or  wild  tobai See  number  126. 


536  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [kth.ann.19 

Tsa'lagI7  i  Tsa'ragl'  in  Lower  dialect) — the  correct  form  of  Cherokee.     See  page  182, 

"Tribal  Synonymy." 
Tsa'll — Charley;  a  Cherokee  shot  for  resisting  the  troops  at  the  time  of  the  Removal. 

See  page  131. 

tsaliyu'st)  —  "tobacco-like,"  from  tsdlti,  tobacco,  and  iyu'sCl,  like;  a  generic  name  for 
the  cardinal-flower,  mullein  and  related  species.     See  number  126. 

tsalii  or  tsaliin  (in  the  Lower  dialect,  tsdru) — tobacco;  by  comparison  with  kindred 
forms  in  other  Iroquoian  dialects  the  meaning  "fire  to  hold  in  the  mouth  "  seems 
to  be  indicated.     Lanman  spells  it  tso-lungh.     See  number  126  and  page  187. 

tsa'meha — see  tla'mehu. 

tsa'nadiska' — for  ts&ndiskdl'  "they  say." 

tsana'seha'I' — so  they  say.  they  say  about  him.     See  number  118. 

tsane'nl — the  scorpion  lizard;  also  called  gVgX-danegi'sld,  q.  v.     See  number  59. 

Tsani — John. 

TsantawiV — a  masculine  name  which  can  not  he  analyzed. 

Tsan-uga'slta — "Sour  John";  John  Butler,  a  halfbreed  Cherokee  ball  captain, 
formerly  living  on  Nottely  river.     See  number  122. 

Tsan-usdi' — "Little  John";  the  Cherokee  name  for  General  John  Sevier,  and  also 
the  boy  name  of  the  chief  John  Ross,  afterward  known  as  Gu' ' wisguwV ',  q.  v. 
Sikwi'S.,  a  Cherokee  attempt  at  "Sevier."  is  a  masculine  name  upon  the  East 
Cherokee  reservation. 

tsanu'sf — see  tlanu'xY. 

tsa'nuwil' — see  tl&'nuw&' , 

Tsa'ragl' — Cherokee:  see  page  182,  "Tribal  Synonymy." 

tsaru — see  tsdlu. 

Tsasta'wi — a  noted  hunter  formerly  living  upon  Nantahala  river,  in  Macon  county, 
North  Carolina;  the  meaning  of  the  name  is  doubtful.     See  number  122. 

Tsatanu'gl  ( commonly  spelled  Chattanooga) — the  Cherokee  name  for  some  point 
upon  the  creek  entering  Tennessee  river  at  the  city  of  Chattanooga,  in  Hamilton 
county,  Tennessee.  It  has  no  meaning  in  the  Cherokee  language  and  appears 
to  be  of  foreign  origin.  The  ancient  name  for  the  site  of  the  present  city  is 
A'tlil'mnni,  q.  v.  See  number  124.  Before  the  establishment  of  the  town  the 
place  was  known  to  the  whites  as  Ross'  landing,  from  a  store  kept  there  by 
Lewis  Ross,  brother  of  the  chief  John  Ross. 

Tsatu'gl  (commonly  written  Chattooga  or  Chatuga) — a  name  occurring  in  two  or 
more  places  in  the  old  Cherokee  country,  but  apparently  of  foreign  origin  (see 
page  382).  Possible  Cherokee  derivations  are  from  words  signifying  respec- 
tively "he  drank  by  sips,"  from  gatu'giii',  "  I  sip,"  or  "he  has  crossed  the  stream 
and  come  out  upon  the  other  side,"  from  galu'gi,  "I  have  crossed"  etc.  An 
ancient  settlement  of  this  name  was  on  Chattooga  river,  a  head-stream  of  Savannah 
river,  on  the  boundary  betweeu  South  Carolina  and  Georgia;  another  appears  to 
have  been  on  upper  Tellico  river,  in  Monroe  county,  Tennessee;  another  may 
have  been  on  Chattooga  river,  a  tributary  of  the  Coosa,  in  northwestern 
Georgia. 

Tsa'wft  GakskI — Joe  Smoker,  from  Tsdwa,  "Joe,"  and  gaksM,  "smoker,"  from 
ga'gisku,  "I  am  smoking."  The  Cherokee  name  for  Chief  Joel  B.  Mayes,  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation  west. 

Tsawa'sl — a  Cherokee  sprite.     See  number  78. 

tsa'weha — see  ila'rru  ln'i. 

tsay'ku' — see  Uay'kCtf. 

Tsek'slnl' — the  Cherokee  form  for  the  name  of  General  Andrew  Jackson. 

TsSsa'ni — Jessan,  probably  a  derivative  from  Jesse;  a  masculine  name  upon  the  East 
Cherokee  reservation. 

TsOVi-Ska'tsi — "  Scotch  Jesse  " ;  Jesse  Reid,  present  chief  of  the  East  Cherokee,  so 
called  because  of  mixed  Scotch  ancestry. 


GLOSSARY  537 

tsetsttni'l)  "tin  two  elder  brothers"  (male  speaking);  my  elder  brother  (male 
speaking),  (tilgini'tl.    See  note  to  numbei  63 

Tsgagun'yl — " Insect  place,"  from  Isgdya,  insect,  an. I  yt,  locative.  \  cave  in  the 
ridge  eastward  from  Franklin,  in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  13. 

tsgaya — insect,  worm.  etc.      See  pa^'e  30S 

Tslkama'gl  ;i  name,  commonly  spelled  Chickamauga,  occurring  in  at  l>a>t  two  places 
in  thf  old  Cherokee  country,  which  has  losl  any  meaning  in  Cherokee  an. I 
appears  t"  be  of  foreign  origin.  It  is  applied  to  a  small  creek  at  the  head  of 
Chattahoochee  river,  in  White  county,  Georgia,  ami  also  to  the  district  about 
tin-  southern  (not  the  northern)  Chickamauga  creek,  coming  into  Tennessee 
river,  a  few  miles  above  Chattanooga,  in  Hamilton  county,  Tennessee,  in  1777 
the  more  hostile  portion  of  the  Cherokee  withdrew  from  the  rest  of  the  tribe 
and  established  here  a  large  settlement,  from  which  thej  removed  about  live 

years   later   to    settle    lower   down    the   Tennessee    in    what  were    known    as   the 

<  'hickamauga  towns  or  Five  Lower  towns.     See  page  54  and  number  124. 

tslkl' — a  word  which  renders  emphatic  that  which  it  follows:  as  li'sh'i,  "  very  g 1." 

dslii!  is'ik'i,  "best  of  all."    See  number  75. 

tsikiki' — the  katydid;  the  name  is  an  onomatope. 

tsl'kllill' — the  Carolina  chickadee  (Parus  carolinensis) ;  the  name  is  an  onomatope. 
See  number  35. 

Tslksi'tsI  I  Ti'dvi'ts'i  in  dialectic  form;  commonly  written  Tuckasegee)  —  1.  a  former 
Cherokee  settlement  about  the  junction  of  the  two  forks  of  Tuckasegee,  above 
Webster,  ill  Jackson  comity.  North  Carolina  (not  to  be  confounded  with 
TlkwiUi'tsX,  q.  v.).  2.  A  former  .settlement  on  a  branch  of  Brasstown  creek  of 
Hiwassee  river,  in  Towns  county,  Georgia.     The  word  has  lost  its  meaning. 

Tsi'nawi — a  Cherokee  wheelwright,  perhaps  the  first  in  the  Nation  to  make  a  spin- 
ning wheel  and  loom.     The  name  can  not  be  analyzed.     See  page  214. 

tslne/u — I  am  picking  it  (something  long)  up;  in  the  Lower  and  Middle  dialect-. 
tslnigi'ti. 

tsinigi'u — see  tstm  ' >• 

tsiska'i_rlll — the  large  red  crawfish;  the  ordinary  crawfish  is  called  tsist&'na.  See 
number  5fl 

tsi'skwa — bird. 

tsiskwa'gwa — robin,  from  t&i'skwa,  bird. 

Tsiskwa'hl— "  Bird  place,"  from  tsi'skwa,  bird,  and  HI,  locative.  Birdtow  n  settlement 
On  the  East  Cherokee  reservation,  in  Swain  county.  North  Carolina. 

tsiskwa'ya — sparrow,  literally  "  principal  bird"  I  i.  e.,  most  widely  distributed) , from 
tsi'shea,  bird,  and  yd,  a  sutiix  denoting  principal  or  real. 

Tsilalu'hi  —  "Sweet-gum  place."  from  tsila'W,  sweet-gum  {Liquidambar),  and  hi, 
locative.  A  former  settlement  on  a  small  branch  of  Brasstown  creek  of  Hiwas- 
see river,  just  within  the  line  of  Towns  county,  Georgia.  The  name  is  incor- 
rectly rendered.  Gumlog  (creek  i. 

Tsiskwunsdi'-adsisti'yi—"  Where  they  killed  Little-bird,"  from  TsiskwunsdV, 
"  Little-birds"  (plural  form).  A  place  near  the  head  of  West  Buffalo  creek, 
southeast  of  Robbinsville,  in  <  rraham  county.  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Tsistetsi'yl — "Mouse  place."  from  tstitetsl,  mouse,  ami  yt,  locative;  a  former  settle- 
ment on  South  Mouse  creek,  of  Hiwassee  river,  in  Bradley  county,  Tennessee. 
The  present  town  of  Cleveland,  upon  the  same  creek,  is  known  to  the  Cherokee 
under  the  same  name. 

tsistu — rabbit. 

tsisti'i'na — crawfish;  the  large  horned  hectic  is  also  so  called.  The  large  red  crawfish 
i-  called  tsiskafgW. 

tsist-um'gistl  —  "rabbit  foods"  (plural),  from  tsi'stu,  rabbit,  and  uni'gislt,  plural  oi 
agi'stl,  food,  from  ixi,i,',/,,',    ■]  am  eating"  (soft  t I).     The  wild  rose. 


538  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [bth.aiw.19 

Tsistu'yl — "Rabbit  place,"  from  tsistu,  rabbit,  and  yi,  locative.  1.  Gregory  bald, 
high  peak  of  the  Great  Smoky  range,  eastward  from  Little  Tennessee  river,  on 
the  boundary  between  Swain  county,  North  Carolina  and  Blount  county,  Ten- 
nessee. See  number  75  and  notes.  2.  A  former  settlement  on  the  north  bank  of 
Hiwassee  river  at  tin-  entrance  of  Chestua  creek,  in  Polk  county.  Tennessee. 
The  name  of  ( 'hoastea  creek  of  Tugaloo  river,  in  Oconee  county,  South  ( 'arolina, 
is  probably  also  a  corruption  from  the  same  word. 

Tsiva'hT — "Otter  place,"  from  tsiyu,  otter,  and  ///,  locative;  variously  spelled  ( Ihei  iwa, 
Cheeowhee,  Chewobe,  Chewe,  etc.  1.  A  former  settlement  on  a  branch  of 
Keowee  river,  near  the  present  Cheohee,  Oconee  county,  South  Carolina.  2.  A 
former  and  still  existing  Cherokee  settlement  on  Cheowa  river,  about  Robbins- 
ville,  in  Graham  county.  North  Carolina.  3.  A  former  settlement  in  Cades  cove, 
i  >n  Cove  creek,  in  Blount  county,  Tennessee. 

Tsi'yu-giinsi'nT — "  He  is  dragging  a  canoe,"  from  tsi'yu,  canoe  (cf.  tsi'yu,  otter)  and 
iii'inxi'iij,  "he  is  dragging  it."  "Dragging-canoe,"  a  prominent  leader  of  the 
hostile  Cherokee  in  the  Revolution.  Tin-  name  appears  in  documents  as  ( Iheu- 
cunsene  and  Kunnesee.     See  page  54. 

Tskll-e'gwa — "Big-witch,"  from  atskllY,  or  tsic'ih',  witch,  owl,  and  efgwa,  big;  an 
old  man  of  the  East  Cherokee,  who  died  in  1SHH.  See  page  179.  Although 
translated  Big-witch  by  the  whites,  the  name  is  understood  by  the  Indians  to 
mean  Big-owl  (see  number  35),  having  been  originally  applied  to  a  white  man 
living  on  the  same  clearing,  noted  for  his  large  staring  eyes. 

tsklll'  (contracted  from  atsHU') — 1.  witch;  2.  the  dusky  horned  owl  (Bubo  virginianus 
saturatus).     See  number  35. 

TSOLHNGH — See  tsa/n. 

tskwa'yi — the  great  white  heron  or  American  egret  ( Herodias  egretta ). 
Tsuda'talesun'yi — "Where  pieces   fall  off,"   i.  e.  where  the   banks  are  caving  in; 

from  addtttle'ti,  "it  is  falling  off,"  ts,  distance  prefix,  "there."  ami    ///.  locative. 

The  Cherokee  name  for  the  present  site  of  Memphis,  Tennessee,  overlooking  the 

Mississippi,  and  formerly  known  as  the  Chickasaw  bluff. 
Tsuda'ye'lun'yi — "Isolated  place";  an  isolated  peak  near  the  head  of  Cheowa  river, 

northeast  of   Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county,   North  Carolina.     See  number 

79  and  notes.     The  root  of  the  word  signifies  detached,  or  isolated,   whence 

Udaf ye  lin/ip,  the  Cherokee  outlet,  in  the  Indian  Territory. 
Tsu'dinunti'yl — " Throwing-down  place";  a  former  settlement  on  lower  Nantahala 

river,  in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 
Tsugidft'll  ulsgi'sti  (from  tsugidu'H,  plural  of  ugiduU,  one  of  the  long  wing  or  tail 

feathers  of  a  bird,  and  tilsgi'stl  or  (tlsgi'ta,  a  dance) — the  feather  or  eagle  dance. 

See  number  35. 
tsuiigili'sl — plural  of  Ciflgtti'si,  q.  v. 
tsungini's] — plural  of  dfigini' '«?,  q.  v. 
TsukilunnuiVyi — "Where  he  alighted";  two  bald  spots  on  a  mountain  at  the  head 

of  Little  Snowbird  creek,  near  Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county,  North  Carolina. 

For  tradition,  see  number  122. 
tsufikina'tll — "my  younger  brothers"  i  male  speaking). 
tsiinkihV — "my  younger  brothers"  (female  speaking  I. 
tsu'la — fox;  cf.   tsiih'i,   kingfisher  and   tlutlu'  or   tsulsu',   martin.     The  black  fox   is 

niti'li.     The  Creek  word  for  fox  is  chula. 
tsula'skl — alligator;  the  name  is  of  uncertain  etymology. 
TstY  la' wl — see  TsultiMwe'l. 
Tsula'sinuii'yl — "Footprint  place."    A  place  on  Tuckasegee  river,  about  a  mile  above 

Deep  creek,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  J 22. 
Tsul'kahV — "Slanting-eyes,"    literally    "He  has   them   slanting"    (or   leaning   up 

against  Something);  the  prefix  ts  makes  it  a  plural  form,  and  the  name  is  under- 


moosei  GLOSSARY  539 

stood  to  refer  to  the  eyes,  although  the  word  eye  {akW,  plural  dikUL'  is  not  a 
pari  of  it.  Cf.  At&'-gHiJtkSU)/.  A  mythic  giant  and  ruler  of  the  game.  The  name 
has  been  corrupted  toJutaculla  and  Tuli-cula.  Jutaculla  roci  and  Jutaculla 
..hi  fields  about  the  head  of  Tuckasegee  river,  in  Jackson,  North  Carolina,  take 
theii  name  from  him.     See  number  si  and  notes. 

Tsule'hisanufi'h)  "Resurrected  One,  "from  di'gw&WhisaniXU'lit,  "  I  was  resurrected," 
literally,  "  I  was  down  and  have  risen."  Tia'l&gl'  Thile'hisan&filil,  the  Cherokee 
title  of  the  newspaper  known  to  the  whites  as  the  Cherokee  Phoenix.  The 
Cherokee  title  was  devised  by  Worcester  and  Boudinot  as  suggesting  the  idea  ol 
the  phoenix  of  classic  fable.  The  Indian  name  of  the  recent  "  Cherokee  Advo- 
cate" is  Tsa'l&gl  Asdeli'skt. 

Tsul'kahy  tsunegufi'yl — see  Tbuneg6.fi  'yl. 

tli.'  nuthatch  i  Sitta  carolinensis);  the  word  signifies  literally  "deaf"  (a 
plural  form  referring  to  the  ear,  g&W),  although  no  reason  is  given  for  such  a 
name. 

tsu'lu — kingfisher.     Qf.  tsu'lA. 

Tsu'lufiwc'i   (abbreviated  Tsu'lUfl'we  or    TsaWvii,  possibly   inected   with   ts&'lfi., 

kingfisher) — Chilhowee  creek,  a  north  tributary  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  in 
Blount  e.  unity,  Tennessee. 

Tsunda'nilti'yl— "Where  thej   demanded  the  debl  from  him";  a  place  on   Little 
Santeetla  river,  \w;-t  of  Robbinsville,  in  Graham  county,  North  Carolina.     The 
reels  also  is  commonly  known  by  the  same  name.     See  number  122. 

Tsundige'wl — "Closed  anuses,"  literally  "They  have  them  closed,"  understood  t.> 
refer  to  the  anus;  from  dige'vil,  plural  of  gefvft,  closed,  stopped  up,  blind;  cf. 
Tsuf knhV;  alsi.  GMisge'ttfi,  "Blind,  or  closed,  ears,"  an  old  personal  name. 
Si  e  number  74. 

tsun'digwfin'tskl  (contracted  fr.nn  tsun'digwCmlsugl,  "they  have  them  forked," 
referring  to  the  peculiar  forked  tail;  cf.  TsviCkdM/ ) — a  migratory  bird  which  once 
appeared  for  a  short  time  upon  the  East  Cherokee  reservation,  apparently,  from 
the  description,  the  scissortail  or  swallow-tailed  flycatcher  {Milvuhts  forficaius). 
See  number  35. 

Tsunegufi'yl  i  sometimes  called  TsutkiUtif  Tsunegixn'yV) — Tennessee  bald,  at  the 
extreme  head  of  Tuckasegee  river,  on  the  east  line  of  Jackson  county,  North 
Carolina.  The  name  seems  to  mean,  "  There  where  it  is  white,"  from  is,  a  pre- 
fix indicating  distance,  xme'gd,  white,  and  y\  locative.  See  number  81  and 
notes. 

TsuniKkalu — the  plural  form  for  TxutktjM,  q.  v.:  a  traditional  u'iant  tribe  in  the 
west.      See  number  106. 

tsuinVliyu'sunestla'ta-  "they  have  split   noses,"  from  agwdliyu',  "  I  have  it."  and 
>"'.  "it  is  cracked"  (asa  crack  made  by  the  sun's  heat  in  a  log  or  in  the 
earth);  the  initial  -  makes  it   refer  to  the  nose,  kily&sii'.     See  number  7H  and 
notes. 

tsunls'tsabi-  "(those)  having  topknots  or  crests,"  from  usts&hu',  "having  a  top- 
knot," usts&hV,  "In-  hasatopknot"  (habitual).     See  number  76  and  notes. 

Tsuniya'tiga-  "Naked  People";  literally  "They  are  naked  there,"  from  uya'tigd, 
naked  (singular),  with  the  prefix  Is,  indicating  distance.  ,\  traditional  western 
tribe.     See  number  105. 

tMin-.ir  -contracted  from  tsunsdi'ga,  the  plural  of  usdi'ga  or  usdi',  small. 

iiiuii'skl — "He  tries,  but  tails"  (habitually),  from  detsinu'\lxM.W gii'  (q.  v.), 
"I  tried,  but  tailed."     A  former  noted  chief  among  the  Kast  Cherokee,  com- 
monly known  to  the  whites  as  Junaluska.      In  early   life   he  was  called    <,,'ifl,n. 
la'ilA,  a  name  which  denotes  something  habitually  falling  from  a  leaning  position 
cf.  Atti-gCWkiUti/  and  TsuTkSM,'.)     See  page  164. 

tsun-ka'wi-ye',  tsi'ifi-slkwa-ya',  isufi-tsu^la-ya',  tsun-wa/'ya-ya/— "  1  am  {tstifl  or  Isi, 


540  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth. 


verbal  prolix  )  a  real  (yd,ye,  noun  suffix)  deer"  (kavil',  archaic  for  a'wV  :  opos- 
sum, til'kwa;  tox,t$u'lit;  wolf,  n-n'iju.     Archaic  song  forms.     See  number  15. 

Tsusgina'I — "  tin-  '  rhost  country,"  from  asgi'na,  "  ghost,"  I,  locative,  ami  ts,  a  prefix 
denoting  distance.  The  land  of  the  dead;  it  is  situated  in  UsHnhi'yl,  the  Twi- 
light land,  in  the  west.     See  number  5. 

tsuskwa'li — plural  of  uskwdU,  short. 

Tsuskwaniin'nawa'ta — "Worn-out  blanket,"  from  tmskw&n&fi'ril,  blanket  i  the  word 
refers  to  something  having  stripes),  and  uwa'td,  "  worn  out."  James  I>.  Wafford, 
a  prominent  Cherokee  mixed-blood  and  informant  in  the  Western  nation,  who 
died  about  1896.     See  page  236. 

Tsuta'ga  Cweyuii'i — "Chicken  creek,"  from  ts&ta'ga,  chicken,  and  uwey&a'i, stream. 
An  extreme  eastern  head-stream  of  Nantahala  river,  in  Macon  county,  North 
Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Tsuta'tsinasun'yl — "  Eddy  place."  A  place  on  Cheowa  river  at  the  mouth  of  Cock- 
ram  creek,  in  Graham  county,  North  Carolina.     For  tradition  see  number  122. 

tsutsti' — see  tliitlu'. 

tsuntu'tsi — see  Ih'inli'i'l.t'i. 

tsuwsV — the  mud-puppy  or  water-dog  (Menopoma  or  Prolonopsis).     See  number  59. 

Tsuwa'tel'da — a  contraction  of  Tsuwdteld&n'yi;  the  name  has  lost  its  meaning.  Pilot 
knob,  north  from  Brevard,  in  Transylvania  county,  North  Carolina.  See  num- 
ber 82  and  notes. 

Tsuwa'-uniyetsiin'yl — "Where  the  water-dogs  laughed,"  from  tmwii'  (q.  v.),  "'water- 
dog,"  uniye'lsd,,  "they  laughed"  [agiyel'shfi,  "I  am  laughing"),  and  yt,  locative; 
Tusquittee  bald,  near  Hayesville,  in  Clay  county,  North  Carolina.  For  story  see 
number  122. 

Tsuwe'nahl — A  traditional  hunter,  in  communication  with  the  invisible  people.  See 
number  83.  The  name  seems  to  mean  ' '  He  has  them  in  abundance, ' '  an  irregular 
or  archaic  form  for  Uwefnfil,  "he  has  abundance,"  "he  is  rich,"  from  agwe'nal' , 
"I  am  rich."  As  a  masculine  name  it  is  used  as  the  equivalent  of  Richard.  See 
number  83. 

Tuckalechee — see  TthuiSU'Wl. 

TUCKASEGEE — See    Tgikgi'tti. 

Tigaloo — see  Dugttu'yi. 

tugahi ! — the  cry  of  the  diigiifku  goose. 

tugalu'na — a  variety  of  small  fish,  about  four  inches  long,  frequenting  the  larger  streams 

(from  gCdu'na,  a  gourd,  on  account  of  its  long  nose).     See  number  39  and  notes, 
tuks'i' — the  terrapin  or  land  tortoise;  also  the  name  of  a  Cherokee  chief  about  the 

close  of  the  Revolution.     Stiligv/gl,  common  turtle;  soft-shell  turtle,  n'li'iml'ira. 
Tiiksi'tsi— see  miasi'til. 
Tuli-cula — see  Tmtk&W. 

tulsku'wa — "he  snaps  with  his  head,"  from  uskH',  head;  the  snapping  beetle. 
Tuna'i — a  traditional  warrior  and  medicine-man  of  old  Itsa/ti;  the  name  can  not  be 

analyzed.     See  number  99. 

Tl'RKEYTOWN — See  Gt'iii-ili'i/H'liilii'in' ' ifi. 
TlTRNIPTOWX — see    /  "li'iil'i/i. 
TrSKEGEE — see   7'.  iski 'ij'i. 

Tusquittee  bald — see  Tsuwd/-uniyets6/ii/yt. 

Trs.jUITTEE    CREEK — See  Ddnkiril  i'i H' ill . 

tu'sti — for  tusti'gtt,  a  small  bowl*;  larger  jars  are  called  diwa^ti  and  GMi'yd,. 
tuiVtawu' — a   small   yellow  night-moth.     The   name   comes   from   uhiiu'li'i,    a   word 

implying  that  something  flits  into  and  out  of  the  blaze.     See  number  59. 
tu'tl — snowbird. 
Tuti'yi — "Snowbird  place,"  from  tu'Ci,  snowbird,  and  yX,  locative.     Little  Snow-bird 

creek  of  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham  county,  North  Carolina, 
tu'tsahyesl' — "he  will  marry  you." 


GLOSS  \K\  "ill 

bean. 
in  i.i  dlskalaw'sti'skl — see  ta'gu. 
tu'yahus) "     "she  \\  ill  die." 
Tym  ihse    see  Tom  issi  i 

Dchee — see  AnV-  ru'teT. 

uda'hale'y] — "on  the  sunny  side." 

ii'l:M     the  baneberrj  or  cohosh  vine  I   Irfata?).     The  name  signifies  that  the  plant 

has  something  long  hanging  from  il 
uda'l) — "i  it  is)  married";  the  mistletoe,  so  called  on  account  of  its  parasitic  habit. 
CPdawagufi'ta— "Bald."     A  bald  mountain  of  the  Great  s ky  range,  in  Yancey 

county,  North  Carolina,  not  far  from  Mount  Mitchell.     See  number  51. 
1  dsi  skala — a  masculine  name, 
uga'sfta — sour. 

ungida' — "thy  two  elder  brothers  "  i  male  speaking  I.     See  notes  to  i ber63. 

ufigili'sl  (plural,  lstiflgili/&) — "my  daughter's  child."     See  note  to  number66,  and 

cf.  unffini'sl. 
ungini'M — "  my  elder  brother"  (female  speaking  |.     See  notes  to  number  63. 
iingini'sl  (plural  tsAHgini'tf.) — "my  son's  child."     See  note  to  number  66,  and  cf. 

I'luqili'si. 

u'giska7 — "  he  is  swallowing  it;  from  tslkiu',  "1  am  eating."     See  number  ffand  notes, 
u'guku' — the  hooting  or  liar  red  owl  i  Syrnium  nebulosum);  the  name  is  an  onomatope. 

See  also  '■-/.  Jfl  '  and  wafhuhu'. 

ugufistefl     'i|/ii»jii'/n   in   dialectic  form) — the  hornyhead   fish   {Campostoma,  stone 

roller).     The  name  is  said,  on  doubtful  authority,  to  refer  to  its  having  horns. 

See  number  59. 
Ugufi'yl Tallulah  falls,  on  the  river  of  that  name,  northeast  from  Clarkesville,  in 

Etabersham  county,  Georgia;  the  meaning  of  the  name  is  lost.     See  number  84. 
I'll-  \  r  \ — See  r'tli'in'la. 

uk-ku'suiitsuteti' — "it  will  twist  up  one's  arm."     See  number  115. 
Uk-ku'suStsuti — "Bent-bow-shape";  a  comic  masculine  name.     Cf.  gullsO/U,  bow. 

See  number  115. 
uk-kwunagi'stl — "it  will  draw  down  one's  eye."     See  number  115. 
Uk-kwunagi'ta — "Eye-drawn-down";  a  comic  masculine  name.     See  number  115'. 
uksu'hi — the  mountain  blacksnake  or  black  racer  (  Coluber obsolelus  I;  the  name  seems 

to  refer  to  some  peculiarity  of  the  eye.  akt&';  \iksuh&',  "he  has  something  lodged 

in  his  eye."     See  number  53  and  notes. 
Ukte'na — "Keen-eyed  (?)"  from  akt&',  eye,  akta'tl,  to  examine  closely.     -V  mythic 

great  horned  serpent,  with  a  talismanic  diadem.     See  number  50  and   notes. 
Ukte'na-tsuL'am'nVtatsufi'yl  —  "Where  the  Tktena  got  fastened."     A  spot  on  Tucka- 

3i  gee  river,  about  two  miles  above  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county,  North  Caro- 
lina.    See  number  1 22. 
tjktena-utansi'nastun'yl — "Where  the  Uktena  crawled."     A  ruck  on  the  north  hank 

of  Tuckasegee  river,  about  four  miles  above  Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county,  North 

Car'. Una.     See  number  122. 
Ukwu'nu   ior    Ukw&'nl) — a  former  Cherokee  settlement,  commonly  known  to  the 

whites  as  ( icoiiee,  on  Seneca  creek,  near  the  present  Walhalla,  in  ( Iconee  county, 

South  <  arolina. 
Dla'gfl' — the  mythic  original  of  the  yellow-jacket  tribe.     See  number  13.     The  word 

signifies  "leader."   "boss,"  or  "principal  one,"  and  is  applied  to  the  tirst  yellow  - 

jacket  i  if.<bi 'i  i  seen  in  the  spring,  to  a  queen  bee  and  to  the  leader  of  a  working 
squad, 
ul&n&'wa — the  soft-shell  turtle:  the  etymology  of  the  word  i-  uncertain.     See  also 

.-ini'iijii'ifi  and 
ulasii'la — moccasin,  -hoe. 


542  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

61e' — and;  dH-nd,',  and  also. 

Unli'ta — "(He  is!  long-winded,"  an  archaic  form  for  the  regular  word,  g&flli'ia;  an 
old  masculine  name.  A  chief  about  the  year  1790,  known  to  the  whites  as 
"The  Breath." 

ulskwulte'gl — a  "pound-mill,"  a  self-acting  water-mill  used  in  the  Cherokee  moun- 
tains. The  name  signifies  that  "it  butts  with  its  head"  (usk<Y,  head),  in  allusion 
to  the  way  in  which  the  pestle  works  in  the  mortar.  The  generic  word  for  mill  is 
dista'stt. 

ulstlthV — literally,  "it  is  on  his  head."  The  diamond  crest,  on  the  head  of  the 
mythic  Uktena  serpent.     When  detached  it  becomes  the  ClunsiYtl. 

Ultiwa'I — a  former  Cherokee  settlement  about  the  present  Ooltewah,  on  the  creek 
of  the  same  name,  in  James  county,  Tennessee.  The  name  has  the  locative 
form  (?  suffix),  but  cannot  be  translated. 

ulunni'ta — domesticated,  tame;  may  be  used  for  persons  as  well  as  animals,  but 
not  for  plants;  for  cultivated  or  domesticated  plants  the  adjective  is  giiniitlun'1 
(or  gunuxun'l). 

Uluiisu'tl — "Transparent";  the  great  talismanic  crystal  of  the  Cherokee.  Spelled 
Oolunsade  by  Hagar.     See  number  50  and  notes. 

uluii'ta — "it  has  climbed,"  from  tsilahV,  "I  am  climbing";  the  poison  oak  (Rhus 
radicans) .     See  number  126. 

U'lun'yi — "Tuber  place,"  from  ("//',  a  variety  of  edible  tuber,  and  yt,  locative.  A 
former  settlement  upon  Turniptown  (for  U'lun'yi)  creek,  above  Ellijay,  in  Gil- 
mer county,  Georgia. 

Unacala — see  Une'g&diM'. 

U'nadanti'yl — "Place  where  they  conjured,"  the  name  of  a  gap  about  three  miles 
east  of  Webster,  in  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina,  and  now  transferred  to  the 
town  itself.     See  number  122. 

unade'na — woolly,  downy  (in  speaking  of  animals);  mod/nfi,  wool,  down,  fine  fur 
(detached  from  the  animal). 

u'naluV — see  iimlliu-V . 

unahwl' — heart;  in  Middle  and  Lower  dialects,  un&hii,' .     See  page  187. 

Unaka — see  une'gtt  and  Unicoi. 

unatlunwe'hitu — "it  has  spirals";  a  plant  (unidentified)  used  in  conjurations.  See 
number  126. 

une'ga — white. 

une'guhl — "he  is  (was)  mischievous  or  had":  ts&ne' 'guhi'yu,  "  you  are  very  mischiev- 
ous" (said  to  a  child ).     See  number,  118. 

une'gutsatiV — "(he  is)  mischievous";  a'ginefgulsiitti',  "1  am  mischievous." 

Une'lanuii'hi — "The  Apportioner" ;  "I  am  apportioning,"  ganelaskfi.';  "I  appor- 
tion" (habitually),  gane'laskl.  In  the  sacred  formulas  a  title  of  the  Sun  god; 
in  the  Bible  the  name  of  God. 

une'stalufi — ice. 

Unicoi — the  map  name  of  the  old  Unicoi  turnpike  (see  page  87),  of  a  gap  on  the 
watershed  between  Chattahoochee  and  Hiwassee  rivers,  in  Georgia,  and  of  a 
county  in  eastern  Tennessee.  Probably  a  corruption  of  une'giL,  white,  whence 
comes  also  Unaka,  the  present  map  name  of  a  part  of  the  Great  Smoky  range. 

uni'gistl — foods;  singular,  agi'xCi. 

Uniga'yata'ti'yi — "Where  they  made  a  fish  trap,"  from  uga'yattifl'l,  fish  trap,  and 
yl,  locative:  a  place  on  Tuckasegee  river,  at  the  mouth  of  Deep  creek,  near 
Bryson  City,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  100  and  notes. 

Uni'haluna — sec  Ah&lu'na. 

Unika'wl — the  "Townhouse  dance,"  so  called  because  danced  inside  the  townhouse; 
the  name  does  not  refer  to  a  townhouse  (gati'yi)  and  can  not  be  analyzed,  but 
mav  have  some  connection  with  the  archaic  word  for  deer.     Cf.  Ani'-Kawl'. 


the  gene 

ric  11 

.i1 

lie    In 

kle  bur, 

jimsi 

>n 

weed 

loot,"  am 

1  yl, 

l0( 

ative 

City,  in  S 

wain 

11 11 1 1  V 

i si  •  GLOSS  \i:i  5  13 

Une'ga-dihl'     "White-man-killer";  fr une'ga,  "white,"  for  yufl'vnme'ga,  "white 

person,"  and  dihl',  a  noun  suffix  denoting  "killer"  ("he  kills  them"  habitually  i. 
A  Cherokee  chief,  whose  name  appears  in  documents  about  1 790  as  White-man- 
killer,  or,  by  misprint  Unacala.  It  is  an  old  masculine  name,  existing  until 
recently  upon  the  reservation.     Cf.  Ta'gw&dihV. 

u'niskwetu'g)  "they  wear  a  hat";  6lskwe?0.w&/,  hat,  from  uskO,',  head.  The  may- 
apple  {Podophyllum).     See  number  126. 

unistilufi'ist)     "thej    stick  on  along  their  whole   tengtn' 

"stickers"  and  burs,  including  the  Spanish  needle,  cockle  bur,  jimson  weed, 
etc.     See  number  L26. 

uni'tsl-  -her  mother;  agitsV,  my  mother. 

[Jniya'hitufi'yf — " Where  they  shot  it,"  from  tsiyd'ihu,  "1 
\  place  "ii  Tuckasegee  river  a  short  distance  above  Brysi 
North  Carolina.     See  number  LOO. 

I  hi, i, ila     see  TtibiyuWduW . 

Uhta'kiyasti'yl—  "  Where  they  race,"  from  laMya'td.,  a  rare,  and  yl,  locative;  locally 
corrupted  to  Tahkeyostee.  The  district  on  the  French  Broad  river,  around  A  she- 
wn.-, in  Buncombe  county,  North  Carolina.  The  town  itself  is  known  to  the 
Cherokee  as  Kdsdu'yi,  "Ashes  place,"  (from  kdedu,  ashes,  and  yl,  locative), 
which  is  intended  as  a  translation  of  its  proper  name.     Sec  number  1l"_\ 

Ontlasgasti'y) — "Where  they  scratched";  a  place  at  the  head  of  Hyatt  creek  of 
Valley  river,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina.     Fur  tradition  see  number  li"_'. 

Qntoo]  \ — iee  Dihyufl'duld'. 

unuii'tl — milk. 

asdi'gA  (abbreviated  usdi'),  small;  plural  tsunsdi'gd,  tsunsdi'. 

usga/se*'ti/yu — very  dangerous,  very  terrible;  intensive  of  usga'sfti, 

Dskwale'na — "Big-head,"  from  uMf,  head;  a  masculine  name,  perhaps  the  original 
of  the  "Bull-head,"  given  by  Haywood  as  the  name  of  a  former  noted  Chero- 
kee warrior. 

Uskwa'll-gu/ta — "His  stomach  hangs  down,"  from  uskw&'U,  his  stomach,  and  gu'tH, 
"it  hangs  down."  A  prominent  chief  of  the  Revolutionary  period,  known  to 
the  whites  as  Hanging-maw. 

U'stana'll  (from  vtst&naloYh't  or  uni'st&na'Ui  (a  plural  form),  denoting  a  natural 
barrier  of  rocks  (  plural )  across  a  stream) — a  name  occurring  in  several  places  in 
the  old  Cherokee  country,  and  variously  spelled  Eastinaulee,  Eastanora,  Esta- 
naula,  Eustenaree,  Istanare,  ( lostanaula,  ( (ostinawley,  Ostenary,  etc.  One  settle- 
ment of  this  name  was  on  Keowee  river,  below  the  present  Fort  George,  in 
Oconee  county.  South  Carolina;  another  seems  to  have  been  somewhere  on  the 

waters   of  Tuckasegee  river,    in    western    North  Carolina;  a   third,    pr incut 

during  and  after  the  Revolutionary  period,  was  just  above  the  junction  of  <  loosa- 
watee  and  Conasauga  rivers  to  form  the  <  lostanaula,  in  Cordon  county,  Georgia, 
and  adjoining  New  Echota  (see  G&nsd'gi).  Other  settlements  of  the  same  name 
may  have  been  on  Eastanollee  creek  of  Tugaloo  river,  in  Franklin  county, 
Georgia,  and  on   Eastaunaula  creek,   flowing  into  Hiwassee  river,  in   McMinn 

COUnty,   Tennessee.       Cf.    '/■<"'  <ln  mil  i'i  n' ill .   under  D&gun&'hl. 

u'stuti— see  utm'gl. 

Ustu'tll — a  traditional  dangerous  serpent.     The  name  signifies  having  something  on 

the  calf  of  the  leg  or  on  the  heel,  from  nsii'iii'ni'i,  i  his)  calf  of  the  leg  (attached  i. 

It  is  applied  also  to  the  southern  hoop-snake  {Abastor  eryihTogrammus).     See 

number  54. 

I'si'inhi'vl — the  "Darkening  laud."  where  it  is  always  getting  dark,  as  at  twilight. 
The   name   used    for  the   west    in   t he   myths  and  sacred    formulas;   tin niiiinii 

word  is  a  a.  I,  'Ugufi'yl,  "there  where  it  (the  sun)  goes  down."  In  number  63  the 
word  used  is  wwfihihuii'yl,  "there  where  they  stay  over  night."  See  also 
TaCagindl. 


544  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.anh.19 

u'tanu — great,  fully  developed.     Cf.  e'gwa. 

utawa'hilu — "hand-breadth,"  from  uwd'yi^hajid.  A  figurative  term  used  in  the 
myths  and  sacred  formulas. 

Ctfiwagun'ta — "Bald  place."  A  high  bald  peak  of  the  Great  Smoky  range  on 
the  Tennessee-North  Carolina  line,  northeastward  from  Big  Pigeon  river.  See 
number  51. 

UiVtiguhi' — "Pot  in  the  water,"  from  &flti'yS  or  iurf't',  pot,  and  '/»//;'.  "it  is  in  the 
water"  (or  other  liquid — habitually).  The  Suck,  a  dangerous  rapid  in  Tennessee 
river,  at  the  entrance  of  Suck  creek,  about  eight  miles  below  Chattanooga,  Ten- 
nessee.    See  number  63  and  notes. 

r'tlun'ta — "He  (or  she)  has  it  sharp,"  i.  e.,  has  some  sharp  part  or  organ;  it  might 
be  used  of  a  tooth,  finger-nail,  or  some  other  attached  portion  of  the  body,  but 
in  the  story  is  understood  to  refer  to  the  awl-like  finger.  Ten  Kate  spells  it 
Uilnta.     A  mythic  half-human  monster.     See  number  66  anil  notes. 

("tluntuii'yl — "  U'tluii'ta  place;"  see  l"lh'ni'la.  A  place  on  little  Tennessee  river, 
nearly  off  Citico  creek,  in  Blount  county,  Tennessee.  See  number  66  and  notes 
and  number  124. 

U'tsala — "Lichen";  another  form  of  ats&le'ta.  A  Cherokee  chief  of  the  Removal 
period.     See  page  157. 

utsale'ta — lichen,  literally  "  pot  scrapings,"  from  a  fancied  resemblance. 

Untsaiyr'  (also  Etmii/V  or  TsaiyV,  the  first  syllable  being  almost  silent) — "Brass." 
A  mythic  gambler.  See  number  63  and  notes.  The  present  rendering,  "brass," 
is  probably  a  modern  application  of  the  old  myth  name,  and  is  based  upon  the 
resemblance  of  the  sound  to  that  produced  by  striking  a  sheet  of  metal. 

utsa'natl' — rattesnake;  the  name  is  of  doubtful  etymology,  but  is  said  to  refer  to  the 
rattle. 

CJtsa'nati'yl — "Rattlesnake  place."  Rattlesnake  springs,  about  two  miles  south 
from  Charleston,  Bradley  county,  Tennessee.     See  page  132. 

utset'stl — "  he  grins  "   (habitually).     See  sl'kwa  utset'sti. 

utsi' — her  (his)  mother;  etsl',  agvt&l',  my  mother. 

Utsi'dsata' — "Corn-tassel,"  "Thistle-head,"  etc.  It  is  used  as  a  masculine  nameand 
was  probably  the  Cherokee  name  of  the  chief  known  during  tin-  Revolutionary 
period  as  "Old  Tassel." 

utsu''gi — the  tufted  titmouse  (Parus  bicolor);  also  called  u/st&ti,  "topknot,  or  tip," 
on  account  of  its  crest.     See  numbers  35  and  66. 

u'tsutl' — fish.     Cf.  u'tsutt,  many. 

ufiwadii'll — store-house,  provision  house.     See  number  3  and  notes. 

UiVwaVla-tsu'gilasuiV — "Where  the  storehouse  (unwada'll)  was  taken  off."  Either 
Black  rock  or  Jones  knob,  northeast  of  Webster,  on  the  east  line  of  Jackson 
county,  in  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Uwaga/hi  (commonly  written  Ocoee) — "Apricot,  place,"  from  uim'ga,  the  "apricot 
vine,"  or  "  may  pop,"  (Pass  [flora  incarnata) ,  and  lu,  locative.  A  former  important 
settlement  on  Ocoee  river,  near  its  junction  with  Hiwassee,  about  the  present 
Benton,  in  Polk  county,  Tennessee. 

uwa'yl — hand,  paw  generally  used  with  the  possessive  suffix,  as  iwiaye'tA,  "his 
hand." 

u  we'la — liver. 

uwe'nithl — rich;  used  also  as  a  personal  name  as  the  equivalent  of  Richard.  ( 'f. 
Tsuwe'nahi. 

Uw'tsiuVtit — "Bouncer"  (habitual);  from  k'tsl,  "it  is  bouncing."  A  traditional  ser- 
pent described  as  moving  by  jerks  like  a  measuring  worm,  to  which  also  the 
name  is  applied.     See  number  55. 

I'yahye' — a  high  peak  in  the  Great  Smoky  range,  probably  on  the  line  between 
Swain  county,  North  Carolina,  and  Sevier  or  Blount  county,  Tennessee.  See 
number  75  and  notes. 


■oonby]  GLOSSARY  545 

tJy'gila/gl — abbreviated  from  Tsuyu'gila'gl,  "Where  there  are  dams,"  i.  e.,  beaver 
dams;  from  gtigilu'uftekA',  "he  is  damming  it."  1.  A  former  settlement  on  Ooth- 
caloga  1 <  >ugillogj  creek  of  ( lostanaula  river,  near  the  present  Calhoun,  in  Gordon 
county,  Georgia;  2.  Beaverdam  creek,  west  of  Clarkesville,  in  Habersham  county , 
i  reorgia. 

Vaiaeytown — see  Gu'nahitufl'yt. 
Vengeance  cheek — see  GS.nsa'ti'yt. 

W  ichesa — see  Watsi'sU. 

wadaiV — thanks! 

wa'dl — paint,  especially  red  paint. 

wa'ilige-aska'li — "his  head  tis)  brown,'.'  i.e.,  "brown-head,"  from  wddiget,  brown, 

brown-red,  ami  askd'K,  possessive  of  mkH',  head;  the  copperhead  snake. 
Wadi'yahf — A    feminine  name  .if  doubtful    etymology.      An   expert  basket-making 

woman  among  the  East  Cherokee,  who  died  in  1895.     She  was  known  to  the 

whites  as  Mrs  Bushyhead.     See  page  179. 
Wafford — see  Tsuxkwantm'n&wa'ta'. 
Wa'trlnsI' — The  name  of  an  eddy  at  the  junction  of  the  Little  Tennessee  and  main 

Tennessee  rivers,  at    Lenoir,  in   Loudon  county,  Tennessee.     The  town  is  now 

known  to  the  Cherokee  by  the  same  name,  of  which  the  meaning  is  lost.    See 

number  124. 
waguli' — whippoorwill;   the  name  is  an  onomatope;   the  Delaware  name  is   welcolU 

i  Heckewelder) . 
Wahnenauhi — see  Wani'n&M. 

wa'huhu' — the  screech-owl  I  Megascops  asio);  see  also  tsfclM'  and  »;/»/.»'. 
wa'ka — cow;  from  the  Spanish   vaca,  as  is  also  the  Creek  waga  and   the   Arapaho 

irnll'trli. 

wala'sl — the  common  green  frog;  there  are  different  names  for  the  bullfrog  (ki'inu'nii, 
q.  v.  i  and  for  other  varieties;   warts  are  also  called  wald'sl. 

YValasi'yl — "Frog  place."  1.  A  former  settlement,  known  to  the  whites  as  Frog- 
town,  upon  the  creek  of  the  same  name,  north  of  Bahlonega,  in  Lumpkin 
county,  Georgia.  2.  Le  Conte  and  Bullhead  mountains  in  the  Great  Smoky 
range  on  the  North  Carolina-Tennessee  line,  together  with  the  ridge  extending 
into  Sevier  county,  Tennessee,  between  the  Middle  and  West  forks  of  Little 
Pigeon  river.     See  number  51  and  notes. 

walas'-unul'sti — "it  fights  frogs,"  from  wald'sl,  frog,  and  unuVstl,  "it  fights" 
(habitually);  gu'lihu',  "I  am  fighting."  The  Prosartes  lanuginosa  plant.  See 
number  126. 

YValas'-unulsti'yl — "Place  of  the  plant  waMs'-unul'stt,"  commonly  known  to  the 
whites  as  Fightingtown,  from  a  translation  of  the  latter  part  of  the  nam.-;  a 
former  settlement  on  Fightingtown  creek,  near  Morganton,  in  Fannin  county, 
i  leorgia.     Sec  number  1L'.">. 

Walini'— a  feminine  name,  compounded  from  Watt,  another  form  of  Kwatt,  "  Polly," 
with  a  sutiix  added  for  euphony. 

YVane'-asufi'tlunyl — "  Hickory  footlog  place,"  from  irane'1,  hickory,  ass6.n%uW\ 
(q.v  I,  footlog,  bridge,  and  //;,  locative.  A  former  settlement,  known  to  the 
whites  as  Hickory-log,  on  Etowah  river,  a  short  distance  above  Canton,  in  Cher- 
okee county,  <  leorgia. 

Wani'nahl' — a  feminine  name  of  uncertain  etymology;  the  Wahnenauhi  of  the 
Wahnenauhi  manuscript. 

W  18HINGTON — see    Wn'slt u' un . 

UVi'-i — the  Cherokee  form  for  Moses. 

19   ETH— 01 35 


5-JM1)  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Wa'sitii'na,  Wa'siifitu'na  (different  dialectic  forms) — a  CheroKee  known  to  the 
whites  as  Washington,  the  sole  survivor  of  a  Removal  tragedy.  See  page  158. 
The  name  denotes  a  hollow  log  (or  other  cylindrical  object)  lying  on  the  ground 
at  a  distance;  the  root  of  the  word  is  osi'te,  log,  and  the  w  prefixed  makes  it  at 
a  distance 

Wa'suhV — a  large  red-brown  moth  which  flies  about  the  blossoming  tobacco  in  the 
evening. 

Wata'gl  (commonly  written  Watauga,  also  Watoga,  Wattoogee,  Whatoga,  etc.) — a 
name  occurring  in  two  or  more  towns  in  the  old  Cherokee  country;  one  was  an 
important  settlement  on  Watauga  creek  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  a  few  miles 
below  Franklin,  in  Macon  county.  Tennessee;  another  was  traditionally  located 
at  Watauga  Old  Fields,  about  the  present  Elizabeths  m,  on  Watauga  river,  in 
<  'arter  county,  Tennessee.     See  page  21.     The  meaning  of  the  name  is  lost. 

Watauga — see  Wat&'gt. 

Watai'sa — a  prominent  old  Cherokee,  known  to  the  whites  as  Wachesa,  a  name 
which  cannot  be  translated,  who  formerly  lived  on  lower  Beaverdam  creek  of 
Hiwassee  river,  below  Murphy,  in  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina.  From 
the  fact  that  the  Unicoi  turnpike  passed  near  his  place  it  was  locally  known  as 
the  Wachesa  trail. 

wa'va — wolf;  the  name  is  an  onomatope,  intended  as  an  imitation  of  the  animal's 
howl;  cf.  the  Creek  name,  yaha. 

Wa'ya'hl — "Wolf  place,"  i.  e.  place  of  the  Wolf  clan;  the  form  Aui'-lVa' i/ii'lu  is  not 
used.  Wolftown  settlement  on  upper  Soco  creek,  on  the  East  Cherokee  reserva- 
tion, in  Jackson  county,  North  Carolina. 

Wava  gap — see  A'tdhi'ta. 

Wayc.ii — see   Wdyt. 

Wavi — "Pigeon";  the  modern  Cherokee  name  for  Big  Pigeon  river  in  western 
North  Carolina;  probably  a  translation  of  the  English  name.  It  appears  also  as 
Way  eh. 

Welch,  Lloyd — see  Da'sigiya'gl. 

wesa — cat;  a  corruption  of  "pussy." 

White-path — see  Ntmn&'M-txune'ga.. 

Willstown — a  former  important  settlement,  so  called  from  the  halfbreed  chief  known 
to  the  whites  as  Red-headed  Will,  on  Will's  creek  below  Fort  Payne,  in  Dekalb 
county.  Alabama.  The  settlement  was  frequently  called  from  him  WUi'yl, 
"Will's  place,"  but  this  was  not  the  proper  local  name. 

Wllslnl' — the  Cherokee  name  for  H.  W.  Spray,  agent  and  superintendent  for  the  East 
Cherokee  reservation;  an  adaptation  of  his  middle  name,  Wilson. 

Wil-usdi'—  "Little  Will,"  from  Witt',  Will  and  usdi'ga  or  usdV,  little.  The  Chero- 
kee name  for  Colonel  W.  H.  Thomas,  for  many  years  the  recognized  chief  of  the 
eastern  band. 

Wissactaw — see  g&TiAwVsita. 

Wolftowx — see  1 1  'a'yd'M. 

Wootassite        i  _ 

' — see  Oi'tacity. 
Wrosetasatow  i 

Wude'liguii'yl — the  west;  literally  "there  where  it  (the  sun)  goes  down"  (w  pre- 
fixed implies  distance,  yl,  locative).     See  also  Vsiinhi'yi  and  ivustihilinn'yi. 

Wuliga'natutun — excelling  all  others,  either  in  good  or  bad;  it  may  be  used  as  equiva- 
lent to  wasltifi,  "beyond  the  limit."     See  page  232. 

wusuhihun'yl — "there  where  they  stay  over  night,"  i.  e.  "the  west."  An  archaic 
term  used  by  the  narrator  of  the  story  of  Untsaiyl',  number  63.  The  common 
word  is  wude'ligCifl''yl,q.  v.,  while  the  term  in  the  sacred  formulas  is  Us&fiM'yl, q.v. 

Xuala — see  Ani-Suwa'tt. 


hooked  GLOSSARY  517 

-yS — a  suffix  denoting  principal  or  real,  as  taishva'yd,  "principal  bird,"  the  sparrow; 
Ani'-Ytiiliviyd',  "principal  or  real  people,"  Indians. 

V  ihooi  \    see  Yahuld'h 

Yahulii'i— "  Yahu'la  place,"  from  Yahu'la,  a  Cherokee  trader  said  to  have  been  taken 
by  tin'  spit-it  people;  Yahu'la  seems  to  be  from  the  <  !reek  yoho'lo,  a  name  ha\  ing 
reference  to  the  song  (yoholo) ,  nsed  in  the  "  black  drink"  ceremony  of  the  Creeks; 
thus  a'si-yoho'lo,  corrupted  into  Osceola,  signified  "the  black  drink  song";  it 
may,  however,  be  a  true  Cherokee  word,  yahu'la  or  yahu'tl,  the  name  for  a 
variety  of  hickory,  also  for  the  "doodle-bug";  UKyahu'la  is  a  feminine  name, 

but  can  not  be  translated.     Yal la  creek,  near  Dahlonega,  in  Lumpkin  county, 

<  reorgia.     See  aumber  86  and  notes. 

Yal:i'u'i  Alarka  creek  of  Little  Tennessee  river,  above  the  junction  of  Tuckasegee, 
in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina;  the  meaning  of  the  name  is  lost. 

yafidaska'ga — a  faultfinder.     See  number  61. 

Yftn-e'gwa— "  Big-bear,"  from  ydnu,  hear,  and  egwa,  great,  large.  A  prominent  chief 
about  the  year  isno;  the  name  oeenrs  in  treaties  as  Yonah,  Yohanaqua  and  Ydna- 
hequah.     See  page  164. 

ya'nu — bear. 

Ya'nu-dineliun'yl — "Where  the  bears  live,"  from  ydn&,  bear,  dinShu',  "they  dwell" 

\:')m.  "I  dwell.  I  live  "),  and  yt,  locative.     A  plac i  ( tconaluftee  river,  a  short 

distance  above  the  junction  with  Tuckasegee,  in  Swain  comity,  North  Carolina. 
See  number  122. 

Y:'inii>_run'skl —  "The  hear  drowns  him"  (habitually),  from  ydliU,  hear,  and  toig6.fi'- 
ixl.n',  "I  am  drowning  him."  A  noted  East  Cherokee  chief,  known  to  tin- 
whites  as  Yonaguska  or  Drowning-bear.     See  page  162. 

Ya/nu-u'natawasti'yl — "  Where  the  hears  wash"  (from  y&nu,  hear,  and  yl,  locative); 
a  former  pond  in  the  Great  Stnoky  mountains,  about  the  extreme  head  of 
Raven  fork,  in  Swain  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  121'. 

yan'-utse'stu — "the  bear  lies  on  it";  the  shield  fern  (Aspidium).     See  number  126. 

Yawa'I — "YawS  place";  a  place  on  Yellow  creek  of  Cheowa  river,  in  Graham  county, 
North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Y'ellow-hill — see  El&wd'diyl. 

Yohanaqua — see  Ydn-e'gwa. 

yoho-o! — an  unmeaning  song  refrain.     See  number  75. 

Yonaguska-  -see  Yd'n&gufl'sld. 

Yonah — 1.  (mountain)  see  Gadalu'tu.  2.  An  abbreviated  treaty  form  for  the  name 
of  the  chief  Yan-e'gwa. 

Yonaheqcah — see  Ydn-e'gwa. 

Ytaua,  Ytava — see  I't&wd'. 

Yu! — an  unmeaning  song  refrain  and  interjection. 

Yuha'H — Euharlee  creek,  of  lower  Etowah  river,  in  Bartow  county,  Georgia.  The 
name  is  said  by  the  Cherokee  to  be  a  corruption  of  Yufala  (Eufaula),  a  well- 
known  Creek  local  name.     See  number  105. 

yunsiV — buffalo;  cf.  Creek  yena'sa,  Choctaw  yanash,  Hichitee  ya'nasi. 

Yunsa'l — "  Buffalo  place";  West  Buffalo  creek  of  Cheowa  river  in  Graham  county, 
North  Carolina;   the  site  of  a  former  Cherokee  settlement.      See  number  1L"_'. 

yu've-yuwehe' — an  unmeaning  song  refrain.     See  number  118. 

yufi'wi — person,  man;  cf.  Mohawk  oflgwe'. 

Yun'wi  Ania'ytne'hl — "  Water  -  dwelling  People,"  from  yufl'vit,  person,  and  iiinii'- 
ifnff'ln,  plural  of  S/mdyi'hl,  q.  v.;  a  race  of  water  fairies.     See  number  7s. 

Y'un'w i-dlkatagun'yl  -  see    Yi'iu' 'in-lmil,  nn,',' yt, 

Yufi'wl  Cunahi'ta — "'Long  Man";  a  formulistic  name  for  the  river,  personified  as  a 

man  with  his  head  resting  on  the  uutain  and  his  feet  stretching  down  to  the 

lowlands,  who  is  constantly  speaking  to  those  who  can  understand  the  message. 


548  MYTHS    OF    THE    CHEROKEE  [eth.ann.19 

Yufi'wini'giskl — "Man-eaters,"  literally,  "They  eat  people"  (habitually),  from 
yun'xvl,  person,  man.  and  uni'gisJA,  "they  eat"  (habitually),  from  Islkiu',  "I  am 
eating";  the  Cherokee  name  for  a  distant  cannibal  tribe,  possibly  the  Atakapa 
or  the  Tonkawa.     See  number  105.     Of.  AnOda'dtifitAild. 

YuiVwI-tsulem'nVyl — "Where  the  man  stood,"  originally  Ytifl'vX-dtkcddgti.ii'y't, 
"Where  the  man  stands,"  from  yufi'ifi,  person,  man,  Isitd'gCi,  "I  am  stand- 
ing," and  j/7.,  locative;  Standing  Indian,  a  high  bald  mountain  at  the  head  of 
Nantahala  river,  in  Macon  county,  North  Carolina.     See  number  122. 

Yufi'wl  Tsunsdi' — "Little  People,"  from  yufi'wl,  person,  people,  and  Immdi'ga  or 
tsunsdi',  plural  of  usdi'ga  or  usdi',  little;  the  Cherokee  fairies.     See  number  78. 

Yufi'wl  Usdi' — "Little  Man."     A  formulistic  name  for  the  ginseng,  d'tatt-guW,  q.  v. 

Yufi'wl-usga'se  tl — "Dangerous  Man,  Terrible  Man";  a  traditional  leader  in  the 
westward  migration  of  the  Cherokee.     See  page  99. 

YuiVwiya' — "Indian,"  literally,  "principal  or  real  person,"  from  yufi'wl,  person 
and  yd,  a  suffix  denoting  principal  or  real.     See  pages  15  and  181. 


INDEX  TO  PART  1 


Page 
Abbott  on  effect  of  Georgia  antl-Cheiokee 

laws lis 

Abraham,  murder  of 66,66 

V. TJRATION,  Study  Of xxi-xxv 

A.   SMU  III",  VESTS 12-18 

Acolafissa,  tribe  of  Choctaw  confederacy,     500 

ACOMA,  work  nt xiii 

Activities,  discussion  of Ixiv-lxv 

Anvn:,  Jambs,  or  Cherokee  dialects 16 

—  on  Cherokee  intratriba]  friction 496 

—  on  Cherokee  lack  of  conservatism "229 

—  on  Cherokee  population 34 

—  on  Cherokee  relations  with  Creeks :      384 

—  on  Cherokee  sacred  ark  503 

—  on  Cherokee  snake  myths 167,459-160,461 

—  on  Cherokee  sufferings  from  smallpox  ..        3ti 

—  on  Cherokee  thunder  myths 441 

—  on  Cherokee  war  of  1759-61 41 

—  on  Christian  Priber's  work 37 

—  on  Creek  myths 475 

—  .  .11  (  reeks 499 

—  on  decay  of  Cherokee  ritual  and  tradi- 
tions         'JO 

—  on  effects  of  Cherokee  war  (1760-61 ) 45 

^*—  on  gatayustl  game 434 

—  on  Herbert's  spring 404 

—  on  horses  and  swine  among  Cherokee . .  82,213 

—  on  Indian  beliefs  concerning  birds 153  154 

—  on  Indian  beliefs  concerning  fond 172 

—  on  Indian  beliefs  concerning  wolf us 

—  on  Indian  conduct  during  eclipse 441 

—  on  Indian  custom  of  removing  deers1 
hamstrings 447 

—  on  Indian  marriage  customs 482 

—  on  Iroquois  wars 357-358, 491 

—  on  name  Cherokee  10 

—  on  peace  towns 207, 208 

—  on  sacred  tire 503 

—  on  scratching  ceremony 470 

—  on  Shawano  wars 87] 

—  on  Taskigi  among  Creeks 389 

—  ..ii  tla'nuwa 166 

—  on  welcome  ceremony 493 

Adder,  myths  concerning 297,  136 

Idoptiox  among  eastern  tribes 493 

Advocate,  Cherokee,  sa  Cherokee  Ad- 
vocate. 

a  ..ansta'ta.  see    Morgan,  Washington; 

IOSTOTA 

■  i-i   in-,  ih  i  ..ii.  erning  .   . 
Calientes,  examination  of   caves 

near xvii 

Alabama  in  Texas, niiii  me. f,  with  Cherokee.      1 13 

—  migration  acn.-s  the  Mi --i--ij.pl  by '.i'.i 

— ,  tribe  of  Creek  confederacy 198  199 


Pagi 

Alabama,  production  of  gold  in 220. 221 

— .  Removal  forts  in 221 

Algonquia.n  languages,  studj  of xxv 

—  myths I ",:,  l  ,l 

—  names  for  rabbit  and  dawn 2;;:! 

—  tribes,  study  of xvii-xviii.  xxix 

Ai.KiNi',  Natchez  woman  among  Cherokee.      388 

\  I  I    Ii"'.  I  -   so  Ka'i.aih". 

Allegheny  river,  origin  of  name  of 18 

Allegory,  development  of Ixxxix-xe 

Allen,  H.  X.,  on  Korean  myths -117 

Alligator,  myths  concerning 159 

Almanac,  Cherokee,  establishment  of 112 

Alphabet  used  for  Cherokee  words 500 

— ,  so  also  Syllabary. 

Altars  of  religious  fraternities,  study  of  ..  xlvi- 
xhx,  1-lii 

Ambrosial  pleasures lix-lx 

AMERICAN  blood  among  Cherokee 83 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  work  of,  among  Cher- 
okee     104-105, 136 

Anadarko,  see  Nadako. 

Angola,  myths  of 441-442,  146,  147,450,  152,  153 

Ani'-Kitu'whagI,  see  Kitu'whagI. 
Ani'-Ku'sa,  see  Creeks. 

Ani'-Kuta'nI,  legends  concerning  . . .  392  :;*..:;,  ."I 
Animals,  chiefs  and  tribes  1  .f.  231,261-266,  145  n> 

— ,  myths  concerning 39, 

21.;.  -'.I.  2  .2, 280,  el  passim 

ANl'-TSA'LiGi',  ANI'-Yf ■N'WIY.l',  80  Is  1 ' 
LA..!',  YUN'WIYA'. 

Annuities,  Cherokee 81, 86, 124 

— .  apportionment  of Inf.,  138,  177 

— ,  withholding  of lis 

ant,  myths  concerning 152 

Antelope,  myths  concerning 151 

apache,  murder  of  party  of,  by  scalp  hunt- 


ers. 


209 


— ,  racing  among 191 

— ,  study  of xxiii 

— ,  use  i>f  language  of,  as  trade  language. , .  188 
— ,  so  also  Jicarilla;  Mesi  il  i  bo 

Appalachee.  enslavement  ol 232 

Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  Ameru  >     Bi 

ography  on  Rev.  David  Brainerd  217 

—  on  Col.  Benjamin  Hawkins 212 

—  on  chi.-i  McGillii  ra]    210 

—  on  Col.  It  J.Meigs 212 

—  on  i  icner;  1 1  Robertson  105 

—  on   lolm  K..ss Ill 

onSI   Clairsdefeat  212 

on  1  ei  iM.iiii;. 211; 

—  on  Nancy  Ward 201 

—  on  Wayne's  victory  213 

54'j 


550 


Page 
Aqcaqctbi,  see  Guaquili. 

Arapaho,  genesis  legend  of 229 

— ,  tribal  medicine  of 503 

Arbuckle,  General,  on  adoption  of  Chero- 

kee  constitution 135 

— ,  reward  for  capture  of  Tahchee  offered  by      141 

Arch,  John,  bible  translation  by 110 

Arizona,  report  on  collections  from xix-.xx 

— ,  work  in xiii-xv 

Arkansas,  collection  from xxi 

Arkansas    Cherokee,    conference    with 

Osage  by 105 

— .  fixing  of  boundaries  to  lands  of 10.5 

— .  friction  between  main  band  and -  - .      133, 

135, 147, 148 

— .  history  of 77,102,136-143 

— ,  request  of,  for  recognition  as  separate 

tribe 105 

— ,  union  of,  with  main  band 135 

— ,  visit  of  Sequoya  to 110 

Arkansas   river,  settlement  of  Cherokee 

on 102 

— ,  cession  to  <  Iherokee  of  tract  on 102-103 

— .  exchange  of  tract  on 139 

Arts,  sei  Fine  arts. 

Asi.  characters  of 162 

— .  recitation  of  sacred  myths  in 230 

Astu'gatA'ga,  Lieutenant,  death  of 170 

ATAoA'iii.  myths  concerning  —  321-82J,  161,  170 
Atagul'kAlO,  see  Atakullakulla. 

Atakapa,  Cherokee  relations  with 391 

Ataki'LI.aki'I.i.a,    agreement     with,     for 

building  of  forts 40 

— ,  attempts  to  bring  peace  by 42, 44 

— ,  offer  of  aid  to  Americans  by 54 

— ,  rescue  of  Captain  Stuart  by 44,203 

Athletic  pleasures lxiii-lxviii 

Atkins,   J.   D.   C,  on  east  Cherokee   suit 

against  main  band 152 

— ,  r mmendation  for  cast  Cherokee  re- 
moval by 177 

Atlanta  Constitution  on  effect  of  Georgia 

anti-Cherokee  law's 118 

ATsi,  see  Arch,  John. 

Augusta,  opening  of  path  from  Cherokee 

country  to 30 

— ,  treaty  of  (1703) 45 

Autonomy,  Cherokee,  waning  of 153-157 

Autossee,  battleat 92 

Avery,  Mrs  A.C.,  acknowledgments  to 13 

—  on  Cherokee  part  in  civil  war 109 

—  on  Col.  W.  H.  Thomas 162 

A'wani'ta,  myth  told  by 454 

Ax,  JOHN,  Cherokee  story-teller 229-230.237 

— .  myths  told  by 430, 

l  n,  135,  136,438,440,  448-452,454-456, 
160,  162,  163,  166,  471,473,476,  477,481 

—  on  gatayustl  game 4:  ;4 

Aya'sta.  Cherokee  story-teller 237 

Aya'sta.  myths  and  songs  obtained  from..    430, 

453.408,470,601,504 

Ayllon  on  gigantic  Indians Mil 

— .version  of  Tsundige'wi myth  by 471 

— ,  visit  to  Georgii asi  by 193 

A'YUN'INi,  see  Swimmer. 

Aztec,  myths  of 431.451.4ti0 

Bald  MOUNTAIN,  myth  concerning 299 


Page 
Kali,  game  among  East  Cherokee 170 

—  among  western  Cherokee 146 

— ,  figurative  use  of  expression 433 

—.legend  connected  with 384 

—.myths  and  lore  concerning 202, 

286-287,308,312-313,369,  154 

— ,  rites  and  practices  connected  with 230, 

262,  122,  125,  171 
Bancroft.  H.   H.,   on    Mexican    grant    to 
Cherokee 148 

—  on  scalping  by  whites 209 

Baptist  gap,  engagement  at 170 

Baptists,  work  of,  among  Cherokee..  107. 165,  loo 

Barbarism,  features  of xlix 

Barcia,  A.  G.,  on  Creek-Cherokee  wars 38 

—  on  De  Luna's  expedition 201 

—  on  Rogers  expedition 202 

—  on  Spanish  mission  among  Cherokee 29 

—.version  of  Tsundige'wi  myth  by 472 

Barnwell, ,  Cherokee  reply  to 372 

Barringer,  Rurus,  arbitrator  between  East 

Cherokee  and  Thomas's  creditors 174 

Bartram,  William,  on  cane-splint  fire  ..  429-430 

—  on  cattle  among  Cherokee 213-214 

—  mo  Cherokee  relations  with  <  Ireeks ::s:;.  :;m 

—  on  Creeks 499 

rigin  of  mounds  in  Cherokee  country.       22 

—  on  ruins  at  Silver  bluff 193 

—  on  sacred  fire 503 

—  on  Seminole  regard  for  snakes 457 

—  on  strawberries  in  Cherokee  country 468 

—  on  traders'  bells 483 

— ,  travels  of,  in  Cherokee  country 46 

Barton.  B.  S.,  on  Cherokee  linguistic  rela- 
tionship          16 

—  on  traditional  predecessors  of  Cherokee..        22 

Basketry  among  East  Cherokee 170 

Basswood  in  Cherokee  lore 421,505 

Bat,  myths  concerning 286-287,  151 

Battey  on  visiting  ceremony 493 

Batts,  Thomas,  exploration  into  Cherokee 

country  by 31 

Bayagoi'i.a,  tribe  of  Choctaw  confederacy.      500 
Bean,  Lieutenant,  part  taken  by,  at  Horse- 
si  10c  bend 95 

Bean,  Mrs,  rescue  of ,  by  Nancy  Ward  .  is.  204, 490 

Bean  in  Cherokee  lore 124,471 

Bear,  myths  and  lore  concerning 250,  264, 

268, 273-274, 286-287,  325-329, 411, 
436,446-447,  450-452,  472  174,504 

-,  songsof 010,  101 

Bear-grass  in  Cherokee  lore 420 

1:1  \i:i>  .In iin.  killing  of  Indians  by 74 

Bear  Man.  myth  of 262,327-329 

Beasley,  Maj.  Daniel,  commander  of  Fort 

Minis 216 

Beast  fable,  development  of lxxxii-lxxxiii 

BEAl  champ,  W.  M.,  on  Iroquois  myths  . .    158,  169 

—  on  Onondaga  name  for  violet 505 

Beaver  on  Ohio  Cherokee 79 

Beaver.  Cherokee    myths    ami    lore  con- 
cerning    266, 314-315,  165-466, 171 

Bechtler,  coining  of  gold  by 220 

Bei  k  1  1:,  G.  F.,on  Southern  gold  fields  —      221 
Bees  among  Cherokee 82,214 

—  in  Cherokee  lore 309 

Beetle, myths  and  lore  concerning 239, 

308,314.430.463 


19] 


551 


Bell,  John,  flight  of 13-1 

!                            i  herokee  Na- 
tion    1^1! 

Bible,  translations  of,  into  Cherokee 108, 

—  story  among  Cherokee 

ob  m'ii'i  ,  work  in xxx 

Biedm  i  on  De  Soto's  i  xpedition.  26,  191  201 

i.  mi  Natchez  among  Cheroki  i 
Big-beak,  w<  V\ 

161 

Big-hush,  set  Hard 

era  h,  death  oi 179 

Biloxi  in  Texas,  anion  of,  with  I  Cherokee  1 13 

— .  tribe  of  Choctaw  confederacy 

Bibd  town,  purchase  of 161 

I  hs  and  lore  concerning 241, 

!  0    !94     00   10]    142   153   i  -I 

Bi  li  kberry,  myth  concerning 259 

Blackburn,  Re\   Gideon,  establishment  of 

school  among  Cherokee  by 84 

Black-eyed  Susan  in  Cherokee  lore 120 

Blackfeet,  method    of    catching     eagli 

practiced  by 153 

— ,  myths  of 132,  151,  147 

Black-fox,  an  unity  for 85 

— .  enactment  signed  l>y 86-87 

Blai  k  mountain,  myths  concerning. 132,  150 

Blacksnake,  myths  concerning 241, 

288  289 

Blacks  station,  encounter  at 48 

Bledsoe  on  French  and  Spanish  encour- 
agement of  Cherokee  hostility 

B d  mountain,  myth  concerning  ... 

Blount,  William, endeavors  of,  for  peace..  78 

— .  governor  of  Tennessee 212 

—  life  of 212 

—  on  attack  on  Buchanans  station 73 

—  on  Chickamauga  declaration  of  war  { L79 

—  on  origin  of  Chickamauga  band 54 

—  on  Shaw's  mission 71 

— ,  propose  I  of ,  to  Cherokee    I  795) 81 

— ,  Territorial  governor 68 

— ,  treaty  and  cession  arranged  bj  (1791  68  69 
Blount,   chief,    settlement    of    Tuscarora 

under 198 

iy,  myth  concerning 284 

Bluff, Tn e, se<  Nashville. 
Blythe,  David,  Cherokee  story-ti   lei 

— ,  myths  told  by "'.'.  is:; 

Blythe,  James,  acknowledgments  to 13 

nl  for  East  Cherokee 180 

— .  Cherokee  story-teller 237 

—,  myths  told  by 186,462  163 

.  lion  of  Indian  myths 
by 

—  on  dissemination  of  Indian  myths 234 

—  on  Tillamook  myths 440 

SOES. 

Bonnell   on    Cherokee    agreement    with 

Mexico 145 

—  on  Chi                                     :     i             —  145 

—  on  Houston's 

kce 145 

—  on  Mexican  grant  to  <  hi  roki               143 

myth  concerning 

Bi  on,  Daniel,  leader  of  pioneer  advam  ■  I  ■ 

Boudinot,  Cornelius,  myths  told  by 149  155 

— ,  opening  of  grave  on  farm  of 143 


Boudinot,  Drl 

Boudinot,  Elias,  Bible  translatioi 

1 1 1 

--.  education  of 108 

— .  killing  of 

.  signing  of  new  i hi 

vote  of,  on  Ridge  treal  s  122 

1-1 

Bow  ii-'.   M   acknowledgment"  to  13 

146 

emigration  ol  -  101,  138, 141,1 13 

rol       145 

— ,  paper  carried  by,  at  death 

«  ith  Texas  signed  bj  1 14 

Bi    •    i  opposition  to  McGillivrayb;         !10 

Boyd,  D.T,  suit  of  United  States  againsl 

Br  wm  bd,  lo  \    David   lifi  JIT 

Brai    ii>    'i  tndnnce  ol    pupils 

at 

ishment  of 

Brant.  Sir  William  Johnsoi 

with 

Brass,  ....  UntsaiyI'. 

Breath,  the.  death  of T'.i 

Brier  in  '  Iheroki  i   lore    125 

Brinton,  D.G.,  edition  of  Walamt  ilumby.      190 

..ii  Delaware  nam,,  for  <  Iherokee 

on  Delaware  tribal  organization    497 

—  on  deluge  myth 1 I  • 

—  on  first  appearance  of  whins 191 

—  on  Flint  and  Rabbit  myth 151 

—  on  name  Kitu'whagl 182 

..ii  Shawano  . . : 161,495 

-on  Tallige'wi 19,184 

British,   encouragement    of    fndiai 
tility  by  .: 64,08 

—  relations  with  Indians 98  99 

retention  of  posts  by  1 1790) 68 

—,  withdrawal  of,  from  interior  posts. .  81 

— ,  withdrawal  of,  from  south 62 

l; i: .-,  Miss  A-  M.,  acknowledgments  to..        13 

111  -  -.i  i  M  -'  nil-  -ii   I'.-  SotO'S  i.  "II' 

—  on  Pardo's  expedition 28,29 

Brown,  David,  Bible  translation  by ill 

—  on  Cher  a  in  1819 112 

no 
Brown,  ,1.  M.,  on  ancestry  of  Sequoya  . 
Blown.  Joseph,  capture,  adoption 

leaseof 

— ,  guide  to  expedition  of  1794 78 

—  on  attack  on  Buchanan's  station 7:1 

on  Martin's  expedition  1 1788)  

Brown,  Orlando,  on  Catawba  among  East 

Cherokee 

iken  by,  in 

haul.-  ot  Horseshoe  bend 

Brown,    Thomas,    teacher    a - 

ikee l"l 

Brown,  Col.  ,  British  agenl  al  Chii  i. 



Brows    Mrs  ransomof 06 

1 1    M.,  on  decisioi 

—  on  East  I  airs 179 

ee  strip 

on  Mohawk  name  for  till 

Bryant,  Ixxxix 

Bryson,  Ii  imil  ..ii  Cherokee  heroism 


552 


[ETH.  ANN.  19 


Bryson,  Maj.  James,  acknowledgments  to.        13 

—  on  Cherokee  heroism 501 

—  on  Cherokee  round  nj> 131 

—  on  Rutherford's  route 205 

Bbtson  city,  capture  of  East  Cherokee  at.      1 T 1 

Buchanans  station,  attack  on  (17921 73 

Buckle, .  on  Cherokee-Chickasaw  war.       38 

Buffalo,  Cherokee  gift  of  skin  of,  to  Span- 
iards          27 

— ,  myths  and  lore  concerning 263. 

293.410,  112,  148 

Buffalo  dance,  legend  of  origin  of 352.  485 

Bugle  weed  in  Cherokee  lore 120 

BUGL0SS  in  Cherokee  lore 426 

Bullfrog,  myths  concerning 310-311,-163 

— .  8< '  also  Frog. 

Bullhead,  Cherokee  leader  in  war  with 

Creeks 384 

Burial,  myth  concerning 256,440 

Burk,  John,  on  Cherokee  invasion  of  Vir- 
ginia          30 

Burnet, ,  commissioner  to  Cherokee  ..      145 

Burnt  tobacco,  contact  with  Nunnfi'M  by.      332 

Burs  in  Cherokee  lore 426 

Butler,  Rev.  D.  S.,  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment of 119 

— ,  Cherokee  missionary 105 

—  on  Jackson's  attitude  toward  Cherokee  .      117 

Butler.  John,  Cherokee  ball  captain 406 

Butler,  S.  W„  myth  told  by 450 

Buttkick  on  Cherokee  myths 430, 

436-437,  445, 470, 476,  478,  483 

—  on  Cherokee  sacred  fire 502 

—  on  custom  of  removing deers'  hamstrings.      447 
Buzzard,  myths  concerning 239, 

266, 284, 293, 294, 430, 431, 456 
Byhan,  Rev.  Gottlieb,  Cherokee  mission- 
ary          S4 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  visit  to  America  by 191 

Caddo  in  Texas,  union  of,  with  Cherokee..      143 

— ,  wanderings  of 146 

Cairns  in  Cherokee  country 20-21, 491 

Cai.eebee  creek,  battle  of 93 

Calendars.  Kiowa,  publication  of  paper 

on : xxvi,  xxix 

Calendar  sysi  ems,  Mayan,  memoir  on.,  xli-xlii 

Calhoun  on  Seneca  town 4S5 

— ,  reply  to  Cherokee  memorial  by 115 

— .  reply  to  Georgia's  protest  by 116 

Cameron, .  attempt  to  seize 48 

— ,  encounter  between  Williamson's  force 

and 50 

— ,  interception  of  letter  to 47 

— ,  raid  led  by 48 

Campbell,  Col.  Ani  hur,  defeat  of  Ferguson 

by 57 

— ,  expedition  under  (1780-81 1  57-68 

—on  British  agent   and  Tories  at  Chicka- 

mauga 55 

—  on  Chickamauga  band ...       54 

—  on  Nancy  Ward 204 

—  on  Sevier's  expedition  (1781)  59 

Campion  in  Cherokee  lore  426 

Canasagi  v,  De  Soto's  visit  to   26,197 

Candy.,  John, printer  of  Cherokee  Phoenix,      in 
Cane,  Indian  use  of 490 


Cannibals,  mythseoneerning.  247, 349-350, 483, 501 

Canoes,  Cherokee 4% 

Canos,  see  Cofitachiqui. 

Canup,  W.T.,  acknowledgments  to 13 

Cape  Girardeau,  settlement  of  Delawarea 

and  Shawano  at 99 

Cardinal  flower  in  Cherokee  lore 424 

Carrington  on  East  Cherokee  chiefs 175 

—  on  East  Cherokee  constitution 173 

—  on  East  Cherokee  in  Civil  war 170, 171 

—  on  Iroquois 485 

—  on  Iroquois  peace  towns 208 

Carroll,  Gov.  William,  treatysigned  by.  125 

Carroll,  .   on  Catawba  in  Cherokee 

war 44 

—  on  English  conduct  toward  Cherokee...  38 
Cartier,  Indians  found  on  St  Lawrence  by  .  190 
Cass,  Lewis,  reply  to  Schermerhorn's  pro- 


i  by 


122 


Casteei.  family,  murder  of 76 

Castor  Hill,  treaty  of  (18521 99 

Cat,  Cherokee  name  for 265 

Cataracts  in  Cherokee  lore 426 

Catawba,  Cherokee  relations  with 14. 

36. 31-32, 44, 49, 165, 234,380-381 

— ,  feather  ornament  of 504 

— ,  myths  of 452 

—  name  for  Cherokee 16, 183 

— ,  population  of  (1755) 39 

— ,  sketch  of 49S 

— ,  Spanish  contact  with 28 

"Catgut"  in  Cherokee  lore 425 

Cati.in  on  Tahchee 141 

Cattle  raising  by  Cherokee 82, 

122,137,166,213-214 

CAUCHI,  He  Soto's  visit  to 29 

Cavitts  station,  attack  on 75 

Cebollita   valley,    excavation    of    ruins 

around xiil 

Cedar,  lore  concerning 421, 505 

Censuses  of  Cherokee.  34, 103, 112, 125, 150, 156  157 

—  of  East  Cherokee 167-168,172,176,179,180 

Central  America,  memoir   on    numeral 

systemsof xliv.xlv 

ceremony,  development  of lxxviii-lxxix 

Chalaque,  De  Soto's  visit  to 24, 194 

— ,  see  also  Tsa'lagI';  synonymy. 

Chance,  part  played  by,  in  games  ...  lxviii-lxix 

Charleville  on  Cherokee  wars 371 

Charley*,  escape,  surrender,  and  shooting 

,,f 131, 157, 158 

Chat,  see  Huitu. 

Chatelain,  Heli,  on  Angolan  folk  tales  ..     442, 
lie.  117.  150,  152,  153 

Cheowa  Maximum,  myth  concerning 105 

Cheraw,  Cherokee  relations  with  14,380 

—  sketch  of 498 

Cherokee,  meaning   and    derivation    of 

name 182-183 

—.memoir  on  myths  of  xxxvii-xxxix. 3-548 

— ,  study  of  fraternities,  cults,  and  myths 

of xxvi.xlvii 

Cherokee  Advocate, establishment  of . .  111,112 
—.myths  published  by... 272-273,449,450 

—  on  treaty  with  South  Carolina  31 

—  on  western  Cherokee  history 146 

-.revival  of  (1870) 147,151 


:,.,:; 


Page 
Cherokee    agency,    attempt    to    annul 

treat;  ol 104 

—.treaties  of 102,120 

— ,  proposal  made  at  treaty  of 113 

■  :  w  ic,  establishment  of  —      112 

cm  i: Mi  -.i  sgi  r,  establishmenl  of.,      112 

i  blishment  of.  124,  I  19  I  I 
— ,  see  aim  Chi  rok  i  i   strip. 
Cherokee  Phoznix,  establishment  of...    HI, 
112,217-218 

—  on  Sequoya's  ancestry bis 

— ,  suppression  of 123 

Cherokee  strip,  cession  of 153 

—.establishment  of 124,189,142 

—, settlement  of  other  1  Julians  on 150,151 

Cheucunsene,  see  Kunnesee. 

Cheyenne, murder  of  party  of 209 

— .myths  of 229,441,443,449,452,465  166 

—.tribal  medicine  of 503 

I'll  i  ah  a.  Spanish  visits  to.  23,24,26,28, 197, 199,200 

Chiaroscuro,  development  of lxxvi 

Chii  k  v  i  h  e,  myths  concerning  285  286,319,  154,  168 
Chickamauga    band,  declaration  of  war 

by    1792) 71.72 

— ,  hostility  of  (1875-94) 62-67,70,72-78 

— .origin  of 54 

Chickamauga    oil.  ii     pseudomyth    con- 
cerning   413—114 

Chickamauga  towns,  destruction  of...  ■  •  ■.  T-.-7'.' 

— .expedition  against 60 

Chickasaw,  attacks  on  Cumberland  towns 

by 62 

— ,  attitude  of,  in  Civil  war 148 

— .  attitude  of,  in  Creek  war 90 

—,  boundary  between  Cherokee  and  62,66 

—.Cherokee  relations  with 14, 

>    14,67,72,371,389-390,494 

— ,  defeat  of  French  by 477 

— ,  friendliness  of,  toward  English 35 

— .  land  cessions  by 86 

— .Natchez  among 386 

— .  sketch  of 199,500 

— .  treaty  with  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 


by 


,,; 


,saw  Council  House,  treaty  of  (1816)       98 

Chickasaw  Old  Fields,  treaty  of 85 

Chicken,  Col.  George, expedition  under..       ::.; 

Chilhowee,  myth  concerning 375 

— ,  threatened  burning  of  (1792) 73 

ik  jargon,  character  and  use  of . .  is7-iss 

riii-.  il,  Spanish  visits  t" 23,27,20] 

CHIVINGTON,  Colonel,  murder  of  Cheyenne 

by 

i  Civil  war lis 

— ,  attitude  of,  in  Creek  war 90,91 

— .  Cherokee  relations  with 

—  in  Texas,  union  of,  witli  Cherokee 113 

t.inythsof 501 

—  nam.-  for  Cherokee 15-16,182-183 

—  names  for  Indian  tribes 182-183 

—.sketch  of 

D  oak,  traditions  concerning 115-416 

Christ]  in,  Col.  William,  expedition  und 

-.life  of 

— ,  j :e  agri  emenl  arranged  '■>'■ 

Chrisi  ianity  amo 

—  among  East  Cherokee 166 

— ,  liit!".:  I  ituwha 165 


Chi  bi  h,  Captain,  on  scalping  by  whites...      208 

Citico,  ambuscade  at 65 

Citizenship,    Cherokee,    recommendation 

, 114 

—  in  Cherokee  Nation,  decision  of 

civn.  u  mi,  Cherokee  attitude  during     .     L48-149 
— ,  Cherokee  loss  in 

■  'til 1  IS 

i.i  Cherokee  nari  in 161    162,  168-172 

Claiborne,  General,  defeat   of  Creeks  at 
II. .h  Ground  by 92 

—  on  Alabama  migration 99 

Clan,  features  of xlix.l 

veng '.-  (  herol I... In i.. i 

of 86-87,  H'7 

Clans,  Cherokee 212-213 

— ,  Chickasaw 199 

— ,  ch.. .law  SO0 

— ,  memoir  on  localization  of,  inTusayan..       xli 

— ,  Muscogee 199 

— .  Seneca 183 

— .  Shawano 101 

Clark,  Governor  William,  Osage-Cherokee 

conference  arranged  by 105, 137 

Clarke,  Peter,  on  Iroquoian  migrations..      189 
Clay,  Henry,  opposition  c>  removal  proj- 
ect bj   129 

Clover  in  Cherokee  lore 121 

i'ooa,  Spanish  visits  t.. ...  23,24,26,29, 194.2 1 

Coi  I.    i  in  a  in  Cherokee  lore 1-''. 

i '  .i  i  ii,  i  leneral,  attack  on  Cre.-ks  at  Talla- 
sechatchee,  by 90,91 

—  ..ii  battle  of  Horseshoe  bend 03-00 

— ,  wound  received  by,  at  Emukfaw  creek.       02 

Coffee  among  Cherokee 214 

('..ill  \.lli. ,11  1.  1 pie  of 499 

— ,  Spanish  visits  to 23,24,28,193  194 

Cohutta  mountain,  myths  concerning —     2'.r.i. 

302,  I-. I    162 

.  ■,.:  .1.1    ,     CADWALLAD]  i:,  OD     1 1'.  1.(11.  an  II     lill- 

ons 189 

—  ..ii  Iroquois is. 

—  on  name  Allege'wi lsi 

Cold  mountain,  myth  concerning 180 

Coldwater,  burning  of 67 

Colerain,  Creek  peace  made  at  81 

Colli:,  thins  made  by  the  Bureau xviii, 

xx-xxi,xxix 

Colonial  per !  Cherokee  history 20-10 

Color,  pleasures  of lxiii 

— ,  primitive  ideas  concerning lxxxiv 

Com  v  Sri m:,  attitude  of,  in  Civil  war 148 

— .  use  of  language  of ,  as  trade  language...      188 

.  ..mi  i .  Cherokee  nam.,  for 142 

Confederacy,  features  of xlix 

Confederate   States,  Cherokee  declara- 
tion for lis 

-,  Easl  Cherokee  reli -  with 168-171 

CONGABEE,  Chei  aions  with  

is,  Cherokee  representation  in 125 

.  ...  in  ( iherol myth  255,  277-278, 

279,320    i.i    I    '    193    !9I    01     ■  '  '  ps     im 

— ,  Indian  pn ■•  ol  195 

EROS!  b  conci  rning 112 

on  of,  with  Delawares 107 



Hon,  Cherokee,  adoption  of.  112,116,135 
1 


554 


[eth. 


Coosa,  Creek  peace  town  207-208 

Ooosawatee,  establishment  of  mission  at..      107 
— ,  surrender  of  prisoners  ;<  t 66 

COOSHATTA,  See  K"  LSATI. 

Cooweescoowee,  origin  of  name 285 

Copper,  Indian  use  of 23, 26 

Copperhead,  myths  and  lore  concerning  252-253, 
296, 313 

Corn,  Indian  use  of 481 

— ,  myths  and  lore  concerning 244-245, 

246,248,249,  121,  1-'::,  182,  171 

Corncob  in  Cherokee  myth 136,441 

Cornelius,  Rev.  Eli  as.  on  The  Suck 164-465 

Cornells  on  Cherokee  reception  of  Proph- 
et's doctrine 89 

COBNWALLIS,  attempt  to  invade  North  Caro- 
lina and  Virginia  by 56-57 

Cornwall  school,  education  of  Cherokee 

at 108 

Coronado,  trick  attempted  on 191 

COSMOGONIC  myths 239-261 

— ,  scealso  Sacked  myths. 

Coste,  De  Soto's  visit  to 200 

Cotton  gin,  grant  to  Cherokee  of 85 

Coi  i  an., is,  Fustf.i,  de,  description  of  the 

"Ancient  City"  by xli 

Conns,  Cherokee,  narrowing  of  jurisdic- 
tion oi  156 

— ,  East  ( 'lierokee 166 

Cow  in  Cherokee  myth 205 

Cow-ant  in  Cherokee  lore 309 

Cowee,  burning  of  (1783)  01 

— ,  legends  of 375-378, 496 

Coyattee,  treaty  of 63-64 

Coyote,  myths  concerning 467, 468 

Coytmore,  Lieutenant,  murder  of 42-43 

Crab  orchard,  skirmish  at  (1794) 71, 7s 

Crane,  myths  concerning 290-291. 325, 445, 455 

Craven,  Governor,  defeat  of  1'amassee  by.       33 

Crawfish,  myths  and  lore  concerning 239, 

308,  125 
Crawfokij,  — ,  on  East  Cherokee  desire  for 
removal 105 

—  on  numbers  of  East  Cherokee 168 

Creeks  among  Cherokee 142-143 

— ,  attitude  of,  during  Civil  war 148,149 

— ,  attitude  of,  during  Revolution 55, 

59-60,62-66,70,72,73,74,77 

— ,  attitude  of,  in  1794,1795 78,80 

— ,  blood  of,  among  Cherokee 234 

— ,  boundary  between  Cherokee  and 62 

— ,  cane-splint  fire  among 429-436 

— ,  Cherokee  relations  with 14,15,22, 

33,38,62,89,142,372,382-385 

— ,  chiefs  of 209-210,216-217 

— ,  Choctaw  relatii ins  with 390 

— ,  conjuring  by 502 

— ,  friendly,  part  taken  by,  in  Creek  war. ..  90-95 
— ,  genesis  legend  of 229 

—  in  Texas,  union  of.  with  Cherokee 113 

— ,  massacre al  Fort  Minis  by -21c, 

— ,  mythsof 430- 

132,  134,  1:111.  117.  150, 452-455, 463, 407,  17:1,  170 

— .  Natchez  among 3,so 

— ,  peace  town  of 21 17-21  is 

— ,  peace  treaties  with  1 1796) 67  68,81 

— ,  probable    origin    of     Cherokee    myths 
among 2&5 


Page 

Creeks,  removal  of,  to  the  West 141 

,  sacred  square  of 502 

— .  sketch  of 498 

— ,  songs  of 504 

— ,  Taskigi  among 

— ,  treaty  with  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 

by 03 

Creek    path,  Cherokee  attack  on  settle- 
ment on 383-384 

— .  withdrawal  of  Creeks  to  neighbor] 1 

of 


383 

Cref:k  war,  beginning  of s7-sy 

— ,  Chen  ikee  loss  by 07, 98 

— ,  Cherokee  part  in sy,;i7, 164 

— ,  Cherokee  remembrance  of 232 

— .  pensions  to  Cherokee  veterans  of 123 

cremation  by  Pueblo  Viejo  inhabitants...      xv 

Cricket,  myths  and  lore  concerning 269, 

309,  101,504 
Crockett,  David,  opposition   to  removal 

project  by 129 

Crow,  Cherokee  name  for 282 

—  in  Cherokee  myth 283,314-315 

Crow  town,  building  of 54 

Culture,  processes  of xxi-xxv 

Culver  root,  Cherokee  lore 426 

Cumberland  settlements,  raids  on 02-05 

Cuming,  sir  Alexander,  mission   of,    to 

Cherokee 35 

Curia,  mi  Fraternity. 

Currahee  Di<  k.  establishment  of  mission 

at  instance  of 108 

Curtix,  J  eremiah,  myths  given  by 359-304, 

305-370,  17::.  189 

Curtis  act,  effect  of 156 

Cushatta,  see  Koasati 199 

Ccshi.no,  F.  H.,  model  of  Zufli  altar  by xlviii 

— ,  study  of  religious  fraternities  and  cults 

by xlvii 

— .  work  of xix 

CUSICK  on  Iroquoian  migrations 189 

—  on  Iroquois  myths 229, 444, 469. 501 

Cuttawa,  see  KiTU'HWAGi;  Synonymy. 
Cyclopedia  of  Indian  tribes,  work  on...  xxviii- 

xxix 

Dagul'kO  geese,  myths  concerning 254- 

255, 284,  439 

Dahlonega,  establishment  of  mint  at 220 

Dakota,  myths  of 432 

DAkwA',  myths  concerning 307,320-321,469 

Dance,  characters  of  lxxvii-lxxviii 

— ,  influence  of,  on  development  of  music 

anil  drama lxxi,  lxxx 

— ,  myths  concerning 251.271,279 

— .  scalp 496 

— ,  visiting ).      493 

Dandridge,  raid  near 75 

Dangerous  man,  migration  under 99-100 

Darkening  land,  myths  concerning 248, 

253,261,262,313 

D'Artaguette,  defeat  of  French  under 417 

Dart  throwing  among  Indians 494 

Daughter  of  the  Sun,  myths  concerning.     252- 

254,297,436-438 
Davidson,  see  Fay  and  Davidson. 
Davies.  history  of  Antilles  by 202 

—  on  Spanish  mission  among  Cherokee 29 


L9 


555 


Davis,  Rebec  .   M     on  Whiteside  moun- 
tain         167   168 

I»\\  is,  Maj.  w.  M..  on  Cherokee  opposition 

to  Removal 126 

I>  v«  i  -  Commission,  organization  and  po« 

ersol   153-154 

-.  work  of 156 

li  w\  n  libit  with 238 

Dai    DrD    i     acl  nov  ....13 

—  on  Southern  gold  fields 221 

Di  mi   mytha  concerning 

1 i:  ITIV1     I'l  I    \-i    RES  ...    Is    Ixiii,  Ixxil 

lu  ■                             herokee  leader  in  civil 
war  in 

LTOK  A. 

Deer,  myths  concerning 

263,266,275-277,286-287,  132   150   152 

—  songs,  i  herokei         135 

Delawares  among  Cherokee 137, 157 

— .  capture  of  c  Iherok'ee  medicine  by. .  ■■'.  0 
— .  Cherokee  relations  with  .        It  19   fi 

—  genesis  legend  of. -J'-".i 

— .  incorporation  of,  with  Cherokee 99, 151 

—  in  Texas,  union  of,  with  Cherokee 143 

—  in  Texas,  wanderings  of 146 

— ,  invitations  to  join  Cheroki xtended 

to 105,136 

— .  mode  of  address  used  to I'.'l 

— .  Moravian  missionary  work  among  83 

— ,  name  of,  for  Cherokee 16 

—  regard  for  snakes  among 45s. 

— .  sketch  of 497 

— .  trans-Mississippi  migration  of  99 

Deli  gi  .  myths  i lerning 261,444-445 

in  l.i  s.i,  Tristan,  expedition  of 201 

Demere,  Captain,  commander  of  Fort  Lou- 
don             40 

— ,  death  of 44 

— .  surrender  of 43 

usi  ofdrumsol      493 

Deroqueod  Shaw's  mission 71 

De    SCHWEINITZ,    Edmund,    on     Moravian 

missions s4 

Descriitivk  ethniii.ii.. v.  work  in.,  xxviii-xxix 
Di  Soto,  Hernando,  Cherokee  name  used 

by 182 

— .  expedition  of,  into  Chi  roke untry...  23- 

—  on  bees  amorjg  Cherokee    214 

De'tsAtA,  Cherokee  fairy 

■■  Devil's  shoestring  "  in  Cherokee  lore  ..      425 

De  Witts  Corners,  treaty  of 53 

Dialects,  Cherokee 16,188  189,. 506 

Didapper,  m  Gallinule. 

iam  Johnson.      203 
Dillard,  .1.   11..  arbitrator  bel  wei  n    I  asl 

Cherokee  and  Thomas's  creditors 174 

i.  myths  ami  lore  concerning 250- 

■ 
I)tsKw.\"Ni.  see  Bi.YTin     i    n  i 
D   bbs,  .  on  Cherokee  and  Catawbs  pop- 
on  39 

<  Dog,  Cherokee  use  of,  for  food 

— ,  myths  concerning 26) 

Doherty,     Colonel,  guinsi 

Cherokee  under 75 

Donaldson  onlroquois 485 


Page 

Donelson,  Col      I 

ifi 

te  Suck H  i 

Dorsi  y,  in'..  \ lels iiM 

under  direction  "i  ...  xlviii 

on  Qui<         -  re nj  153 

Dorsi  '.    Rei     i    ' ' .,  ""  Siounn  mytl 



,  stud)  of  fraternities  and  cults  by xlviii 

i mil  ii      e  tpedition    against    Knox- 

ville  under 75 

— .  hostility  of,  in  iT'.u 



eadei       

-,  reservation  for 

.treatj  signed  bj     1806 
Doublehead,  leader  in  wai  «  ith  I  Ireel 
hin  GHERTY,  i  tablishment  of, 

i    i  radei  ami  ing  Cherokee 

rd's  relationship  with 

Douglas, Genera], defeat  of  Texas Cheroki 


b> 


I  15 


Dragging-canoe,    chiel    oi    Chickamaiiga 

band  S3 

— ,  enmit;  to  Americans  of A 

FLYin  Cherokee  lore 4.11 

Draki  "ii  '  tierokee fs  in  ' Ireek  war. . .  ','7 

—  mi  Cherokee  government in; 

i  reek  war 

■  mi  i'i  ei                       Removal 125 

—  on  Fort  Minis  massacre 216 

—  on  Georgia  acts  affecting  Cherokee.   ..  117,221 

—  on  imprisonment  of  missionaries... 120 

—  on  Indian  civilized  government 113 

—  on  Chief  McGillivray Jin 

—  on  Chief  Mcintosh jit 

—  i  m  Ross  arrest r:3 

-  nil  scalping  by  whites 209 

on  Shawano 195 

—  on  Tecumtha 216 

—  mi  Wayne's  victory 213 

—  mi  Weatherford  217 

mi  Ret .  S.  A.  Worcester 218 

Drama,  nature  and  development  of.  lxxvii-lxxxi 

hin  ss,  Cherokee,  in  1800 82 

'  in  rokee,  in  1819 137 

,Easl  Cherokee 166,176 

Cherokee 

lent  149 

Drowning-bear,  «e<  Yonaguska. 

Drums,  Cherokee 397 

Duck,  myth ncerning 266-267, 112 

Duncan,  prof . Clinton,  mi  effecl  ofG 

law-  in'                                      lis 

Dunlap,  General,  on  removal  treaty,  etc.  i  - 

Dunn,  D.  R.,acknov  ledgments  to..  13 

—  mi  Mi  '■                         222 

Dutch,  teeTk i  in 

Dwight  HI                        bment  of ISi 

— ,  provision  for  removal  of 140 

Eagle,  method  of  obtainiu 
— ,  myths  .mil 

283,286-  ' 

i-  i.i 

ii.i     '  i-i.   Eli  \s,    attempted    establish 
lm-ni  i,i  iron  works  by 


556 


Earthquakes  in  Cherokee  country 471 

East  Cherokee,  conservatism  of 12 

-.  history  of 157-181 

— ,  invitation  from  main  band  to 151 

— ,  manuscript  material  obtained  among..      112 

— .  present  status  of 227-228 

— .  removal  to  West-oil  some  of 152 

— ,  suit  against  main  band  by 151-152 

Ecanachaco,  see  Holy  Ground. 
Echota.  Cherokee  capital  and  peace  town.      14, 
21,207 

—.destruction  of  (1780) 58 

— ,  killing  of  Indians  at 74 

— ,  removal  of  capital  from 81 

— ,  sparing  of,  in  1776 51 

Eclipse,  beliefs  concerning J.'iT.  441 

Education  of  East  Cherokee 166 

— ,  see  also  Schools;  Syllabary. 

EDWARDS,  Haydex. rebellion  organized  by.       143 

Eel  in  Cherokee  myth 308 

Eggleston,  Edward,  onlTecumtha 216 

Egoism  in  esthetic  activities lix 

Egret,  in  Cherokee  myth 284 

Egyptians,  myths  of...*. 438 

Elephant,  Cherokee  name  for 265 

Elk  in  Cherokee  country 263,447 

— ,  myth  concerning 467 

Ei.vas,  Gentleman  op,  on  De  Soto's  expe- 
dition    24-27,191-201 

Emory,  — ,  study  of  ruins  discovered  by  ...     xiv 

Emukfaw  creek,  battle  of 92 

Enchanted  mesa,  exploration  of xiii-xix 

Energy,  discussion  of lxiv 

England.  Cherokee  visit  to 36 

— ,  enlistment  of  Tecumtha  in  service  of.. .        88 

— ,  see  <il<n  British. 

Enotochopco  creek,  attack  on  Jackson  at.        92 

Erie,  agreement  between  Seneca  and 852 

Esaw,  see  Catawba. 

Eskimo,  myths  of 441,443 

— ,  publication  of  paper  on xxx 

Espanola.  visit  to  ruins  near xv 

Esthetology,  or  the  science  of  activities 

designed  to  give  pleasure lv-xcii 

— ,  subject-matter  of xii 

— ,  work  in xix-xx 

Ethnic  science,  classification  of xi-xii 

Etowah,  burning  of  1 1 793 ) 75,82 

— t$et  also  Ytaua. 

Etowah  valley, collection  from xx-xxi 

Ettwein  on  nameTallige'wi 184 

European  myths,  connection  of  Cherokee 

with 232-236 

— ,  position  of  rabbit  in 232 

Evans,  Dr  J.  B..  on  Ani'-Kuta'nl 392-393 

Everett,  Edward,  on  Davis's  letter  to  Sec- 
retary of  War 127 

—  on  General  Dunlap's  address 128 

—  on  Georgia  laws  affecting  Cherokee lis 

—  on  Jackson's  attitude  toward  Cherokee. .      117 

—  on  Mason's  letter  to  Secretary  of  War 128 

—  on  New  Echi  ita  treaty 123 

—  on  number  of  troops  employed  in  Re- 
moval        129 

—  on  pressure  leading  to  Removal 125 

—  on  Ridge's  letter  to  President  Jackson...      128 

—  on  Ross  arrest,  etc 123 


Page 
Everett,  Edward,  on  Wool's  letter  con- 
cerning Removal 127 

— .opposition  to  removal  project  by 129 

Evergreens  in  Cherokee  lore 421 

Evil,  discussion  of Ivii-lviii 

Fable,  development  of lxxxii-lxxxiii 

Fair,  W.  A.,  acknowledgments  to 13 

Fairbanks  on  De  Soto's  route 198 

Fairies  in  Cherokee  myth 330-337.  475-477 

Fallen  Timbers,  battle  of 213 

Farming  among  Cherokee 82,105,112 

—  among  East  Cherokee 166 

— ,  Government  aid  in 82 

—  tools  among  Cherokee 101 

Fasting  among  Cherokee 120, 

321, 329, 335, 340, 341-342, 423, 470, 480 
Fay  and  Davidson  on  battle  of  Horseshoe 
bend  95,96 

—  on  battles  of  Emukfaw  and  Enotochopco 
creeks 93 

—  on  capture  of  Hillabee 91 

Fayne,  Captain,  expedition  against  Cher- 
okee under 65 

Feathers,  Indian  use  of 503-504 

— ,  study  of  symbolism  of xx 

Ferguson,  General,  attempted  invasion  of 

North  Carolina  and  Virginia  by 56-57 

Fernow,  Berthold,  on  Cherokee  popula- 
tion         34 

Ferns  in  Cherokee  lore 420 

Fewkes,  Dr  J.  W.,  identification  of  Hopi 

altar  by xlix,  li-lii 

— .  memoirs  by xxxix-xl,  xlv-xlvi 

— ,  model  of  Hopi  altar  by xlviii 

—  on  New-fire  ceremony 503 

— ,  study  of  fraternities  and  cults  by xlviii 

— ,  work  of xiii-xv,  xix-xxi,xxx 

Field  on  Davies'  history 202 

Field    Columbian    Museum,   models   of 

altars  in xlviii 

Fiesta  de  San  Estevan,  witnessing  of xiii 

Fighting,  Indian  method  of,  in  1793 76 

Financial  statement xxxiii 

Fine  arts,  discussion  of lxx-xci 

Finney,  Alfred,  Cherokee  missionary 136 

Fire,  Indian  methods  of  keeping 429-430 

— ,  myths  concerning 240-242, 404, 409, 431 

— ,  sacred,  of  Cherokee 395-396,  501-503 

Firearms,  Cherokee  use  of,  in  eighteenth 

century 82 

— ,  introduction  of,  among  Cherokee 32,213 

— ,  introduction  of,  among  coast  tribes 31 

Fire-carrier,  Cherokee  spirit 335,475 

Firefly  in  Cherokee  lore 309 

Fishes,  myths  concerning 251, 

285,289,307,320,455,469 

Fishing,  relation  of,  to  games lxix 

Fish  river,  identity  of 190 

Five  Nations,  see  Iroquois. 

Flageolets  among  Indians 455 

Fleabane  in  Cherokee  lore 420 

Fletcher,  Miss  A.  C,  study  of  fraternities 

and  cults  by xlviii 

Flint,  myths  concerning 234, 274, 451 

Flood,  myth  concerning 261,444-445 

Florida,  Indian  migration  to 99 

— .  study  of  collections  from xix 


557 


Page 
Floyd,  General,  assistance  given  by  Lower 

Creeks  to '.hi 

— ,  capture  of  Autossee  by 92 

— ,  defeat  of,  at  Calal :reek  93 

Flutes,  see  Flageolets. 

Plyi  ati  her  iti  Cherokee  myth 285 

I   i  \  M     SQ1   n:i;l  I     ..,  .     KA'LAHl 

Flyinq  squirrel,  myth  concerning  262, 

286  287,  154 
Fontanedo,  Cherokee  name  used  bj  - .  L82  183  187 

Food,  Indian  beliefs icerning -172 

] n    Presbyterian   missionary  work 

among  Cherokee 

Forbes,  John,  treaty  with  Cherokee  made 


l»v 


111 


Form,  pleasures  of lx-lxiii,  lxxiv,  lxxvii 

Fort  Armstrong,  garrisoning  of,  by  Cher- 
okee         92 

Fort  Dobbs,  building  of 40 

FortJm    Quesne,  building  of 39 

— ,  capture  of 40 

Fort  Gibson,  claims  based  on  treats  of 125 

— .  military  reservation  at 110 

— .  provisions  of  treaty  of 124 

— ,  treaty  of 142 

Fort  Loudon,  building  of 4U 

Fort  Mms,  massacre  at  89,216 

i'ii  Patrick  Henry,  building  of 51 

Fort  Pitt,  suggestion  made  at  treaty  of...      113 

Fort  Prince  George,  building  of 40 

— .  legend  of  siege  of 412 

— .  siege  of 42-13 

Fort  Recovery,  building  of 212 

i  "in  Smith,  Osage-Cherokee  council  at —      137 

iii  Stanwix,  treaty  of 203 

Fort  Toulouse,  establishment  of 34-35 

Foster  on  Cherokee  literature 112 

—  on  Cherokee  myths 431,436 

—  on  Cherokee  sehoolbooks 151 

—  on  death  of  Sequoya 148 

—  on  invention  of  the  syllabary 110 

—  on  translation  of  St  John's  gospel Ill 

Fourfooted  tribes 261-266,445-448 

Foormile,  collections  from xxi 

Fowke,  Gerard,  work  of xviii 

Fox,  myths  and  lore  concerning 263, 

265,266,272,431,452 
Franklin,  State  of,  intended  campaign 

against  Creeks  and  Cblckamauga  by 65 

— .  treaty  with  Cherokee  by 63-64 

Fraternity,  features  of 1 

— ,  study  of xlvi-1 

Fredonia    rebellion,  Cherokee    connec- 
tion with 143 

Freelanhs  station,  attack  on 62-63 

French,  encouragement  of  Cherokee  hos- 
tility by I      64 

— .  Natchez  war  with 386 

— ,  relations  of,  with  Indians 98,99 

— .  rivalry  of,  with  English :n-;,~> 

—  traders  m  Coldwater,  rapture  of 67 

French  and  Indian  war,  Cherokee  part  in.  39-10 

Friends,  work  of.  among  Cherokee 175-176 

Frog,  myths  concerning 251 

— ,  see  als<i  BULLFROG. 

Frostbite,  Cherokee  ideas  concerning 263 

Finn  GROWING  by  Cherokee 82,112 

—  by  Fast  Cherokee 176 


Page 

Gaelic  myths 168 

Gallatin.  Alrert,  on  Cherokee  linguistic 

relationship 16 

on  i  Ihi  roki  e  bj  llabary 

on   he  Soto's  route 198,198 

ik,  Cherokee  name  for '-i 

Galphin,  George,  establishmenl  of  trad- 
ing post  by  193 

GalCS'latI,  mytl ncerning.'.  231,239,240  i  i2 

Gambling  among  Indians  ...  lxvlii-lxix,434,465 

Gambold,  Rev.  J.,  Cherokee  missionary s4 

Games  discussion  of lxviii-lxix 

Ga'na.',  legend  of 367-370,  192  194 

GANE,  — ,  collection  by xxix 

Gann,  Thomas,  memoir  by vii  \iii 

I,  inogv.  i -.   legend  of 

■  i\-i  "ii   set  l;  vi  1 1  a rd  387 

G  ircilaso  de  la  Vega  on  DeSoto 
tion    23-27,191-201 

GATAYtSTl  CAME  of  Cherokee 434 

—,  myths  concerning 258-259,310,311  315  164 

GATSCHET.Dr  A.S..0D  Alabama  migration  -  '.>'.• 

—  onBiloxi  linguistic  affinity 500 

—  on  Catawba  linguistic  affinity    198 

—  on  Catawba  name  for  Cherokee 16 

—  on  Cherokee  relations  with  CI taw 390 

—  on  Chickasaw  500 

—  on  Creek  genesis  legend 229 

—  on  Creeks 499 

—  on  Creek  towns I'm,  201 

—  on  Col.  Benjamin  Hawkins 212 

—  on  1 1  it-li  i  t leer  si  nigs 435 

—  on  Koasati  migration 99 

—  on  Mobilian  trade  language 187 

—  on  inline  CotitMrhenii 193 

—  on  sacred  fire 503 

—  on  Taskigi  among  Creeks 389 

—  on  Yuchi  myths 421 

—  work  of xvii-xviii,  xxv 

GatOR'wa'li,  see  Hard-mi  sit. 

Gauntlet  running,  Indian  custom  of 490 

GAYARRE  on  Natchez  among  Cherokee 386 

Genesis    myths,    see   Cosmogonic    myths, 
sacred  myths. 

Gens,  features  of xlix.l 

'  1  -.  of  Elvas,  see  Elvas. 
Gentleman's  Magazine  on  Cherokee  war 

Of  1760-61 45 

Geological  Survey,  aeknow  ledgments  to.       12 
Georgia,  agreement  between  Federa  1  1  Ii  n 

eminent  and  (1802)  114 

— ,  arrest  of  John  Ross  by 122 

— ,  expedition  from,  in  1776 50 

— ,  extension  of  laws  of,  over  <  Iherokee 221 

— ,  intended  campaign  of,  against  Creeks 

and  Chickamauga 65 

— ,  local  legends  of 415-419 

— ,  opposition  to  a  Hot  merit  project  by 114 

— ,  part  taken  by,  in  Cherokee  removal 114- 

120. 129, 140 

pressure  for  land  cessions  bj   114-115 

— ,  product  ion  of  gold  in 2211,221 

.  protest  against  conditions  of  Bopi 

by 61 

— .  raid  by  citizens  of 71 

—.Removal  fort-sin 221 

1  1  y.  ac- 
knowledgments to 13 


558 


[ETH.  ANN.  19 


( ;  i:  i:  M  a  n  blood  among  Cherokee 83 

Ghost  country,  myths  concerning 253-254 

Ghost-dance  religion  among  Cherokee  ..       89 

Giants,  myths  of 391,500-501 

Gibson,  Col.  John,  on  name  Talligewi 184 

Gill,  DeLancey  \y.,  work  of xxxi 

Gill,  Rev.  W.W.,  on  Polynesian  myths..  431.112 

GlLLESPIES  station,  attack  on 65-66 

Gilmer,  Governor,  declaration  of,  concern- 
ing delay  in  removal 129 

Ginseng  in  Cherokee  lore 121, 425, 505 

Gist,  George,  see  Sequoya. 

Glass,  Cherokee  chief,  expulsion  of  whites 

from  Muscle  shoals  by 68 

Glossary  of  Cherokee  words 506-548 

Glowworm  in  Cherokee  lore 309 

Goat,  Cherokee  name  for 265 

Gold,  discovery  of,  in  Cherokee  country...      116 

— ,  occurrence  of,  in  Cherokee  country 26, 

29, 220-221 
Golden  Circle,  Knights  of,  secessionist 

organization 14S 

Golden  eagle,  Cherokee  ideas  concerning.      281 
— ,  see  also  Eagle. 

Going-snake,  signer  of  act  of  union 135 

Gomez,  visit  to  America  by 191 

Good,  discussion  of lvii-lviii 

Goose,  myths  concerning 251-255, 284, 325 

Goshawk,  myths  concerning 284,466 

Gourd  in  Cherokee  lore 454-455 

Government,  Cherokee,  modification  in...    112- 
113, 116, 135 

— ,  East  Cherokee,  organization  of 1 73 

— ,  Indian,  steps  toward  abolition  of 153-154 

— ,  republican,  adoption  of,  by  Cherokee.  106-107 

— ,  tribal,  organization  of xlix 

— ,  United  States,  aid  in  farming  and  me- 
chanic arts  given  by 82-83, 104-105 

Grant,  Col. ,  expedition  against  Chero- 
kee under  44 

Grape  in  Cherokee  lore 422 

Grapevine,  myths  concerning 465,501 

Graphic  art,  nature  and  development  of.  Ixxiv- 
lxxvii 
Graves,  Edward,  supposed  introduction  of 

spinning  wheels  by 214 

Gray  squirrel,  myths  concerning 262 

Greeley,   Horace,  on  Cherokee   part  in 
civil  war t 148 

—  on  effect  of  Georgia  anti-Cherokee  laws. .      118 

—  on  events  preceding  removal 125 

—  on    imprisonment    of    missionaries    by 
Georgia 120 

Green-corn  dance  among  western  Chero- 
kee        146 

— ,  component  ceremonies  of 279, 290, 452 

— ,  fire  lighting  before 396 

— .purificatory  rites  in  230 

Greenland,  work  in xviii 

Greensnake,  myths  concerning 280,296-297 

Greer,  L.JI.,  acknowledgments  to 13 

Gregg,  Josiah,  on  Shawano  myths 437 

Gregory  bald, myths  concerning 407.473 

Grinnell  on  Blackfoot  and  Pawnee  myths,      432 
445-446, 447, 451. 462-463, 473 

—  on  Blackfoot  method  of  catching  eagles .      453 
Grippe  among  East  Cherokee 179 


Page 

Groundhog,  myths  concerning . .  279.152 

Gboi  nd  squirrel,  myths  concerning.  251,263,436 
Grouse,  see  Pheasant. 

grub  worm,  myths  and  lore  concerning 251- 

252,280,308 

Guadalajara, Cherokee  in  vicinity  of 1 16 

Guaquili,  De  Soto's  visit  to 25,28, 194 

GUASII.I,  six  GUAXULE. 
Gl'ATARI,  see  Wateree. 

GUAXULE,  De  Soto's  visit  to 25,26,195-197 

Guess  (Guest),  George,  see  Sequoya. 

GCLSADmi',  legend  of 376-377 

Guns,  see  Firearms. 

GuSsk  Ali'sk i .  legend  of 375-377 

Habitat,  Cherokee 14-15 

Hagar, Stansbury, acknowledgments  to..        13 

—  on  Cherokee  myths 431 

437, 441, 442, 443, 445, 447, 470.  476,  481 

—  on  Ulunsu'tl 460 

Hale  on  Cherokee  linguistic  relationship..  16 

—  on  Cherokee  migrations 191 

—  on  Iroquoian  migrations 189 

Haliburton, ,  acknowledgments  to...  13 

Hall,  Rev.  James,  shooting  of  negro  by...  52 

Hall,  see  McKenney  and  Hall 85 

Hamilton,  Governor,  project  of,  for  unit- 
ing Indians  in  attack  on  American  fron- 
tier    55 

Hamilton, ,  on  Fort  Mims  massacre...      216 

Hamstrings,  Indian  custom  of  removing..      447 
Handley,  Capt.  Samuel,  capture  and  re- 
lease Of 74 

Hanging-maw,  capture  of  Creek  murderer 

by  order  of 77 

— ,  conference  at  Tellico  attended  by 79 

— ,  killing  of  wife  of 74 

— ,  expedition  against  Creeks  under 77 

— ,  wounding  of 74 

Harden,  E.  J.,  on  events  leading  to  Re- 
moval        125 

Harden,  William,  acknowledgments  to  ..        13 

Hard  Labor,  treaty  of 46,203 

Hard-mush,  death  of 145 

—  on  Iroquois  peace  embassy 353, 355, 356 

— ,  treaty  with  Texas  signed  by 144 

Harley,  Timothy,  on  Eskimo  myths .441 

—  on  primitive  ideas  concerning  eclipses ..      141 

Harmony,  development  of lxxii-lxxiii 

Harris,  Bird,  plan  for  emigration  by 156 

Harris,  I.  X.,  printer  of  Cherokee  Phoenix.      Ill 
Harris,  J.  C,  on  character  of  rabbit  in  ne- 
gro tales 233 

—  on  negro  myths 448, 450, 452 

—  on  relation  of  Indian,  negro,  and  Euro- 
pean myths 234 

Harrison,    Benjamin,    proclamation    by, 

preventing  lease  of  Cherokee  strip 153 

Harrison,  Gen.  W.  H.,  capture  of  Prophet's 

town  by 215 

Hart,  J.  C,  on  East  Cherokee  condition  in 

1897 179 

Hatcher,  J.  B.,  work  of xviii 

Hatcinondon,  legend  of 362,490-491 

Haunted  whirlpool,  legend  of 347 

Hawk,  myths  and  lore  concerning  ..  284,286-287 
— ,  see  also  TlA'nuwA. 


55VI 


Page 

Hawkins,  Col.  Benjamin,  life  of 211-212 

ob  '  iherokee  attitude  in  war  ,,i  1812 89 

—  mi  Cherokee  industries  in  1801  .  82 

—  on  Cherokee  receptionof  Prophet  - 
trine 

—  on  Chi  refugees  at  \\  illstown 209 

ide 82 

on  i  >,  eks 199 

—  on  Fori  Mims  massacre 216 

—on  introduction  of  spinning  »  1 Is 214 

—  on  Koasati  migration 99 

icred  fire 503 

—  on  Taskigi  among  Creeks 389 

—  mi  threatened  secession  of  progressives 
(aboul  1800) 88 

—  on  use  of  parched  corn 181 

—  en  Yin  In  499 

—,  treaty  concluded  bj   61 

— ,  visit  to  Cherokee  b>  55 

Haywood,  John,  or.  Cherokee  migrations 

and  predecessors 21-22 

—  on  Cherokee  heroism 394-395 

—  on  Cherokee  myths 20, 

229,  140,  111,  445,  169,  17!   178 

—  on  Cherokee  relations  with  Chickasaw..      390 

—  on  Cherokee  relations  with  Creeks ....  184 

—  on  Cherokee  relations  with  Tuscarora...      379 

—  on  conflicts  with  Cherokee 76 

—  on  destruction  of  <  Ihickamauga  towns. . .  55, 79 

—  on  tirst  trader  among  Cherokee 31 

—  on  introduction  of  guns  among  Chero- 
kee    32, 213 

—  on  killing  of  Scott  party  and  Bowl  mi- 
gration    77,100-101 

—  on  Nancy  Ward 204 

—  on  Natchez  among  Cherokee 388 

—  on  office  of  "  pretty  woman  " 490 

—  on   Sevier   and    Campbell's   expedition 
(1780) 58 

Haywood,  John,  on  Shawano  wars..  371,372,494 

—  on  shining  rock  and  Track  Mock  gap  ...      4so 

—  on  surrender  of  Fort  London 44 

—  on  Tennessee  Assembly'smemorial  1 1794)       76 

Headdress.  Cherokee 474 

Hearin...  pleasure,  of lxx-lxxiv 

Heckewelder,  John,  on  Cherokee  migra- 
tions         191 

—  on  Delaware-Cherokee  relations 37.1, 

:;s    179,  194 

—  ..n  Delaware  regard  for  snakes 158 

—  on    Delaware     traditions     concerning 
Cherokee is 

—  on  expression  "a night's  encampment".       20 

—  on  Indian  attitude  toward  bear 44s 

—  on  Indian  ideas  a  I !  animals 445 

—  on  name  Tallege'wi 184 

—  on  Shawano 195 

Hell,  development  of  concept  of lxxxv 

flEMR  .'ARRIKR.  legend  of 364,  367,  I'M 

Henderson  purchase  from  Cherokee 4f> 

Henry  on  Indian  attitude  toward  bears.  446-147 

—  on  Ojibwa  myths 445 

—  on  i  niiiua  regard  forsnakes 457-i.\s 

Herbert's  9pbing,  legend  of " 

Heron  on  Cherokee  myths 284,285 

Heroism,  legends  of 894-395,501 

Herring,  Elbert,  on  assassination  of  John 

Walker 121 


ius  by 176 

Hewai    on   as ul  ol    3i luth   ' larollna 

u  ith  I  i  erol  ee 32 

-on  Chei  34 

Iheroki  e  relations  with  Tuscarora...       32 

—  on  Cherokee  » i 3  i 

—  on  first  i  iherokee  war  «  ith  col 

on  surrender  of  F..rt  London 13,44 

Hewitt,  J,  v  B„  on   Cherokee   lin 

relationship 16 

on  ]  roquois  mj  ths i 

—  on  Mohawk  language 188 

—  on  Mohawk  name  for  Cherokee 16 

—  on  name  Hiadeoni 189 

— ,  study  of  fraternities  and  cults  by xlviii 

— .  work  of xviii.  xxv-xxvi 

IIey.iwam  iii  Texas,  union  of,  with  Chei 

okee  143 

II; m.  legend  of 356,  189 

Hichitee,  deei  songs  of 135 

— ,  migration  of ,  to  Florida 99 

— ,  tribe  of  Creek  confederacy 198  199 

Hickoryntjt  oar,  myth  connected  with.         138 

Hicks,  C,  R.,  election  of,  as  chief 112 

— ,  endeavor  to  introduce  coffee  by 214 

on  m  in  \  Ills 441 

Hicks,  Elijah,  letter  to  Secretary  of  War  bj       11 
Hightower,  establishment  of  mission  at  ..      105 

Hillabee,  capture  of 91 

Hindi-  myths 431 

Hi n.man,  S.  D-,  on  Sioux  myths 450 

Historical  traditions,  Cherokei 

History  of  Cherokee 1 1-228 

Histrionic  art,  development  of...  lxxix-lxxxi 

Hiwassee,  pseudomyth  concerning  416 

Hiwassee  Towns,  burning  of  (1788  i 65 

— .  hostility  of  (1786)  63 

Hobbs,  B.  C.  contract  for  schools  among 

East  Cherokee  brought  aboul  by 176 

Hobbs,  B.  C,  on  East  Cherokee  schools 176 

Hodge,  F.  W.,  work  of xiii, 

xv.  xxix-xxx.  xxxi,  xxxii 

HOG,  '  Iherokee  name  for 215 

— ,  raising  of,  by  Cherokee s2. 1 12 

Hog-sucker  in  Cherokee  myth 308 

Holbrook,  J.  E.,  on  Pleistodon 163 

HoLMl  -,  J.  I...  on  Chief  X.  ,1.  Smith 178 

—  on  Cherokee  missions v  I 

Holston,  supplement  to  treaty  of 77 

-,  treaty  of    17911 69.211 

Holy  Ground,  battle  of 92,217   .02 

Honduras,  memoir  on  mounds  in xli-xlii 

Honey,  see  Bees. 

Honey-locust,  myths  and  lore  concerning.  312- 
,  a.',  i-i 

HOOTING  owl,  Cherokee  name  for 281,284 

— .  myth  concerning 211 

Hopewell,  location  of 211 

—.treaty  of 61 

— ,  violations  of  treaty  of 68 

Hopewell  i  ommission  ers  on  spinning  and 

weaving  among  Cherokee 211 

Hori.  model  of  altar  of xlviii-xlix 

— , Owakulti  altar  ..f l.liii 

— ,-tud:   .a   ceremonies,   fraternities,  and 

altars  of xiii,  xlv-lii 

Horned  owl,  Cherokee  name  for 281,284 

—.myth  concerning 241 

Hornet,  myth  concerning 106 


560 


[ETH. 


Page 
Horses  among  Cherokee 82, 112,213 

—  among  East  Cherokee ITS 

—  in  Cherokee  myth 265,346,  143,  182 

Horseshoe  bend,  battle  of 93-96 

— ,  Cherokee  warriors  at 104 

— ,  conduct  of  Houston  at 222 

"Hot-house,"  see  Asi 462 

Hough,  Dr  Walter,  work  of xv 

Hoi'MA,  tribe  of  Choctaw  confederacy 500 

Houses,  Cherokee 82, 137 

— ,  East  Cherokee 166 

Houston-,  Samuel,  adopted  father  of 136 

— ,  conduct  of,  at  battle  of  Horseshoe  bend  .        95 
— .  efforts  of,  in  behalf  of  Texas  Cherokee.  144-145 

—  life  of 222-224 

— ,  treaty  with  Cherokee  by 144 

Huckleberries,  myths  concerning 259 

Hudson,  Henry,  legend  of  landing  of 350 

Huhu,  myths  and  lore  concerning 281 

285, 292-293. 456 
Hummingbird,  myths  concerning 254- 

255,290-291,455 

Humor, Cherokee 397-399,503 

Hunting  among  Cherokee  (1800) 82 

— ,  relation  of,  to  games  -  - 1  xix 

Hutchins  on  Indian  warpath 207 

Hyades,  myth  concerning 442 

Iawanie,  see  Heyowani. 

Ice  Man,  myth  of 322-323,470 

Illustrations,  work  in xxx-xxxi 

Imitation,  part  played  by,  in  sports  lxiv,  lxy-lxvi 

Indian  Territory,  population  of 154 

— ,  steps  toward  opening  up  of 153-154 

Insects,  myths  and  lore  concerning 239, 

241-242,244,308,401,430 
Intermarriage  of  whites  with  Cherokee. .  83 
Intruders  in  territory  of  civilized  tribes.  152,154 

Irish  blood  among  Cherokee 83 

Iroquoian  tribes,  distribution  of 17 

— ,  migrations  of 189-190 

— ,  study  of  lauguages  of x  xvi 

— ,  work  among xviii 

Iroquois,  attitude  of,  during  Revolution  . .        47 

— ,  blood  of,  among  Cherokee 234 

— ,  Cherokee  relations  with 14, 18, 38 

— ,  control  of  revenues  of  156 

— ,  legends  of  Cherokee  wars  with 232, 

351-370,485-494 

— ,  migration  to  Canada  by  99 

— ,  mode  of  addressing  Delawares  used  by. .      497 

— ,  myths  of 229,234,429,430,432,436,439,440, 

443, 447, 448, 451, 454, 469, 471, 473, 501, 504 

—  name  for  Catawba 498 

—  name  for  Cherokee 16 

— ,  peace  embassies  of 109,352, 

353-356, 365, 367-370, 485-488, 491-194 

— ,  peace  towns  among 208 

— ,  sketch  of 483-485 

— ,  study  of  fraternities  and  cults  of xlvii 

Irrigation  by  inhabitants  of  Pueblo  Viejo.      xv 

Irving  on  De  Soto's  route 193, 195, 198 

Isu,  JOHN,  killing  of 77 

Iskagua,  change  of  name  by 69 

Issa,  De  Soto's  visit  to 28 

Itaba,  see  Ytaua. 

ItAgO'nAh!,  see  Ax,  John. 

Ivy,  A.  E.,  on  Cherokee  schools 155 


Page 

Jack,  Col.  Samuel,  expedition  under 50 

Jackal,  myth  concerning 453 

Jackson,  Gen.  Andrew,  address  to  Chero- 
kee by 122 

— ,  attack  on  Creeks  at  Talladega  by 91 

— ,  attitude  of,  toward  Cherokee 117,119 

— ,  defeat  of  Creeks  at  Horseshoe  bend  by..  93-96 

— ,  determination  of,  for  Cherokee  removal      123, 

140, 159 

— ,  election  of,  as  President 117 

— ,  Houston's  relations  with 223 

— ,  Junaluska's  saying  about 164 

— ,  proclamation    against  crossing   Sabine 

river  by 143 

— ,  relief  of  Turkeytown  by  order  of 90 

— ,  remark  of,  concerning  Supreme  Court 

decision 120 

— ,  reply  to  Cherokee  protests  against  New 

Echota  treaty  by 126 

— ,  retreat  from  Emukfaw  creek  by 92 

— ,  treaty  signed  by 103 

Jackson,  Mai.  R.  C,  acknowledgments  to..        13 

—  on  assassination  of  John  Walker 121 

Jamaica,  collection  from xxix 

Jar-fly  in  Cherokee  lore 308 

JAY,  myth  concerning 284,466-468 

Jefferson,  President  Thomas,  encourage- 
ment of  westward  emigration  by. . .  101, 102, 113 

—  on    attempted    establishment    of    iron 

w  i  irks  in  Cherokee  country  (1807) 86 

—  on  burial  mound  in  Virginia 20-21 

— ,  suggestions  to  Cherokee  by 113 

Jeffreys  on  Mobilian  trade  language 187 

Jenks,  Dr  Albert  E.,  memoir  by lii-liv 

J  ESSAN,  ser  TSESA'NI. 

Jesuits,  work  of,  among  Cherokee 36-37 

J  ews,  peace  towns  among 207 

Jicarilla,  myths  of 229, 

431, 433, 443,  450. 451 , 452. 473 

— ,  study  of  language  of xxvi 

— ,  work  among xv-xvi 

Jimsonweed  in  Cherokee  lore 426 

Joanna  bald,  myth  concerning 407 

Joara, sec  Xuala. 

Job's  tears  in  Cherokee  lore 420 

Johnson,   Sir  William,    arrangement   of 
peace  between  Iroquois  and  Cherokee  by  38, 352 

— ,  life  of 202-203 

Johnson,  Gov. ,  census  of  Cherokee  com- 
piled by  34 

—  on  Indian  civilized  government 113 

Johnston,  Gen.  A.  S.,  commissioner  to  Cher- 
okee        145 

Johnston,  William,  seizure  of  East  Cher- 
okee lands  by 173-174 

Johnston, .study  of  ruins  discovered  by.     xiv 

Jolly,  John,  Cherokee  chief 136-137 

— ,  Houston's  relations  with 222-223 

Jones,  Rev.  Evan,  admission  of,  to  Cherokee 

citizenship 150 

— ,  missionary  among  Cherokee 108 

— ,  payment  to 150 

— ,  translation  of  New  Testament  by 108 

— ,  Wafford's  study  under 238 

— ,  worl}  of  N.  J.  Smith  for 178 

Jones,  John  B.,  admission  of,  to  Cherokee 

citizenship 150 

— ,  organization  of  Ketoowah  society  by  - . .      225 


ETtl.  ANN.  19] 


561 


Fohn  B..  preparation  of  schoolbooks 

by 153 

lost:-.  \v.  A.,  mii  Cherokee  emigration  plana      156 

i  told  by Is!' 

Junks. .  on  Cherokee  refugees  in  Flor- 


ida 


— on  De  Luna's  expedition 201 

—on  De  Soto's  route 193,195,197, 198 

—on  Jack's  expedition 50 

—on  petroglyphs  at  Track  Rock  gap  118 

—  tin  Spanish  mines 201,202 

—  on  Williamson's  expedition :'ii 

JUADA,  .-"    X'   Al   I. 

Judgment,  discussion  of Ivi-lvii 

ska,  East  Cherokee  chief i"i  165 

— .  pan  taken  by,  in  Creek  war '.'7 

JTJTACULLA,  see  TSUL'KALU'. 
Jutaculi  ..  Dld  Kin  ds,  myths  concerning.     107, 
176,  IT'.' 

Ki'i.  in"".  East  Cherokee  chief 178 

-.  myth  told  by 139 

Houston   -  imuel. 

KAna'sta,  myth  concerning Ml  342,  180 

Kana'il  myths  concerning 242  249, 

21  2,  264,280,  13]    135,  ill.  164 
Kane  on  Nisqualli  myths 172 

—  on  Wallawalla  myths 448 

Kabankawa,  information  concerning  —     xvi 

Katal'sta,  last  Cherokee  potter 164 

K at y ini  i.  myth  concerning Ill   16 3 

Kaw,  settlement  of,  on  Cherokee  strip 151 

Keenek.   Rev.    Ulrich,   preacher   among 

Cherokee 165 

Kennedy.  .  expedition  againsl  I  hero 

kee  under  (1788) 65 

Kentucky ,  work  in xviii 

K ei i wee.  stone  cirnm  in 397 

Kerr,  Captain,  part  taken  by.  in  battle  of 

Horseshoe  bend 94 

Ketoowab  society,  eharactei  and  history 


of. 


I-. J 


226 


— .  opposition  to  allotment  project  by 156 

— ,  part  taken  by.  in  Civil  war lis 

Khasias,  myths  of 411 

...  in  Texas,  wanderings  of . lit; 

— ,  union  of,  with  Cherokee 143 

Kini4.  Cussetah,  mi  Cherokee  attitude  in 

war  of  1812 89 

Kingi  [SHER,  myths  concerning 

Kings  mountain,  battle  at 7 

Kinship,  Cherokee  term-  of 168 

— .  Indian  use  of  terms  of 191, 197 

— .  influence  of,  on  tribal  organization xlix 

Kintiei-  ruin,  excavation  of xiii 

— .  collection  from xxi 

Kiowa,  death  song  of  warrior  order  of  . 

— .  myths  nf i 

— .  owl-inspired  medicine-man  of 

-,  publication  of  paper  mi xvi,  xxi x 

— ,  tribai                           503 

•.mii.y.  murder  oft                          ■■  65 

— ,  murder  of  mi                       Chi  rokee —  65 

Kituhwa,  introduction  of  Christianity  at..  1'-'' 

— ,  legend  of  mound  at 

.  Ketoowah. 


ming  iimi  derive 

na  ine 16,182,878 

— .  »,  also  >ym inymy. 

kmi.ii  i-  -i    i  in    Golden   Ciri  i  e,  ret 

secessionist  organization 

i..m.  myth  told  bj 

Knox   J J,  instructions  of,  i"  Ethnologisl 

70-71 

—  on    Chickamauga    declaration    "f   war 
(1792) 71 

—  .in  .mi inn,  in  mi  i  iherokee    lands 

(1789      68 

ii  i  exas,  union  of,  with  Chi  rokei       1 13 

.  i  hi  i i-Mi"issippi  migration  b) 99 

ini i  Creek  confederacy 198-499 

Korean  myths,  position  of  rabbit  in 

Kroebek,  A..  L.,  on  Cheyenne  myths 141, 

149,  i  i 

—  on  Eskimo  myths 

KUNNESEE,  part  taken  by.  in  creek  war '.'7 

i  Ioca;  Coosa;  ■  s 

Lady-slipper  in  Cherokee  lore i-'t) 

I.ai.i  na,  work  at xiv 

Lake  Chapala,  Cherokee  in  vicinity  of...      116 
Lamar,  M.  B..  attitude  of,  towai  : 

Indians 

Land  cessions,  Cherokee ;i 

15-46,53-54,60,61,  n-  69 

8,  102, 123,  i 

— ,  Chickasaw 86 

-,  laws  against 107,141 

— .  publication  of  paper  mi xxx 

Lands,  Cherokee,  fixing  of  boundaries  of..      188 

—,  Cherokee,  lottery  of 117 

— .  East  Cherokee, adjustment  oi  nib'  to    173-174 
Lanman,  chaki.es.  on  Charley's  escapi  in  ■ 

surrender 131 

—  on  Cherokee  myths 

■  c 
gia  gold  lottery 117 

—  on  Junulraska 164 

luthem  gold  fields —  l 

—  on  Col.  u    ill  bomas. 162 

■  -.  visit  to  East  Cherokee  by 166 

■   name  lor 281 

Laurel  in  Cherokee  lore i-"-' 

Lawson  on  cairns  in  eastern  Uniti 

—  on  English  conduct  toward  Indians 38 

—  on  "flying stag" 

—  on  gambling  by  Indians 

—  on  gatayustl  game 

mi  heating  ami  lighl  ingi 

—  mi  I  in  ban  marriage  customs is'j 

mi  Indian  regard  for  snakes 157 

—  on  Indian  storehouse 

—  on  lake  in  South  Carolina 200 

ppossum 149 

—  on  peaches  i ng  i  Iherokee 214 

mi  planters'  regard  for  martin 455 

—  on  Tuscarora  myths  and  

-  on  Tuscarora  population 198 

—  on  wampum 489 

ong  North  i  Carolina  ea 
,  i     i    i    i                       'i             1  nited 



!!.»    ETII      "1 


-36 


562 


[ETH.  ANN.  19 


Page 
Lederer,  John,  on  Cherokee  invasion  of 
Virginia 300 

—  on  gatayustl  game 434 

—  on  1 ; i k ■  -  in  South  Carolina 200 

—  on  Rickahockan 30-31 

—  on  Tuscarora  "  emperor  " 198 

—  on  Ushery  feather  ornament 501 

Leech,  myth  concerning 329-330, 171 

Leland,  C.  G.,on  Algqnquian  myths 451 

Lenoir,  myth  concerning Ill 

Lewis,  Maj.  Andrew,  building  of  Fort  Lou- 
don by 40 

— ,  expedition  against  Shawano  by 11 

Library,  accessions  to xxx 

Library  of  Congress,  acknowledgments 

to 12 

Lichen,  see  U'tsAla 

Lichens  in  Cherokee  lore 420 

Life.  Indian  ideas  concerning  seat  of 391,415s 

Lightning,  myths  concerning 300-301. 

422, 135, 142.  461,462,  464, 465,  506 

Lingoa  GERAL,  character  and  use  of 187 

Linguistic  research xvi 

Linn  in  Cherokee  myths  and  Lire 121.46ti.50o 

Lion ,  my tiis  concerning 452 

— ,  see  oho  Panther. 

Lipan,  study  of  language  of xxvi 

Little  Carpenter  on  Shawano  wars  ...  371,372 
Little  Deer,  myths  concerning.  250-251,262-264 
Little  Men,  myths  concerning 252-254, 

295,297.435,430.438 
Little  People,  myths  concerning 289, 

333-334, 430, 455,  464 
Little  Tennessee  towns,  burning  of  (178S).        65 

Little  Turtle,  defeat  of  St  Clair  by 212 

Lizards  in  Cherokee  myth  and  lore..  305-307,407 

Locomotive,  myth  concerning 351 

Lone  peak,  myth  concerning 335 

Long  Hair,  chief  of  Ohio  band 79 

Long  island,  battle  near 48 

— ,  cession  of S5 

— ,  treaty  of  (1777) 53 

— ,  treaty  of  (1781) 59 

Long  Island  ti  pwn,  building  of 54 

L [OUT  Mountain  town,  building  of 54 

Looms,  set  Weaving. 

Los kiel  on  Delaware-Cherokee  relations.  378,  194 

—  on  name  Tallige'wi 184 

Lossing  on  battle  of  Hillabee 91 

—  on  battle  of  Horseshoe  bend 96 

—  on  battle  of  Tallaseehatchee 91 

—  on    garrisoning  of  Fort  Armstrong    by 
Cherokee 92 

Louisiana,  cession  of,  to  Spain 40 

Lovewell,  — ,  Indian  scalp  hunting  by..  20.8-209 

Low  on  capture  of  Hillabee 91 

Low  re  y,  Maj.  George,  letter  to  Calhoun  by.  115 

—  on  Iroquois  peace  embassy Iso 

— ,  signer  of  act  of  union 135 

Lowrey,  Col.  John,  part  taken  by,  in  Creek 

war 90,91,97 

Lyttleton,   Governor,    negotiations    with 
Cherokee  by  (1758-59) 42 

McCarthy,  W.  C.  East  Cherokee  agent..  174-175 

—  .,ii  East  Cherokee  condition  (1875) 17.5 

MacCormack,  — ,  collection  by xxix 


Page 

Mcculloch  on  De  Soto's  route 193 

McDowell,  — .  defeat  of  Ferguson  by 57 

—  on  Ohio  Cherokee / 79 

McFarland,  Colonel,  expedition  under...        75 

McGee,  Dr  W  J,  memoir  by xliii-xliv 

— ,  work  of xx.  xxi.xxix 

McGillviray,  Gen.  Alexander,  endeavor 

to  form  Indian  confederacy  by 72 

— ,  life  of 209-210 

—.ransom of  Mrs.Brownby 65 

— ,  remonstrance  against  Creek  raids  to 67 

M  im.uwan,  Dr  D.  J.,  on  Ani'  Kuta'nl 393 

—  on  farewell  address  of  Floyd  Welch...  226-227 

—  on  Ketoowah  society 226 

McIntosh,  Gen.  William,  attitude  of,  during 

Creek  war 89, 90 

— ,  killingoi 134 

— ,  life  of 216-217 

— ,  removal  of  Creeks  after  killing  of 385 

— ,  treaty  signed  by 61 

McKenney,  Thomas,  Chief  of  Indian  Bu- 
reau (1825)  Ill 

—  on  Cherokee  government 107 

McKenney  and  Hall  on  battle  of  Horse- 
shoe bend 96 

—  on  Cherokee  declaration  of  war  against 
Creeks  (1813) 89 

—  on  invention  of  Cherokee  syllabary 110 

—  on  killing  of  Doublehead 85 

—  on  number  of  Cherokee  in  Creek  war 96 

—  on  Osage-Cherokee  troubles 137 

—  on  Prophet's  mission  among  Cherokee  . .       89 

—  on  Sequoya's  ancestry 109 

—  on  Tahehee 141 

McMinn.Gov.  Joseph,  effort  to  cause  Chero- 
kee removal  by 105 

— ,  emigration  under  direction  of 103 

— ,  figures  of,  on  Cherokee  emigration 106 

— ,  treaty  signed  by 103 

McNair,  David,  grave  of 221-222 

Magic  in  Cherokee  myth 243,246, 

255, 277-278, 279, 320,  374-375, 
393-394,434,501,  502,  passim 

— .  Indian  practiceof 495 

Mahii  an.  association  of,  with  Delawares.. 

— .  modern  representatives  of 498 

— .  separation  of,  from  Delawares 19 

Maine,  work  in xiii.xvii-xviii 

Maize,  see  Corn. 

Man,  myth  of  origin  of 240 

Mandan,  myths  of 429 

Manso,  work  among xvi 

Manteran,  meaning  of  name 16,183 

— ,  see  also  Catawba. 

Margry*  on  Cherokee  relations  with  Choc- 
taw       390 

Marion,  aid  given  to,  by  Sevier 211 

Marriage,  acculturation  through...  xxiii-xxiv 

— ,  Cherokee  customs  relating  to 481-482 

Marshall,  John,  decision  of,  in  Worcester 

0.  State  of  Georgia 119-120 

Martin,  Joseph,  on  Cherokee  temper  in 
1786 63 

—  on  encroachments  of  Tennesseeans 64 

—  on  French  and  Spanish  encouragement 

of  Cherokee  hostility 62 

—  on  Sevier's  expedition  ( 1781 ) 59 


563 


Martin.  Joseph,  treaty  signed  by 61 

.   Gen.    — ,   expedition    against 

Cherokee  under 65 

Martin,       -,  on  expedition  trom  Virginia 

through  I  herokee  country SO 

M  w:  1 1'    i'i\  iii-  concerning 287,  i  A 

Maryi  ind,  production  of  gold  in 220 

Maryville,  attack  on 65 

M  \so\      .1       M    ,  nil     I    IliTi  '1.,  e    upp,,- II     hi 

removal  project 128 

m  MMii«-.  in   Washington,  on  Navaho 

myths 229,443,447-448,468    01 

— ,  stu.ly  oi  fraternities  and  cults  by xlvii 

Maumee  rapids,  effect  of  battle  of 81 

— ,  participation  ol  Cherokee  in  battle  of ..       79 

Mauvila,  battle  of 96, 191 

Jhvi   mythsof 151 

— ,  memoir  on  calendar  system  of xlii-xliii 

May  apple  in  Cherokee  lore 420 

Mayes,  Chief  J.  B.,  proposition  for  land  ces- 
sion made  to 153 

i  lark,  Cherokee  name  for 281 

— ,  myth  concerning 467 

Mechanic  lets  among  Cherokee 104,112 

—  among  East  Cherokee 166-167 

Medicine,  myths  concerning 250-252,435-436 

"Medicine,"  tribal,  of  Cherokee 396-397,503 

— .  war,  Indian  beliefs  concerning...  393-394,501 
Medii  l,  \V..  on  Catawba  among  East  Cher- 
okee       165 

—  on  Ea-t  Cherokee  censuses 167 

Meek  on  De  Soto's  route 192,193,197,198 

Meherrix,  habitat  and  migrations  of 17 

Meigs,  Gen.  R.  J.,  aid  given  to  missionary- 
work  by 84 

— .delegation   brought   to  Washington   by 

(1898) 106 

— ,  instructions  to,  to  cause  removal  of  Cher- 

fco  the  West mi 

— .  life  of 211-21:, 

— Iherokee  attitude  in  war  of  1812 89 

—  on  Cherokee  services  in  creek  war 97 

—  on  se.ret  article  of  treaty  of  1807 86 

— .  recommendation  for  Cherokee  citizen- 
ship by  114 

— .  treaties  brought  about  by m  85 

M  blody,  development  of lxxi 

Memphis,  surrender  of  Spanish  post  at si 

Menendez,  establishment  of  fort  by.. 27 

—  on  Pardo's  expedition 28,29 

MENSTRUATION  in  Cherokee  myth  ami  be- 
lief    319       '   ! 

Meredith  on  adoption  of  Cherokee  con- 
stitution        113 

—  on  .loh  n  ROSS 114,221 

Meriwether,  Gen.  David,  treaty  signed  by.      1113 

Mesa  Knoantada,  exploration  of xiii 

"Mescal,"  ta  Peyote. 

Mkscai.ci;,,,  study  of  language  of xxvi 

— .  work  among xvi 

Ml  SSENGER,  chi  rokee.  .-■>'  CHEROKEE  mi  - 

-km.  1  1: 

Mir  iboi  law,  pleasures  of lix-lx 

Metaphor,  development  of lxxvii-xei 

METEOR,  Cherokee  name  for 112 

Methodists,  work  of,  among  East  Cherokei 
Mexico,  alleged  <  eementwith.    144- 

145 


Mi\ Iherokee  in in; 

collection  from xxix 

— ,  granl  I,.  Cherokee  by  I  13 

"i.  men  on  numeral sysl loi xliv-xlv 

— ,  proposed  Che] ........    1  .  1    1  .e 

work  in  xvi.xvii 

Migrations,  Cherokee 17-21 

Migration  traditions,  Cherokee...   1 
,  set  alto  Sacred  my  i  hs, 

.  of  rusayan,  memoir  on xxxix  xl 

Sai  red  MY  I  us 

Milfori  en  raskigi  among  Creeks 389 

Milky  Way,  myth  concerning 

Mim 1  ernor,  efforts  for  1  isagi  Chero 

kee  peace  bj 137 

Mni  igan,     .mi '  latawba  In  1  herokee  war.        11 

M11  is  among  Cherokee 85,  mi 

Mimicry,  part  played  by.  in  athletics Ixiv, 

Ixv-lxvi 

MlNDELKFF,  COSMOS,  memoirs  by xxix,  xli 

Minks.  Spanish,  in  Alleghenies 29,202 

Mink,  myths  concerning 263    .     152 

MlRO.Gov.  Kstevan,  on  Cherokee  migra- 
tion across  the  Mississippi  100 

Missionaries  among  Cherokee,  arrest  of.  ll'.i.  1211 

—  and  missions  among  Cherokee 37-38, 

si;  84,104-105,107,123,136,150,1  12,155  [66 

Mission  sidge,  cause  of  name  of 105 

Missouri,  settlement  of, on  Cherokee  atrip.      151 
Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas   railway, 

construction  of 151 

Mistletoe  in  Cherokee  lore 120 

Mobile,  Spanish  possession  of 68 

Mobilian,  tribe  of  Choctaw  confederacy  ..      500 
Mobilian  TRADE  LANGUAGE,  character  and 

use  of 187-188 

Moccasin  in  Cherokee  myth 297 

Mocking-bird,  sec  Hchu. 
Mohawk  language,  comparison  of  Chero- 
kee language  with 1  ss 

— ,  legends  of  Cherokee  wars  with 357-358 

—  name  for  Cherokee It; 

—  name  for  titmouse 454 

Mole,  myths  concerning 254,277  278 

Mole  cricket  in  Cherokee  lore 309 

M  on  a  can,  Cherokee  relations  with 14 

Monarchical  stage,  development  of  mu- 
sic in lx.xii 

Monette  on  In-  Soto's  route 193.198 

—  on  Spanish  encouragement  of   Indian 
hostility 67 

—  on  Thomas  Walker's  expedition 39 

Monroe,  President  James,  approval  of  al- 
lotment project  by 114 

— .  protest  tn.  by  Georgia  delegation  in  Con 

gl  ess 115 

—,  reply  to  Georgia's  protest  by 115-116 

Montgomery,  Col. , defeat  ol  expedition 

under 43 

— ,  expedition  against  Chickamaugs  towns 

under 

Moon,  myths  concerning 252,256-257,  im.  ill 

Mooney,  James,  memoir  by,  on  Cherokee 

myths xxxvii-xx\i\, 3-548 

— ,  study  of  fraternities  and  cults  by xlvii 

— ,  work  of xv-xeii.  x' xvi.  xxix 

M tE,  1  •"■,    1  .mi  -  accusation  against 32 

— .  exploration  into  '  hi  ntry  by..        31 


564 


(ETH.  ANN.  19 


Page 

Moore,  Co].  Maurice,  expedition  of 33 

Moore,  ,  on  character  of  Indian  war- 
fare in  1776 53 

—  on  Rutherford's  expedition 49,205 

Moore, ,  on  Cherokee  in  civil  war 170 

—  on  Chief  N.  J.  Smith 178 

Moore,  — ,  capture  and  burning  of 48 

Moravians  among  Cherokee 83-84 

Morgan,  Col,  Gideon,  part  taken  by,   in 

Creek  war 90, 91, 94-96 

Morgan.  L.  II.. hrmkr.-Ini^uois  wars       352. 

185,  192 

—  on  Chickasaw  clans 499 

—  On  Choctaw  i -bins 500 

—  on  distance  between  Iroquois  and  Chero- 
kee countries 485 

—  on  Iroquoian  migrations 189 

—  on  Iroquois _ 485 

—  on  Iroquois  myths 432, 4 17, 171 

—  on  Muscogee  clans 499 

—  on  origin  of  Buffalo  dance 4x5 

—  on  Yontonwisas  dance 492 

—,  on  agreement  with  Cherokee(1892) 153 

—  on  East  Cherokee  schools 171; 

—  on  Chief  N.J.Smith 17s 

Morgan,  Washington,  attempt   to  enlist 

East  Cherokee  by 168-169 

Morris, ,  collection  by Xxi 

Mouse,  on  Blackburn's  school 84 

—  on  election  of  C.  R.  Hicks  as  chief 113 

—  on  missions  among  Cherokee  in  1820 105 

Mortuary  CUSTOMS,  study  of xv,  xvii 

Moses,  appointment  of  peace  towns  by 207 

—  in  Cherokee  myth 236,428-429 

Mosquito,  myth  concerning 444 

Moth,  myths  and  lore  concerning 310,438 

Motion,  discussion  of.... lvi-lvii 

Moiniis,  Cherokee  legends  concerning..  395-396, 

501-502 

—  in  northern  Honduras,  memoir  on xli-xlii 

Mount  Mitchell,  myth  concerning i:;j 

Moytoy,  "emperor"  of  Cherokee 35 

Mudhen,  set  Gallinule. 

Mud-puppy,  set  Water-dog. 

Mugulusha,  tril i  Choctaw  eoniederaej  -       flO 

Mulberry  pi  ice,  myths  concerning 250, 

204.436,473 

M  cle,  Cherokee  name  for 265 

Mullay.J.C,  East  Cherokee  censuses  by.  167.171 

Mummy,  finding  of,  at  Aguas  Calientes xvii 

Muniz,  Antonio,  collection  by xxix 

Munsee,  separation  of,  from  Delawares 19 

— .  set  also  Delaw  i  res. 

Murphs  ,  Hr  I',  s.,  acknowledgments  to 13 

Murray,  Captain,  expedition  under 67 

Muscle  shoais.  attempted  settlement  at  ..       68 

— ,  conflict  at 70 

— ,  massacre  of  Scott  party  at 100-101 

Mrs.  ogee,  tribe  of  Creek  confederacy .. .  498-499 

Misii  ,  discussion  of lxx-lxxiv 

Muskwaki,  fmrchase  of  loom  of xxix 

Missel  in  Cherokee  lore 308 

Mythology,  primitive,  study  of xxvii 

Myths,  Cherokee,  memoir  on xxxvii- 

xxxix,  3-548 

— .  Cherokee,  work  on xxvi 

—,  development  of   Ixxxii-lxxiv 


Myths,  interchange  of,  among  tribes 234-235 

— ,  Iroquois,  work  on xxvi 

Nai  oochee,  pscudomyth  concerning 416 

— ,  set  also  Cauchi. 

Nadako  in  Texas,  union  of,  with  Cherokee.      143 

Namaesi  SIPU,  Namassik,  see  Fish  river. 

Names,  Cherokee  custom  of  changing 69 

,  set  also  Synonymy. 

Nantahala,  myths  concerning 303,408 

Nanticoke,  association  of,  with  DelaYvares.      497 

— ,  modern  remnants  of 493 

— ,  separation  of,  from  Delawares 18-19 

Nashville,  attack  on 63 

— ,  conference  at  (1792) 72 

—  foundingof 56 

Natchbe,  tribe  of  Creek  confederacy 198-499 

Natchez,  blood  of,  among  Cherokee 234 

,  enslavement  of 233 

— .  surrender  of  post  at 81 

National  committee,  establishment  of 107 

National  council,  enactment  by 86-87 

— .  establishment  of 107 

Navaho.  myths  of 443,  447-14*.  Ills,  501 

— .  publication  of  memoir  on xxix 

— .  study  of  paternities  and  cults  of xlvii 

— .  use  of  language  of.  as  trade  language. . .      L88 
Necromancy,  development  <>i lxxxv-lxxxvi 

—  see  also  Magic. 

Negroes  in  Cherokee  Nation,  education  of. .      155 

—  in  Cherokee  Nation,  number  of 155, 157 

— ,  myth  concerning 351 

— .  myths  of 448,4,50,452,483 

— ,  relation  of  myths  of,  to  Indian  myths  . .     231, 

233-236 

Nelson,  E.  W.,  publication  of  paper  by xxx 

Nenetooyah,  change  of  name  by 69 

New  Brunswick,  work  in xvii-xviii 

New  Echota,  attendance  at  conference  at..      123 
— ,  attitude  of  Cherokee  toward  treatyof...      135 

— ,  capital  of  Cherokee  Nation 107 

— .  constitutional  convention  at 112 

— ,  Majc  ir  Mavis  on  treatyof 126 

— .  East  Cherokee  right  to  benefits  of  treaty 

of 165-107 

— .  provisions  of  treaty  of 227-228 

— ,  ratification  of  treaty  of 125-126 

-.treaty  of 123-125,158-159 

New-fire  ceremony,  Cherokee 502-503 

New  Mexico,  report  on  collections  from,  xix-xx 

— .  work  in xiii,xv-xvi 

Newspapers,  Cherokee 111-112 

Newtown,  see  New  Echota. 

Nez   Perces,  settlement  of.  on  Cherokee 

strip 151 

Nicholson,    Governor,    conference    with 

Cherokee  by 34 

Nickajack  towns,  building  of 54 

— ,  destruction  of 78 

— ,  effect  of  destruction  of 68 

Nicotani.  see  Ani'-Kcta'ni. 

NikwAsI',  myths  concerning.  330,336-337,396,477 

NlSQUALLI,  myths  of 472 

NrTZE,  II.  K,  c,  on  discovery  of  gold  in 

Cherokee  country 116 

"i!  Georgia  gold  lottery 117 

—  "ii  Southern  gold  fields 221 


565 


Pag 

North,  myth  of 322 

IN  \.  appointment  of  chci.i 

agent  by ''l 

— ,  Cherokee  relations  with 

— ,  expedition  from,  in  17Tt'> 19 

— ,  land  grant  to  ".State  of  Franklin  "  b>  .         64 

—,  local  legends  of 104   HI 

— .  opposition  to  allotment  project  bj Ill 

— .  permission  to  remain  given  toEastCbero- 

168 

— ,  production  of  gold  in 221 

— .  protest  against  conditions  of  Hopewell 

treaty  by 61 

— .  Removal  forts  In 221 

— ,  treaty  with  Cherokee,  (  reeks,  and  Chick- 
asaw by 68 

Nottely,  myth  concerning 882 

— .  pseudomyth  < cerning 116 

Nottoway,  ha  hi  tat  and  migrations  ol  17 

NOV!  L,  dev  lopment  of lxxxvi 

Number,  discussion  of lv-lvii 

Ni  mbers,  primitive,  memoiron xliii-xliv 

sacred   131 

Ni  mi  i:\.  systems  of  Mexico  and  Central 

America,  memoir  on xliv-xl  v 

NCnne'hI.  myths  concerning 330 

i  337,348   117   118,  156*47  -  it: 

— .  Watford's  belief  in 238 

NOn'YUNU'wI,  myths  concerning.  316-320,  16"    169 

Nuthatch  in  Cherokee  lore  281 

Nuttall,  Thomas,  on  ArkansasCherokee.  136, 137 

—  on  cattle  among  Cherokee 213 

—  on  Nancy  Ward 204 

Oak.  in  Cherokee  lore 122 

<  i,  onostota,  capture  and  release  of  i  1859) .  42 

— .  capture  of  Fort  Loudon  hy 43 

— ,  on  Chert  tkee  peace  town 207 

reception  of  Iroquois  peace  embassy  by.  356 

— ,  resignation  of ,  as  chief 61 

i  of  Fort  Prince  George  by 42-43 

— .  signing  of  treaty  of  Johnson  Hall  by —  353 

Offici    i  i  -'     i:cii xi.xix-xxiii 

or,  Cherokee  partici- 
pation in  expedition  of 36 

Ohio,  Cherokee  band  in 79 

Ojibwa,  myths  of 130,445,448,470 

— ,  regard  for  snakes  among 

— .  study  of  feather  symbolism  of xx 

Old  Settlers,  se<  Arkansas  Chi  i 

Old   I  iSSEL,  complaint  against  American 

encroachments  by tin 

Oklahoma,  allotment  of  la  in  is  in 163 

Oh  ib  i,  myths  of 

440,448,  ice  I  >-'   I  '    16     16  i,  li  i 

— ,  tribal  medicine  of 

Oneida,  Cherokee  endeavor  toi  union  with  105 

— .  myths  of i    l 

Onokdag                   o     Iroquoi    wampums 
hy 

—  name  lor  violet -r>n> 

i  at..  HI7 

myths  and  lore  concerning 263, 

:.   ICC  150 

Ore,   Major,   expedition   against   Chicka- 

mauga  towns  under 78-79 

Orphan  asylum  152 


ittitude  of.  in  civil  war 148 



I    Uee  relations  with 102, 

105,  i  ■  1,141,  190 

refusal  of  peace  im  It n  i. 

settlement  of,  on  Cherokee  -trip I'd 

.  ski  u  1.  ..i 50U 

Otariyatiqi  i   De  - 's  \  i-it  to 

i  itermin,  Governor,  Indian-  taken  to  Mex 

xvi 

i  no.  settlement  of , on  Cherokee  strip 151 

i ytbs  concerning 266    6     149 

OVERHILL    towns,    treaty    with    "S 

Franklin     b; 64 

Oviedo,  Incorpon a  of  K 

history  hy 191 

-  oil    lie  Solo's  expedition 25,26 

iiwakI'i  ti  altar,  study  of xlviii,  1-lii 

Owen  on  Fort  Mims  massacri 216 

Owl,  myths  and  lore  concerning 241, 

281,284,29  195  196 

i  iwl.  the.  legend  of 

Oyata'ge'ronoS',  meaning  of  name..  16, 183,351 
— .  se<  also  Synonomy. 

l'AIN.  development  of lix-lx,  Ixvi-lxviil.xeii 

Paint  in  Cherokee  myth 

— ,  use  of,  hy  Indians 

Paint  town,  purchase  of ltd 

Palmer,  — .  collection  hy xxix 

PAMUNKEY,  Cherokee  relation-  with 30 

Pandora,  Indian  parallel  to  myths  of ...  136 

Panther,  myths  concerning 247,484,  149  171 

Papago,  study  of xxiii 

Pari  h -    Indian  use  of is] 

l'AKiio,   .Han,    explorations    in    Cherokee 

country  hy 27129,880 

I 'a  Ills,  treaty  of 00 

Parker,  i  '  iroline,  proposal  i"  bestow  title 

of  "  Peacemaker"  on 

Pabki  r,  Mr  Peter,  attack  on  Charleston 

hy 47 

I'arkman,  Francis, on  Algonqnian  myths.      137 
Parsnip,  \\  lid,  in  i  Iherokei   lore.    ... 
Partridge,  set  1'iif.asant. 
Pascagoi  la,  tribe  of  Choctaw  confederacy.      f>00 

Pa—  vm  iquoddy,  myths  of 151 

Pai  t JIA,  work  in xviii 

PATHKILLER,  relief  of 90 

Pawnee,  ceremony  of 413 

— .  myths  and  beliefs  of 445-446, 

— ,  settlement  of ,  on  Cherokee  strip 151 

— ,  study  of  fraternities  and  cults  of xlviii 

Payne,  J.  H., arrest  of 122-123 

01 :rol  ee  myths 186,  id.  112 

—  on  New  tire  ceremony  of  i 

—  on  -at  red  02 
Peace  em bassi  es,  Iroquois 109, 

152 

Peace  pipe,  Cherokee 

l'i    , u\s,  Indian 

iiii  I  ">'  214 

Peacock,  i 

■i  use  "i  feathers  ol 

Pi  \  r e,  Cherokee  participant-  in  battle 


ol. 


n'j 


566 


[ETH.  ANN.  19 


Page 
Penn,  William,  treaty  with  Delawares  by.      497 

Pensacola,  Spanish  possession  of G8 

I'fksimmon,  myth  concerning 278 

Personification,  development  of lxxxvii- 

Ixxxviii 

Perspective,  development  of lxxvi 

Peyute,  study  of  use  of xv-xvii 

PHEASANT.mythsconcerning.  285,288,289,290,455 

Philadelphia,  treaty  at  (1791) 69 

— ,  treaty  at  (1794) 77 

Philip,  Kintx,  mutilation  of  body  of 208 

Phillips  on  ancestry  of  Sequoya 108,109 

—  on  Cherokee  syllabary 110,219,220 

—  cm  death  of  Sequoya 148 

Philology,  subject-matter  of xii 

— ,  work  in xxv 

PHGSNIX,       Cherokee,      see      Cherokee 

Phoenix. 

Phon  etics,  Cherokee 506 

Phratry, see  Fraternity. 

Pick  ens,  Gen.  Andrew,  expeditionsagainst 

( 'lierokees  under 59,60 

— ,  home  of,  at  Hopewell 211 

—  on  Shaw's  missions 71 

— .  signing  of  treaty  by til 

Pickering     on    Cherokee    chief    among 

Seneca  ■- 353 

Pickett  on  Creek  war 90-93,96 

—  on  defeat  of  D'Artaguette 477 

—  on  De  Soto's  route 193, 195, 196, 197.  198-199 

—  on  Fort  Mims  massacre 216 

—  on  Chief  McGillivray 210 

—  on  Chief  Weatherford 217 

Pig  eon,  myth  concerning 280 

Pike, Gen.  Albert,  treaty  negotiated  by...      148 
Pilling,  James, on  Cherokee  literature 112 

—  on  Cherokee  schoolbooks 151 

—  on  Cherokee  syllabary 110,220 

—  on  Jones  and  Warlord 108 

—  on  translation  of  New  Testament Ill 

—  on  Rev.  S.  A.  Worcester 108,  lis,  218 

Pilot  knob,  myths  concerning 330, 

341-342, 343-345,  480-481 
Pincknev  on  Cherokee  attitude  in  war  of 

1812 89 

Pinedale,  collection  from  ruins  near xxi 

— ,  excavation  of  ruins  near xvi 

Pine  knots,  Cherokee  use  of,  as  torches 492 

Pin  Indians; see  Ketoowah  society. 

Pipe,  sacred,  of  Cherokee 397,503 

I'n:  eric  a i  '  ulturation,  Btudyof xxii-xxv 

Piro,  study  of  language  of xxvi 

— ,  work  among xvi 

Pitfalls,  see  Traps. 

Plants,  myths  and  lore  concerning 231, 

240,252,420-427,505 
Pleasure,  activities  designed  to  give —  lv-xcii 

— ,  development  of lix-lx, 

lxii-lxiii.  lxvi-lxxii-lxxiii,  xcii 

Pleiades,  myths  concerning 258-259,142-443 

Poetry,  development  of lxxxvii-xcii 

Poison  ivy  in  Cherokee  lore 125 

Polygamy  among  Cherokee 163,365,481 

Polynesians,  myths  of 431 

Punka,  settlement  of.  on  Cherokee  strip...      i51 

— .  study  of  feather  symbolism  of xx 

— .  stiah'  of  fraternities  and  cults  of xlviii 


Page 

Pontiac,  confederacy  of 41,235 

Population,  Cherokee 11, 

34, 39, 103, 112, 125, 136, 150, 155, 156-157 

— ,  Cherokee  loss  in,  through  Civil  war 150 

— .  East  Cherokee 166-168,172,176,179,180 

— ,  T.-xas  Cherokee  (1838) 145 

Pork,  Indian,  quality  of 82 

Portuguese  gentleman,  see  Elvas. 
Possum,  see  Opossum. 

Potatoes  among  Cherokee 214, 492 

Potter,  T.  \\\.  on  East  Cherokee  affairs  ...      179 

Pottery'  among  Cherokee 164 

Poultry-raising  among  Cherokee 82 

Power  myth,  development  of  ..  lxxxiii-lxxxiv 

Powhatan,  Cherokee  relations  with 14 

— ,  name  for  Cherokee 16,29,183 

Prairie  dog,  myth  concerning 449 

Prayer  among  Indians 423,  463,  170 

Pregnancy,  beliefs  concerning 422. 469 

Presbyterians,  mission  work  of,  among 

Cherokee 83, 84 

Press,  national,  of  Cherokee 111-112 

Pretty-  Woman  town,  purchase  of 161 

Priber,  Christian,  work  of,  among  Cher- 
okee   15,36-37,113 

Price,  H.,  on  East  Cherokee  affairs 175 

—  on  East  Cherokee  censuses 167, 176 

—  on  East  Cherokee  suit  for  participation 

in  annuities 151,177 

Primitive  numbers,  memoir  on xliii-xliv 

Printing  among  Cherokee 111-112,139-140 

Proctor,  General,  stand  against  Americans 

at  Thames  river  by 215 

Proctor, ,  arrest  of 119 

Pronoun,  study  of xxv 

Properties,  discussion  of lv-lvii,  lviii 

Property,  acquisition  of xxxiii 

— ,  classes  of xxxi-xxxii 

Prophet,  revelation  of 87, 89, 215, 235 

Protolithic  stage,  features  of xxi-xxii 

Publication,  work  in xxix-xxx 

Pueblo  Grande,  excavation  of xiii-xiv 

Pueblo  Indians,  devotional  tendency  of.  xxviii 

— .  New-fire  ceremony  among 503 

— ,  racing  among 494 

Pueblo  Viejo,  excavation  of  ruin  of xiv-xv 

Pumpkin  in  Cherokee  myth 346,482 

Punk-plugged-in,  legend  of  raid  by 374 

Purificatory  rites,  Cherokee 230 

Putty-root  in  Cherokee  lore 426 

Puyallup,  myths  of 412 

Quadrupeds,  myths  concerning 261-280 

Quakers,  see  Friends. 

Qualla    reservation,   clearing    of    East 

Cherokee  title  to 173-174 

— ,  purchase  of 159 

— ,  settlement  of  boundary  of 179 

Qualities,  discussion  of lv.lvii-lviii 

Quantities,  discussion  of lv-lvi 

Quapaw  in  Texas,  union  of,  with  Cherokee.      143 

Quebec,  fal  1  of 40 

QUICHUA,  ceremony  of 453 

Quinahaqui.  De  Soto's  visit  to 28 

Rabbit,  character  of,  in  various  mytholo- 
gies   231-233 


567 


Pago 

Rabbit,  myths  concerning 262, 

—  anil  hear,  distribution  of  myth  of 234 

—  and  Flint, origin  ol  myth  of 234 

among  Indians 194 

—  in  Seneca  myth 369 

Raccoon,  mj  the  concerning 289   

Rafinesqi  i    C.  S.,  "ii  first  appearance  of 

whin* 19] 

— ,  on  nam,-  Tallige'wi 184 

— ,  translation  of  WalamOlum  by 190 

Cherokee  u | 490 

Railroads  in  Cherokee  country 15] 

Rainbow,  myths  concerning. 142 

R  \.iimv    J.  G.  M    on  ogitatii  in  for  cession 

(1796) 80 

—  <>n  appointment  ol  Governor  Blount 69 

—  on  appointment   of  Cherokee  agent  by 
North  Carolina 61 

—  on  a i  tar  k  on  Buchanan's  station 73 

—  on  lint tlr  of  Kings  mountain  57 

—  on  border  conditions  in  1777  55 

—  on  bounties  for  American  scalps 17 

—  on  burning  of  Cowee in 

—  on  capture  and  release  of  Joseph  Brown.  66 

—  on  capture  and  release  ol  Samuel  Hand- 
ley  74 

—  on  Cherokee  attitude   at    beginning  of 

the  Revolution 47 

—  on  Cherokee  desire  for  peace  (1792) 71 

—  on  Cherokee  land  cessions 46 

—  on  Cherokee  part  in  French  and  Indian 

war 39 

—  on  Cherokee  peace  town 207 

—  on  Cherokee  war  of  17(10-61 45 

—  on    Chickasaw   surrender   of   lands  be- 
tween Cumberland  and  Duck  rivers 66 

—  on  Christian's  expedition 51 

—  on  destruction  of  Chickamauga  towns. . .  55,  79 

—  on  Doherty-McFarland  expedition 75 

—  on    expedition    from  Virginia    through 
Cherokee  country 30 

—  on  French  and  Spanish  encouragement 

of  Cherokee  hostility 62,67 

—  on  Indian  war  path 206 

—  on  Indian  fighting  in  1793 76 

—  on  Jack's  expedition 50 

—  on  killing  of  Indians  by  John  Beard 74 

—  on   minor  Cherokee-American   conflicts 
(1776-1795)  48,63,64,65,66,69,70,75,76 

—  on  Nancy  Ward  204 

—  on  old  Tassel's  talk 60 

—  on  origin  of  Chickamauga  band 54 

—  on  Gen.  James  Robertson 

—  on  Rutherford's  expedition  49,205 

—  on   Sevier   and    Campbell's   expedition 

1780     58 

—  on  Sevier's  expeditions  1 1781-82) 59,60 

—  on  Sevier's  last  expedition  (1792) 75 

—  on  Tellico  conference 79 

—  on  The  Suck 464 

—  on  threatened  burning  of  Chilhowee 7:) 

—  on  Tory-Indian  raid  in  South  Carolina  ..  17 

—  on  treaties  of  DeWitt's  corners  and  Long 

I  54 

—  on  treaty  of  Holston 69 

—  on  treat    ol  Hoi  i  m  .1  62 

—  on  treaty  ot  N 


RAM8EY,J.G.M.,on  treaty  of  Tellico  1 1798).        81 
on  westward  emigration  15 

—  on  Williamson's  expedition  ti 

—  on  Yuchi  anion:'  rti.  roki  i  .... 

-  on  He  Soto's  expedition 

26,191-201 

:  i     i     mutilation  ol  body  of 

I;  vii  lesnake, myths  and  lore  conci 

9  i    105  306,  .1  I,  i  16 

Hatti.isi.-i.oi  an  on  Natchca  amot 
kec :;s7 

—  on  Yuchi  ami. 

Raven,  myths  concerning 

Raven  Mocker,  myths  concerning 

Raven  place,  purchase  of 161 

Raven,  I'm  .  pursuit  ol  Shawano  in. .  F4-S75 

i;i  lding,  myth  concerning 351 

Rebellion,  sei  i  iivii.  war. 
Rechehecrian,  e«  Rick  At ian;  Synon- 

oil',. 

Redbird,  myths  concerning .  254,285,289   190  155 

in  a  i  .  i  .    council  at 121,122 

Red  Earth,  purchase  of 161 

Rl  d-horse  fish,  myth  concerning 

Red  Man,  myths  concerning.  257,300   101,46]    h 

Red  paint,  use  of,  by  Indians 455 

Redroot  in  Cherokee  lore 263 

REDSTICKS,  reliellii f 113-114 

Repuqe  towns,  see  Peace  towns. 

Reichel,  E.  H.,  on  Cherokee  mis-ions 84 

Reid,Jesse,  East  Cherokee  chief 180 

Rt  ini  uiNATioN.  Cherokee  doctrine  of ..  261-262, 

17-'.  171 

Reinhardt  on  Spanish  mines 202 

Relationships,  linguistic,  of  Cherokee is 

Relief,  development  of Ixxv 

Religion,  acculturation  in x.xiii 

— ,  influence  of. on  development  of  arts..  Ixxiv- 
Ixxvi 
— ,   influence  of,   on    development    of    ro- 

mance lxxxi-lxxxvi 

Removal,  Cherokee 130-135 

— ,  Cherokee  plans  for  (1805) 155-156 

,  East  Cherokee  plans  for 105 

-,  events  leading  to 87,98-106, 114-130 

— .  party  feeling  aroused  by 128-129 

— ,  stockade  forts  built  during 221 

Removal  fund,  East  Cherokee  i icipa 

Hon  in 

mployment  of  East  Cherokee  share  in.      174 

Removed  townhodses,  myth  of 

l:i  ports,  distribution  ol x.x.xii 

Reptiles,  sei  Snakes;  Terrapin;  i 
Revolution,  Cherokee  remembrance  of ...     232 

— .  effect  mi  Cherokee  "f 01 

— ,  Indian  attitude  during 16-47 

I;  11  I  i   M  I  I  ISM,     Cherokee      beliefs     '  ■ 

ing 

Richmond,  Lieutenant,  murder  of   Chey- 

ennes  by 209 

Rick  a  hock  an.  meaning  of  name 

— ,  .-..  also  Synonomy. 

Ridgb,  Maj.  JOHN,  altitude  of  party  of.  in 

Civil  war 

— .  conflict  "f  party  of,  with  Ross  party 147 

—  ,  enlistment  of  vo  Crei 

12) 89 


568 


[kth. 


Page 

Ridge,  Ma;.  John,  killing  of 133-135 

— ,  killing  of  Doublehead  by 85 

— ,  letter  to  Calhoun  by 115 

— ,  letter  to  President  Jackson  by 127-128 

— ,  opposition  to  Prophet's  doctrine  by 88 

— .  opposition  to  war  spirit  by  (1812) *9 

— ,  part  taken  by,  in  Creek  war 96,97 

— ,  treaty  negotiated  by 121-122,  L25 

Risk,  Henry,  on  Eskimo  myths 441 

Rivers,  — ,  on  Cherokee-Chickasaw  war...       38 
Rivers,  on  Cherokee  in  1708 32 

—  in  Cherokee  lore 420 

Rivalry,   part   played   by,  in    sports    and 

games Ixiv,  lxvi,  Ixviii-lxix 

Roads  through  Cherokee'  country 85,  87,  '.'7 

Robertson,  Gen.  James,  appointment  of,  as 

Cherokee  agent 53 

— ,  burning  of  Cold  water  by 67 

— ,  emigration  under 56 

— ,  expedition  against  chickamauga  under 

( 1794  i 78-99 

— ,  killing  of  brother  of 67 

— ,  life  of 204-205 

—  on  Cherokee-American    conflicts  (1785- 
1794) 67 

—  on  French  and  Spanish  encouragement 

of  Cherokee  hostility 62, 67 

—  on  Nancy  Ward  204 

— ,  repulse  of  Indians  by  garrison  under...        4S 

— ,  warning  of  invasion  given  by 55 

Robertson,    Mrs.   S.    ,\  ,  work   of,   among 

Creeks 218 

Robin,  Cherokee  name  for 283 

Robinson, Thomas,  acknowledgments  to...        13 

—  on  dry  channel  of  Chattahoochee 200 

ROC  HE  FORT,  ,  history  of  Antilles  by 202 

ROCKWELL, .on  Williamson- expedition        50 

K",  i  i  .  ,-xpedition  of 201-202 

Rogers.Talahina,  marriage  of  Houston  to      223 
Romance,  nature  and  development  of ...  lxxxi- 

lxxxvi 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  on  attack  on  Free- 
lands  station 63 

—  on  attack  on  Nashville 63 

—  on  battle  of  Kings  mountain ">7 

—  on  border  fighters 57 

—  on  Cherokee-American  conflicts  (1781)  ..  59,60 

—  Cherokee  trans-Mississippi  migration  ...       100 

—  on  Christian's  expedition 51 

—  on  destruction  of  Chiekamauga  towns  ..        55 

—  on  French  and  Spanish  encouragement 

of  Cherokee  hostility 62 

—  on  Jack's  expedition 50 

—  on  Old  Tassel's  talk 60 

—  "ii  Gen.  James  Robertson 205 

—  on  Rutherford's  expedition 49,205 

—  on  scalping  by  whites 209 

—  on  Sevier    and  Campbell's   expedition 
(1780) 58 

—  on  Sevier's  expedition  (1782) 60 

—  on  South  Carolina's  scalp  Inanity 53 

—  on  Tory-Indian  raid 48 

—  on  treatiesof  De  Witt's  corners  and  Long 
island 54 

—  on  Williamson's  expedition 50 

Rose  in  Cherokee  lore 420 

Ross,  A.LLES,  acknowledgments  to 13 

—  on  John  Koss 224 


Ross,  John,  arrest  of 122 

— ,  attempt  of  Mcintosh  to  bribe 216 

— .  attitude  of.  during  the  Civil  war 143 

— ,  attitude  of  party  of,  during  Civil  war...  148 

— .  character  of 150-151 

— ,  conflict  of  party  of,  with  Ridge  party...  147 
— ,    convening  of   Tahlequah    council  by 

1843) 485 

— ,  custody  of  records  of  Iroquois  peace  by.  355 

— ,  death  of 150 

— ,  death  of  wife  of 132 

— ,effortsof,  to  prevent  Removal 121-122, 

125,129,130 

— .election  of,  as  assistant  chief 113 

—.election    of,    as    president    of    national 

council 107 

—.election  of,  as  principal  chief 114 

— ,  letter  to  Calhoun  by  115 

— ,  life  Of 224-225 

— .memorial  resolution  on 151 

— ,  memorial  to  Congress  by 121 

—  on  Ani'  Kuta'nl 392-393 

—  on  Jackson's  reply  to  Cherokee  protests  126 
-,  part  la  ken  by,  in  Creek  war 97 

—.part  taken  by.  in  killing  of  Ridges  and 

Boudinot 134 

— , position  of.  in  1837 128 

— , president  of  constitutional  convention..  112 

— ,  proclamation  by 120 

— ,  proposition  for  removal  by 132 

— .  protest  against  removal  treaty  by 120 

— .refusal  of    President  Jackson    to  com- 
municate with  126 

— ,  signer  of  act  of  union 135 

— ,  suit  against  Georgia  by 119 

— ,  threa  t  <  >f  arrest 135 

Ross,  W.  P.,  editor  of  Cherokee  Advocate  ..  Ill 

—  on  death  of  Sequoya 148 

Ross. .  on  Indian  warfare  in  1776 52 

—  on  Williamson's  expedition 50 

Royce,  C.  C,  on  adoption  of  Cherokee  con- 
stitution   113,135 

—  on  Arkansas  Cherokee....  137,138,140,141,142 

—  on  arrest  of  Ross 123 

—  on  attack  on  Buchanans  station 73 

—  on    attempted     establishment   of    iron 
works  in  Cherokee  country  (1807) 86 

—  on    attempted   purchase    by  Tennessee 
(1807) 86 

—  on  attempt  to  annul  treaty  of  1817 104 

—  on  Blount's  proposal  (1795) 80 

—  on  building  of  Unicoi  turnpike 87 

—  on  Cherokee  attitude   regarding     land 
cession  (1830) 119 

—  on  Cherokee  census  (1835)  125 

-  on  Cherokee  desire  to  go  west  (1817-19).  104 

—  on  Cherokee  emigration,  1817-19 103,104 

—  on  Cherokee  invitations   to  Dela wares, 
Shawano,  and  Oneida 105 

—  on  Cherokee  land  cessions 34,45,54,60 

—  on  Cherokee  1m--  in  Civil  war 149 

—  on  Cherokee  memorial  to  Congress  ,  1834)  121 

—  on     Cherokee   memorials   to    President 
Monroe 115 

—  on  Cherokee  part  in  French  and  Indian 

war 39 

—  on  Cherokee  part  in  Civil  war 14S 

—  on  Cherokee  population 34 


KTI1.  ANN.  19] 


:i:f>i;<» 


.    i      on  i  ihi  i  o  re- 

to  Columbia  river I2i» 

—  en  Cherokee  relations  with  Creeks  ... 

—  on  Cherokee  relations  with  Tuscarora  ..  82 

—  on  Cherokee  suffering  throughCivil  war  ISO 

—  on  Cherokee  territory  in  1800 Bl 

—  on  Cherokee  war  of  1760  61 15 

—  mi  clearing   ol    Easl   Cherokee   title    to 
Quallo    reservation 174 

—  mi  Col.  R.J.  Meigs 215 

—  on  council  at  New  Echota 122 

—  on  Davis's  letter  t"  Secretary  of  War 127 

—  on  death  of  Sequoya  IIs 

val  133 

—  on  delegation  to  Washington  (1835]  122 

—  on  desire  for  Indian  lands....'. s~. 

—  on  destruction  of  Uhickaxnauga  towns  . .  79 

—  on  General  Dunlap's  address 128 

—  on  East  Cherokee  censuses  167,168 

—  on  East  Cherokee  participation   in  Re- 
moval fund 1(37 

—  on  Everett's  letter  to  Secretary  of  Wai  ..  128 

—  <i!i  extension  of  '  leorgia  laws 221 

—  on  first  railroad  in  Cherokee  country  ...  151 

—  on  Georgia  acts  effecting  Cherokee  ...  1  Hi.  117 

—  ..ii  Governor  Gilmer's  declaration 129 

—  on  imprisonment  of  missionaries 120 

—  on    incorporation    of    Delawares    and 
Shawano 151 

—  on  Indian  warpath  206,207 

—  on  Jackson's  attitude  toward  Cherokee  .  117 

—  on  Jefferson's  removal  project  101 

—  on  McMinn's  estimate  of   Cherokee  em 
gration 106 

—  on  massacre    of    Scott  party  and   Bowl 
migration 100 

—  on  opposition  toallotmentproject  (1820)  .  114 

—  on  origin  of  Chickamauga  band 54 

—  on  party  feeling  over  removal  plans  —  129 

—  on  payment  of  East  Cherokee  share  in 
Removal  fund 168 

—  on  Ross's  attitude  during  civil  war 149 

—  oti  Ross's  lasl  efforts  against  removal  ...  130 

—  on  royal  proclat                            4i". 

—  on  Rutherford's  route 205 

—  on  Schermerhorn's  proposals  for  secur- 
ing acceptance  of  Ridge  treaty 122 

it  130 

sua 172 

—  on  T<                          e  79 

—  on  threat  to  arrest  Ross 135 

—  on  treaties  of  New  Echota 123 

—  on  tn  al       ol    Pc  llii                                 .  81,85 

—  on  treaties  of    Wash 

98,  106,148 

—  on  treaty  of  Augusta  Gi 

—  on  treaty  of  Ch                                1834)  ....  120 

—  on  tree         i                yOld  Fii  Idsi  1807)  .  86 

—  on  treaty  of  Fori  Gibson 125 

—  on  treaty  of  Holstoll 69 

—  on  treaty  of  Hopewell 62 

—  on  treaty  of   PI                         1794)  77 

150 

—  on  troops  employed  in  Removal  129 

102 

—  on  Wool  s  comments  on  Removal 127 

—  publication  of  paper  by xxx 


ditors 174 

Running  Water  town,  building  of 54 

i  '.  . 

Ri  sin  s  iii  i  Iherokee  lore 

Dr  Frank,  on  Jicarilla  i 

I.'.:.  I  ... 

part  taken  by,  in 
l.at tie  of  Horseshoe  bend 94 

Rutheri n    Gri pi 

under  

— .  life  of    

i;v I .  195 

Sacreo  animals  among  Indians 117 

Sacred  myths.  Indian 229 

— .  instruction  in 

— ,  sa  also  Co  1  as    M  isration 

TRADITIONS. 

-.'ii.  NUMBERS,  Indian 431 

Sacred  things,  Cherokee 

Sacrifice,  influence  of,  on  developmenl  of 

drama Ixxviii 

-1 s   translation  ...  gospel  of 110 

St  Louis.  Osage-Cherok ouncil  at 137 

— ,  treaty  of  (1825) 99 

sh  retention  of 68 

St  Clair,  i  it  of 72, 212 

— ,  etl'eet  of  defeat  of 71 

SalA'lI,  Cherokee  story  teller 237 

— ,  Lanman's  account  of i 

— ,  myth  told  by 47ti 

-\      Estevan,  Fiesta  de,  witnessing  of ...  xiii 

san  Felipe,  establishment  of 27 

San  Kernam i:  Barrancas, surrenderof  81 

si\  ,i\i  into,  battle  of 223 

San  Jose   de    PUEBLO   Vn  to 

VlEJO. 

San  Juan  valley,  collection  from xxix 

Santa  Ana.  defeat  of,  by  Houston 223 

Santa  Elena,  settlement  of 27 

Santee.  storehouses  ol 433 

Sara,  set  I  Iheb  lw;  Xi  ila. 

422 

s.uxpa.  see  Waxhaw. 

Sawanugi,  tribe  o  ederacy...  498-499 

— .  >"  also  K  a'i  aim  ';  SH  \  w  ami. 

Sawnook,  -<•   l<  A'I  Allf  '. 

Sawyer,  W.  m  .  work  ol xxx 

Savageri  xlix 

Savanna,  so  Shawano. 

196 

Sculping,  British  encouragement  of 47 

—  by  East  Chei ■■■  I 

—  by  whites 

— ,  encouragement  of,  by  South  Carolina 

Scandinavians,  myths  of 431 

- .'ii  rhi  irs    i;.        i     F.,    Mi 

on  methods  of 126-127 

— .  negotiation  of  Removal  treaty  by 12112.. 

se lbooks in  Cherokee  languagi    ....  112,151 

iii     1.      on  Chi 

among  Seneca 

—  on  Cherokee-Iroquois  wars 

—  on  Chi  1  us 21 

—  on  Cherokee  myths  129  111 


570* 


[ETH. 


Page 
Schoolcraft,  H.  R.,  on  Cherokee  relations 
With  Catawba 381 

—  on  Delaware  name  for  Cherokee 378 

—  on  Iroquois 485 

—  on  Iroquois  myths 469,501,604 

—  on  Iroquois  peace  mission 365, 485 

—  on  name  KItu'whagI 181 

—  on  name  Mississippi 190 

—  on  nameTallulah 417 

—  on  Ojibwa  myths 437,470 

—  on  Seneca  town 351,486 

—  on  Shawano  wars 372,494 

—  on  Wyandot  traditions  concerning  Cher- 
okee           19 

Schools  among  Cherokee S4, 104, 139, 152, 155 

—  among  East  Cherokee 174-17i'..  180 

School  books  in  Cherokee  language 112,151 

Scissor-tail  in  Cherokee  myth 285 

Scotch  blood  among  Cherokee 83 

Scott,  Col.  H.  S„  work  of xxvi-xxvii 

Scott,  S.  S.,  report  on  East  Cherokee  affairs 

by 170-171 

Scott,  William,  killing  of  party  under  ...  76-77, 
100-101 

— ,  legend  told  by 482 

Scott,  Gen.  Winfield,  appointment  of,  to 

effect  Removal 129 

— ,  compromise  with  Cherokee  refugees  by.      157 

— ,  part  taken. by,  in  Removal 130-132 

— ,  proclamation  to  Cherokee  by 129-130 

Scratching,  Cherokee  ceremony 230,476 

Screech-owl,  Cherokee  name  for 281, 284 

— ,  myths  concerning 241 

Sculpture,  development  of Ixxiv-lxxv 

Sei.u,  myths  concerning 242-249, 

323-324,431-433,471 

Seminole,  attitude  of,  in  Civil  war 148 

— ,  myths  and  lore  of 454, 457 

— ,  origin  of 99 

Senac,  Father,  burning  of 477 

Seneca,  agreement  between  Erie  and 352 

— ,  Cherokee  legends  of  conflicts  with 232 

— .  clans  of 483 

— ,  legends  of  Cherokee  wars  with 356-357, 

359-370. 489-494 

— ,  peace  embassies  of 109, 352, 353-356, 

365, 367-370, 485-488, 491-194 

— ,  peace  towns  among 208 

— ,  tract  set  apart  for 142 

Seneca  town,  encounter  at 50 

— ,  Schoolcraft's  statement  concerning...  351-485 

Seoqgwageono,  myth  concerning 369-370 

Sequoya,  death  of 147-148 

— ,  grant  of  money  to 139 

. — ,  life  and  work  of 108-110 

—  on  Iroquois  peace  embassy 353-355, 485 

— ,  opposition  to  syllabary  of 351 

— ,  part  taken  by,  in  reorganization 135,147 

— ,  pension  to 148 

— ,  removal  of .  to  the  west 138 

—.resolution  signed  by  (1839) 135 

— .search  for  lost  Cherokee  by 501 

— ,  syllabary  oi 219-220 

—.treaty  signed  by  (1828) 14 

— ,  tree  named  alter 1  Is 

—.visit  to  western  Cherokee  by 137-138 

Seri,  publication  of  pa  per  on xxix 

—.study  of  implements  of  xxi-xxii 


Page 

Service  berries,  myths  concerning 259 

Set-angya,  death  song  of 491-492 

— ,  war  medicine  of 501 

Se'tsi  mound,  myth  concerning 335 

Seven  in  Cherokee  myth 431, 433 

Sevier,  Gov.  John,  defeat  of  Ferguson  by. .        57 

— ,  defeat  of  Indian  raiders  by  ( 1781 ) 59 

— ,  expeditions    against    Cherokee    under 

(1780-81, 1788. 1793) 57-58, 65, 66,  75, 82 

—  expedition  against  Chickamauga  towns 
under  (1782) 60 

—.expedition  against  Hiwassee  towns  un- 
der 117861 63 

— ,  expedition  against  Overhill  towns  under 
(1781) 58-59 

—  life  of 210-211 

— ,  prevention  of  burning  of  Chilhowee  by  .        73 
Shaw,  Leonard  D.,  appointment  of,  as  Gov- 
ernment ethnologist 70-71 

Shawano  among  Cherokee,  number  of 157 

— ,  anti-American  confederacy  headed  by. .        72 

— ,  attack  on  Buchanans  station  by 73 

— ,  attitude  of,  during  Revolution 55 

—  blood  among  Cheokee 234 

— ,  character  of 461 

— ,  <  Iherokee  invitations  to 105,136 

— ,  Cherokee  relations  with 14,15,31-32,38,384 

— ,  hostility  of,  to  Americans 66-67,74 

— ,  incorporation  of,  with  Cherokee 99,151 

—  in  Texas,  union  of,  with  Cherokee 143 

— ,  legends  concerning 486-487 

— ,  legends  of  Cherokee  wars  with 370-378 

— ,  myths  of 437 

— ,  probable    origin    of    Cherokee    myths 

among 235 

— ,  separation  of,  from  Delawares 18-19 

— ,  sketch  of 494-196 

—,  trans-Mississippi  migration  of 99 

Shea,  J.  G.,  on  De  Soto's  route 193,198 

—  on  early  Spanish  settlements 27 

—  on  Rogel's  expedition 201-202 

—  on  Spanish  mission  among  Cherokee 29 

Sh  eep,  Cherokee  name  for 265 

— ,  raising  of,  by  Cherokee 112 

Shelby,  Colonel,  defeat  of  Ferguson  by  ...        57 
— ,  expedition  against  Chickamauga  towns 

under 55 

Shining  rock  myth  concerning 480 

Shoe-boots,  war  medicine  of 394 

Shumopovi,  study  of  altar  at xlvii, 

xlviii,  xlix,  1-lii 

Sia,  studies  of  fraternities  and  cults  of xlvi 

Sibbald,  John  A.,  special  agent  to  Chero- 
kee       175 

Sibley,  — ,  on  Cherokee  in   Arkansas  in 

1805 , 101 

— ,  on  Mobilian  trade  language 187 

Sign  language,  study  of xxvii 

sii.er,  I).  W.,  East  Cherokee  census  by 167 

Silver,  myth  concerning 350-351 

Similitude,  development  of ...  Ixxxviii-lxxxix 

sin,  myths  concerning  origin  of 218-249 

Sinti,  Kiowa  myths  of 134,  149 

Siouan  tribes,  study  of xxix 

Sioux,  legends  concerning 386 

— ,  myths  of 140,450 

— ,  use  of  language  of,  as  trade  language. . .      188 
SlSSIPAHAW,  Spanish  contract  with 28 


C^Tm^j 


:.7  1 


Page 
Six  Nai  ions   seen 

Ski i.!.,  pleasures  oi 1  \ i 

Skunk  in  Cherokee  myth 65-261 

sky  ri  on  i .  mj  ill-  concerning 86 

Skyyauli    myths  concerning 440 

Si  ives  among  Chi  33,112, 125, 148, 150 

— ,  Indian,  contact  of,  with  negroes -. .     238 

I  >  hi  rokee ii   61 

—  among  East  Cherokee iti-i?j 

—  in  Chickamauga  hand 

Smi]  \  \  in  Cherokee  lore 125 

Smith    Irchilla,  flight  of 134 

Smith,  Buckingham,  on  burning  of  peaf 

near  Charleston it  l 

—  "ii  Davies'  History 202 

—  cm  De  Soto's  route 195 

—  translation  ol  Elvas  narrative  by 193 

Smith.   Mrs  Erminnie,  studj    ol    troquoi 

myths  by xlvii 

—  mi  Iroquois  myths 136,  189,443,448,  169,  it:; 

Smith   Harry,  on  Natchez  among  Chero- 
kee  187 

—  on  traditional  predecessors  of  Cherokee.        23 

Smith.  John,  on  name  Rickahockan 188-184 

smith.  Gen.  Kirby,  attempt  to  enlist  Chero- 
kee by 16&-169 

Smith.  X.  J.,  acknowledgments  to 13 

— .  Cherokee  story-teller 23T 

— ,  clerk  of  East  Cherokee  council 173 

— ,  East  Cherokee  chief 175 

— .  life  of its 

— .  myths  told  by 162,  17  1 

—  on  East  Cherokee  in  Civil  war 170-1T1 

—  on  East  Cherokee  schools 170 

— .  work  of.  among  East  Cherokee 177 

Smith,  Sibeald,  acknowledgments  to 13 

Smith. .  leader  of  pioneer  advance 45 

Smith. .  on  surrender  of  Cavitts  station.       T5 

Smithsonian     Institution,     acknowledg- 
ments to 12 

Smyth,  Maj.  J.  a.,  acknowledgments  to...        13 

Snail,  myths  concerning 449 

Snakes,  myths  and  lure  concerning 241,251, 

252  253,280,294-306,313,346, 
ill.  133,  136  137,  156,  165,  181 

Snake  Boy. myth  oi 304-305 

Snake  dance,  study  of xiv 

SNAKE   Man,  myth  of 304 

Snowflake,  excavation  of  ruins  near  ..  xiii-xiv 

s.  K  iology,  subject-matter  of xii 

— .  work  in xxii-xxv 

- ■       :■  -    nd  of (08  109 

tviLLE,  collection  from xxi 

-  ceavation  of  ruins  near xiv 

301  as   I     ei 400,  135,  I'.-.  172  IT:; 

—  among  Indians It.: : 

Sophioi.ogy,  subject-matter  of xii 

— ,  work  in xxvii  x.win 

by  in  development 
of  games lxviii-lxix 

i  M  IGIC. 

Sourwood,  ini  herokee  myth  and  lore . 

South,  myth  of  daughter  of 322 

Sot  in  C  irolin  i,  cession  oi  lasl  Cherokee 

lands  in 97 

—,  Cherokee  relations  with i 


Page 

5 ..,.■-,      expedition    ti 

1776 19    Ji 

first  settlement  in 

legends  of Ill   112 

,  production  of  gold  in 221 

Spai  i    discussion  of Iv-lvli 

SPAiN.claim  to  land  south  o 

river  by  

ntion  of  posts  In  south  b;     I    «>  68 

— .  surrender  ol  southern  posts  by - 1 

Ii*  .n>    «  lib  ■  1795) si 

Spaniards,  Cheroke lingtoward 282 

i  in  ol  Indian  hostility  bj 
64,67-1 

in  southern  United  stales 

— .  legends  concerning 408 

— .  period  of  exploration  by 

— ,  relations,,!'.  «  ith  [ndi  ms  98,99  I II 

Spanish  needle  in  Cherokee  lore 126 

Sparrow,  Cherokee  name  for 281 

Spear-finger,  set  U'tlufi'ta. 

Spensi  r,  allegorj  in  poetry  of xc 

Spider,  myths  and  lore  concerning. .  241  242  809 

— .  sa  aim  Water-spider. 

Spinning  among  Cherokee  82,101, 105,21 1 

—  among  East  Cherokee 176 

Spirit  folk,  Cherokee 175   177 

Slums  discussion  of Ixiii-lxviii 

Sprague,  Senator,  speech  by,  on    ' 

laws  affecting  Cherokee 118 

Spray,  H.  w.,  acknowledgments  to 13 

— .  East  Cherokee  teacher  and  agent L76  180 

Spreading-adder,  myths  and  lore  concern- 
ing    252,263,297,  136,  138 

Spring  place,  establishment  of  mission  at.      107 

Springstone  on  Nancy  Ward 204 

Squash,  myth  concerning 1T1 

SijriER,  E.  (..,  on  Cherokee  myths  ...   436,  140,  142 

—  on  Cherokee  New-fire  ceremony 502-503 

—  on  the  heavens  in  mythology 431 

Squirrel,  myths  concerning.  251,262-263,286  287 
Stand  Watie,  burning  of  Ross's  house  b; 
—.myths told  by 129,  144 

—  on  Iroqiioi-  peace  embassy 

—  on  Iroquois  wars 

— .  part  taken  by.  in  Civil  war 148,  149 

— .  threat  against  Ross  by 134 

Stanley..!.  M.. on  Iroquois  peace  embassj   185  i-s 

Stapler,  Miss ,  marriage  of  John  Ross  to      224 

stac.  feathers,  legend  of 399  100 

Starr,  James,  fiight.of 134 

Starr,  Tom.  legend  concerning 286 

Stars,  myths  and  lore  concerning  257, 

■     i 

Si  ml  rights,  bearing  ol  Removal  struggle 


on  . 


- destruction  of 49 

Stedman  'hi  English  attempts  to  enlist  In 

dian  aid  during  the  Revolution 17 

Stein,  Robert,  work  ol xviii 

Steiner,  Rev.  all  iham  i  hi   o 

ary -I 

xx-xxi 

Stephen,  A.  M.,  work  ol xii 

-i  i.Liiis  Col.—,  expedition  again 

kee  under  ..' 16 

-i  ia  bns  on  d t of  4  Ireek  and  i 

In  '  Ii  orgia  1 1781 1 60 


572:; 


Page 
Stevens  op  Pic-ken's  expedition  (1782) 60 

—  on  Priber'swork 37 

—  on  treaties  of  De  Witt'scorners  and  Long 
island 54 

—  i  hi  treaty  of  Augusta  ( 1763) -15 

—  on  treaty  of  Hopewell 62 

Stevenson,  JIrs  M.C.,  model  of  Zuni  altar 

by  xlviii 

— ,  study  of  fraternities  and  cults  by xlvii 

— ,  work  of xxvii-xxviii 

Stevenson, ,  on  petroglyphs  at   Track 

Bock  gap 419 

Stika'yI,  see  Stecoee. 

Stock,  Cherokee  losses  of,  in  Civil  war 149 

Stockaded  villages  among  Indians 493 

Stock  raising  by  Cherokee 82 

Stokes,  Agent,  on  killing  of  Ridges  and 

Boudinot 134 

Stone,  W.  L.,  on  Sir  William  Johnson 203 

SIMM.  MAN,  see  Xf  NYlNU'Wi. 

Storehouse  of  Indian  tribes 433 

Stories  and  story-tellers,  Cherokee 230, 

232,236-238,428-  130 

Strawberry,  myths  concerning 259,  143,  168 

Stringkield.  Col.  W.  W.,  acknowledgments 
to 13 

—  on  East  Cherokee  in  Civil  war 169-170 

— ,  taking  of  party  of  East  Cherokee  to  Con- 
federate reunion  by 170 

Stuart,  Capt.  .1<>hn.  rapture  and  release  of       44 

— ,  life  of 203 

— ,  refuge  of  defeated  Cherokee  with 53 

— .  treaty  negotiated  by 45 

SUCK,  The.  myths  concerning  ...  312,3*7,464-465 

SUGABTOWN,  encounter  at 49 

SUMA,  work  among xvi 

Sumac,  use  of  darts  of , 494 

Sun,  myths  concerning 240, 252-257, 

259,295,297,363,409,  121,436-438,440,  111 

Sunset  land,  in y ths  concerning 463,465 

Supreme  Court,  decision  of,  in  Worcester 

)'.  State  of  Georgia 119,120 

Suyeta.  Cherokee  story-teller 237 

— ,  myths  told  by 412, 44s,  150,  151,  154 

—  on  character  of  Babbit 232 

Swain  on  Indian  warfare  in  1776 52 

—  i.n  Butherford's  expedition .'. 49 

—  on  Williamson's  expedition 50 

Swallowtail    flycatcheb    in    Cherokee 

lore 285 

Sweat  house,  see  Asi. 

Swe  \  1 1  \Nn  s.  H.,  East  Cherokee  census  by      172 

Swimmer,  life  of 236  237 

— ,  myths  told  by 236,  130,  131,  135,  136,  138, 

440,  142,443,448,450-452,  154-456,461-463, 
166   168-474,  177,  180,  181,  Is::.  194,  195,  50] 

—  on  dagul'kO  geese 439 

—  mi  mounds  and  constant  fire 501-502 

— ,  songs  obtained  from  504 

Syllabary,  Cherokee 219-220 

— ,  cast i iig  of  characters  of Ill 

— ,  effect  of,  "ii  Cherokee  development...  110-112 
— ,  introduction  of,  among  western  Chero- 
kee        138 


Syllabary,  invention  of 

— .  opposition  to  introduction  of. 


108-110 
. .       351 


Page 

Symphony',  development  of lxxiii-lxxiv 

synonymy,  tribal,  of  Cherokee 15-16, 

19,182-187,351,378,382 

Tabus,  Cherokee 162 

Tadpole,  myth  concerning 311 

Ta'gwadihI',  Cherokee  story-teller 237 

— .  myths  told  by 430, 

442,  443,  456,  466, 469,  476,  171.  501 
TAHCHEE.attack  on  Osage  at  Fort  Gibson  by.      141 

— ,  emigrntit.il  ,.i.  into  Texas 141,143 

—  McKcliney  and  Hall  on 137 

Tahlequah,  selection  of.  as  Cherokee  capi- 
tal    135-147 

— ,  treaties  at  (1861, 1866) 148,150 

— ,  Yuchi  living  near 3S5 

Tahookatookie  in  Texas,  union  of,  with 

Cherokee 143 

Takatoka,  aid  given  by,  in  introduction  of 

syllabary 138 

Talamatan,  see  Wyandot. 

Ta  lassie,  escape  of,  from  destruction  (1780)        58 

Tali'wa,  battle  of 38, 384 

Talladega, battle  of 91 

Tallaseehatchee,  battle  of 90, 91 

Tallige'wi,  meaning  of  name 19,184-185,378 

— ,.*<<  also  Synonymy. 

Tallulah  falls, myth  concerning 346, 

417-418,481 
Tabahumabj,  obtaining     of    information 

concerning xvi 

— ,  work  among xvii 

Tauletiin,  General,  attempted  invasion  of 

North  Carolina  and  Virginia  by 56-57 

Tar  wolf,  distribution  of  myth  of 283  234 

— ,  myth  of 271-272,  45U 

Taskigi, Cherokee  relations  with 388-389 

— ,  tribe  Of  Creek  confederacy 498-199 

Tasquhjui, Spanish  visit  to 29,389 

Tassel,  murder  of 65-66 

Taylor,  i  apt.  Richard,  part  taken  by,  in 

Creek  war 97 

1'KcHNoI.milc  stage,  features  of xxi-xxii 

Technology, subject-matter  of xii 

— ,  work  in xx-xxii 

Tecumtha,  life  of 215-216 

—,  meaning  of  name  of 142 

— ,  work  of,  among  Creeks 87-88 

TEXT,  on  Thompson  River  myths 433, 

436,437,4111,  141,  451,  167,470 
Telfair, Governor,  on  Georgians'  raid  and 

Cherokee  reprisal  d792> 71 

TELLICO,  conference  at  (1794) 79 

— ,  conference  and  treaty  at  (1798) SO 

— ,  treatiestat  (1804, 1805) 84-85 

Temple,  M.  S.,  survey  of  Qualla  reservation 


by  . 


171 


Ten  ness  li..  attempted  purchase  of  Cherokee 

lands  by  (1807) 86 

— ,  encroachments  against  Cherokee  by 6  4 

—.incorporation  of,  in   "Territory  of  the 
United  states  south  of  the  Ohio  River"..        68 

—.local  legends  of 412,415 

—.memorial  to  Congress  by 76 

— .opposition  to  allotment  project  by 114 

—  production  of  gold  in 220, 221 


573 


Tenni  --n.  Removal  forts  in 22] 

—,  treaty  with  Cherokee  by 

i  i  inklin,  State  of. 

Tennessee  bald,  myths  concerning 

177-479 

Tennessee  river,  truce  line  at 185 

Ten  Kate,  EL, on  Cherokee  myths 161 

Iivmu      i  LW  ATEE. 

Tepehdan  tribes,  obtaining  of  information 

c. inceming x  vii 

i  rning 270-271, 

278-279,280,286  288,28 

Terrapin.  The, Cherokee  chief 63 

Tebrei     i                      knowledgments  to.        13 
— y  life  of,  among  Bast  Cherokee    168 

—  cm  Catawba  among  Bast  i  iherokee 166 

—  on  Cherokee  myths 167 

—  on  East  <  herokee  in  Civil  war 1  To,  171 

—  on  Junaluska 165 

—  on  Col.W.  H.Thomas 162 

—,  roster  of  Cherokee  troops  by 169 

Teton,  myths  of 159 

Tewa  Indians,  visit  to  ruins  attributed  to  .       xv 

Texas.  Houston's  part  in  history  of 223 

— .migration  of  Creek  tribes  to 99 

— ,se<  ession  of,  from  Mexico in 

—,  work  in x vi.  xvii 

Texas  Cherokee, history  of 143-146 

—.origin  of 138  m 

Thomas, Dr  Cyrus, memoirs  by xlii- 

xliii,  xliv-xlv 

— ,  work  of xxix 

Thomas, Col.  W.  H., acknowledgments  to...       13 
— ,  arrangement  by,  for  stay  of  East  Cher- 
okee in  ilu'  cast 156  159 

—.connection  of.  with  East   Cherokee   af- 
fairs    162,163,165,166-172 

— ,  difficulty  over  estates  of 173-174 

— ,  legend  told  by 19] 

i 159-192 

— .  mission  of,  to  tj'tsala and  Charley.  131-,  157-158 

—  on  Baptist  preachers  among  East  Chero- 
kee         165 

—  on  Catawba  among  East  Cherokee 165 

—  on  Cherokee  round-up 181 

—  on  Junaluska 165 

—  tin  traditional  predecessors  of  Cherokei 

—  on  Rutherford's  route 20f> 

—  on  smallpox  among  East  Cherokee 172 

—  mi  Swimmer's  knowledge  of  Cherokee 
myths 236 

— .  purchase  of  lands  for  East  Cherokee  by.     159 

— .  retirement  of 172 

Thomas,  Col. ,killinj       I  an 

by  men  under 

Thomas  Legion,  organize 

...  si 

i  son,  rapt.  ,  defeat  of  ( 

under is 

Thompson,  — .  arrest  of U9 

Thompson  River  Indians,  myth 

136,  137,  no.  in.  151,  In7.  iTn 

Thought  readj                       -  Hef  in  —  244, 

tore  of  Bowl's  family 146 

—  on  Indian  expulsion  from  Texas 145 


Thrali Mi ■-. 

n.ki'i' 145 

sb  myths  and  lore  concerning 240, 

248,  257,  29  ■.   100  301 
162-363. 435, 441-442, 4 

TlKWAl  1  in I  nil 

Tillamook,  myths  of 140 

TlMBERLAKE,       III    NK-i   .     nil      ' 

dress 171 

—  on  Cherokee  regard  for  eagles . 

—  on  Cherokee  welcome  ceremony 

—  on  "flyingstag" 

—  on  French  and   English   treatm 

9    ' 

—  on  gatayustl  game 

—  on  Indian  war  path 207 

—  on  opossum hi 

—  on  position  of  Indian  women 190 

■  ■■  "i  I I  oudon 43 

—  on  ITktena  and  Ulunsu'tl 459,  161 

—  on  war  women .iOl 

— .  visit  to  Cherokee  by 

Titmouse,  myths  concerning.  285-286,318,  154   168 

Tiwa,  siinly  uf  language  of xxvi 

— ,  work  among \\i 

Ti.ANisi'vi.  myth  concerning 

Ti-A'suw.v'.  myths  ami  lore  concerning  ...     284, 

286-281 

Thai i  in  Cherokee  myth 

Tobacco,  Cherokee 439 

— ,  myths  and  lore  concerning 

344,  124 

rocAj    !'■    Soto's  visit  to 29 

myth  concerning us 

I  i n  i  lii:. i  I  'In  ml..-.'. 79 

Tolome,  tribe  of  Choctaw  confederacy  

TOHOPEKA,  Ti.liiil'kl,  SO    HOBSESHOE  BEND. 

I  in  :  I  meeskee,  death  of 

— ,  invitation  to  missionaries  by 136 

— ,  reservation  for 85 

— .  treaty  signed  by  1 1806) 85 

Tomassee,  encounter  at 51-52 

"  Tom  Filler,"  nature  ol 152 

Tomtit,  so  i  itmouse... 154 

i  i,  i  Sherokee  relations  with 891 

—  legend  of ">ul 

— ,  settlement  of.  mi  Cherokee  stri] 151 

— ,  study  of xvi 

Too  i.M  i  n.  McKenney  and  Hall  on 137 

use  of  Indian  disguise  by 17,48 

TORTOISl  ,  SO     I  I  KKAPIN. 

ha  i  ii.  relation  of,  to  vision lxii-Ixiii 

Townhouse,  heating  and  lighting  of 230 

Townhousi    da     i    effeel  of  snake  myths 
tne  of  holding 

TOXAWAY,  SSI  'I  "i 

Trade  among  Cherokee 

—.intertribal  

I  B  Ml    I   INGUAGES,  Indian 1-". 

mong  i  Iherokei  .  Norl  h  ( 

regulations  concerning 61 

ii  ace  of,  nn  Indian  i  ...      213 

-.  use  of  bells  by 

Track  Rock  gap,  myth  concerning 453 

kee,  men 

of  Tusayan,  memoir  on xxxix-xl 

Transformation  myths 304,462-463 


574:i 


[KTH.  ANN.  19 


Traps,  Indian  use  of 468 

Tree  rock,  myth  concerning 317,467 

Trees,  Cherokee  explanation  of  characters 
of 


421 

—  in  Cherokee  myths,  powers  of 231 

Trephined  skulls,  collection  of xxix 

Tribe,  features  of xlix.l 

Trope,  development  of xe-xei 

Trotter,  H.  <;..  acknowledgments  to 13 

Troup,  Governor,  on  Cherokee  refusal  to 

remt  ive 115 

Trumbull,  J.  H.,  on  name  Tallige'wi 184 

TsA'.A'si,  Cherokee  fairy 334 

TsA'LA'ii',  meaning  and  inflection  of 15-16, 

182-183 
— ,  see  also  Cherokee;  Synonomy. 
TsalI,  see  Charley. 

TsanI,  Cherokee  war  chief  in  1776  , 381 

TsantAwO'.  contact  with  Little  People  by.  334 
TsA'RAf.i'.     see     Cherokee;     Synonomy; 

Tsa'i.Ai.i'. 

Tsasta'wI,  legend  concerning 408 

Tsawa'bi,  Cherokee  fairy...- 334 

TSESA'Ni,  Cherokee  story  teller 237 

— ,  myth  told  by 463 

TsE'si-SKA'TSi,  sec  Keid,  Jesse. 
TsKiL-E'GWA,  see  Big-witch. 

Tsul'kAlu',  myths  concerning 262, 

337-339, 407,  410, 132.  477-480 

Tsundige'wi,  myth  of 325,-:71-172 

TsuNi'i.uHUN'sKi,  see  Junaluska. 
TsuskwAnuS'nAwa'tA,  see \V afford. 

Tsi  wk'nAhI,  myth  of 343-345, 4S0-181 

Tuckasegee,  destruction  of  (1781) 59 

TugAlC'nA  fish,  myth  concerning 289,455 

TUGGLE  manuscript  on  Creek  myths 431, 

432, 434-136, 447-450, 452, 455, 463, 469,  473,  476 

—  on  Creek  songs 504 

TtNA'i,  legend  of 373 

TUP1  language,  trade  language  based  on  .  187 
Turkey,  myths  and  lore  concerning 269-270, 

285,287-288,449,455 

TURKEYTOWN,  siege  and  relief  of 90 

— .  treaty  ratitied  at  (1816) 98 

Turtle,  drum  of  shell  of 503 

— ,  myths  and  'ore  concerning 306, 

343, 346, 430, 452, 475, 481, 482 

Turtle  dove,  Cherokee  name  for 281 

'1  isa  v  an.  memoir  on  clan  localization  in. .  xli 
— ,  memoir  on  Flute  and  Snake  ceremoniesof  xlv 
— ,memoiron  migration  traditions  of. .  xxxix-xl 
— ,  study  of  fraternities,  cults,  and   altars 

in xlvii,  xlviii-xlix,  1-liii 

— ,  work  in xiv 

Tuscarora,  Cherokee  relations  with 14, 

32,36,38,379 

— ,  enslavement  of  233 

— ,  expulsion  of,  from  Xorth  Carolina 483 

— ,  habitat  and  migrations  of 17 

— ,  wampum    recording   admission   of,    to 

.    Iroquois  league 354 

— ,  war  between  colonies  and 1...        32 

— ,  myths  and  beliefs  of 442,  166,501,505 

— ,  participation  in  Lewis's  expedition  by..        41 

— ,  sketch  of 498 

Tuskegee,  burning  of 51 

Tusquittee  bald,  myth  concerning 410 


Twilight  land  of  Cherokee  myth 435,437 

Tyrant  stage,  see  Monarchical  stage. 

Uchee,  tribe  of  Creek  confederacy 498-499 

— .  get  also  Yuchi. 

CGUSSTE'Li  fish,  myths  concerning 307-308 

Uksu'h!,  myths  concerning  .  241,301-302,431,462 

L'ktkna,  myths  and  lore  concerning 253. 

297-301,315, :;  16. 396,  MB,  410-458, 462 

U'la'gu',  myth  concerning 260 

I'l.CNsr'Ti.  myths  and  lore  concerning 264 

297-300, 350-351, 396, 458-461 
T'NATAlJt'A,  see  NADAKO. 

Uncle  Remus  on  character  of  rabbit 233 

—  on  negro  myths  448 

Underground  panthers,  myth  of 324 

Underworld,  myths  concerning 239,341-347 

Une'gadihI',  see  White-man-killer. 

Unicoi  turnpike,  building  of 87 

Union  Cherokee  in  civil  war 171-172 

United  States,  Cherokee  relations  with  . .  61 ,  i!s 

Unseen  helpers,  legend  of 359 

UNTSAIYl',  Cherokee  myths  concerning 308, 

310,311-315,463,464 
Usiiery,  Usi,  see  Catawba. 

I'stanai.i.  Cherokee  capital 71.80,81 

— ,  destruction  of 60, 75 

— ,  medicine  dance  at 88 

Ustu'tli,  myths  concerning 302-303 

Utah,  collection  from xxix 

Utility,  relation  of,  to  pleasure lxi 

U'tlun'ta,  myth  of 316-319,466 

U'tsAlA,  leader  of  Removal  refugees 157 

— ,  Thomas's  mission  to 157-158, 408 

U'wtsCS'ta,  myth  of 303-304, 462 

Valleytown  mission,  establishment  of..  107-108 
Van  Buren,  Martin,  election  of,  to  Presi- 
dency        129 

Vandera  on  De  Soto's  route 193 

—  on  Pardo's  expedition 29 

Vann,  David,  aid  given  to  missionary  work 

by 84 

— ,  death  of  daughter  of 221 

Vaugondy  on  name  Cuttawa 182 

Venus'8  flytrap  in  Cherokee  lore 427 

Verrazano,  visit  to  America  by 191 

VlNCENNES,  Lieutenant,  burning  of 477 

Violet  in  Cherokee  lore 420,505 

Viper's  bugloss  in  Cherokee  lore 426 

Virginia,  expedition  from,  in  1776 49,50-51 

— .  first  conflict  of  Cherokee  with 29-30 

— ,  production  of  gold  in 221 

— ,  treaty  with  Cherokee.  Creeks,  and  Chick- 
asaw by 63 

Vision,  relation  of,  to  touch lxii-lxiii 

Voice,  part  played  by,  in  development  of 

music lxxi-lxxii 

Volcanoes,  records  of,  in  Carolina  moun- 
tains       471 

Wachesa  trail,  see  Unicoi  turnpike 87 

Wadi'yAhi',  death  of 179 

Wafford,  James  D..  Cherokee  story  teller.  237-23S 
— ,  compilation  of  Cherokee  spelling  bookby      108 

— .  myths  t"ld  by 430,431, 

435,  138,  Hi'.  141.  tis-ivj.  154,455,461, 
163,   166    16s.  171.474-476,482,483,501 


19] 


Waffobd,  James    l1  ,  on   n-sa-sination  of 
John  Walker 12] 

—  on  battle  oi  Tali'wa 385 

—  on  '  !hi  as  with  I  atawba —      381 

—  on  Cherokee  relations  with  Creeks  89 

—  .mi  discover)  of  gold  in  Cherokee coun 

try 116 

iquoii  i"'. bassy 363  3  >•■   18  i 

—  ..I.  Mexican  -nun  to  Cherokee 143 

—  on  in. lis 

—  on  Natchez  among  i  herokee  .  387 

—  (in  Osage-Cherokee  troubles 187 

—  on  patent  t>>  Texas  lands 146 

—  on  Removal 131 

—  on  Sequoya's  birth  date 109 

—  on  Shawano  war- 194 

—  on  spinning  wheels  among  Cherokee  ...     214 

—  on  war  woman    419 

—  on  White-path's  rebellion lit 

—  ..ii  Wolf-killer lis 

—  ..ii  Rev.  S.  A.  Worcester 108 

Wafford,  Colonel,  establishment  of  Wat- 
ford's settlement  bj 238 

Wi 'a  sen  i  i  mi.m.  sale  of 86 

Waiinenaihi     mam  script    on    Cherokee 
myths 284,297, 431,  469, 4T.i.  501 

—  mi  introduction  of  -pinning  wheels *J14 

Wai  am  <ii. I'm,  nature  and  history  of...       190,229 

—  on  Cherokee  migration 18-19,191 

on  name  Tallige'wi 184-185 

Wai. a 'si  fr.  ....  position  Of,  in  council 231 

B  i  lcott,   Hon.  ('.   I>.,  acknowledgments 

to xxxi,  xxxiii 

Walker,   Felix,  employment    of   W.    H. 

Thomas  in  store  of 

Walker,  .i.hin,  a—a—i  nation  of 

Walker,  Maj.  John,  part  taken  by,  in  Creek 


L60 


war 117 

Walker,  Dr  Thomas,  explorations  by 38-39 

Wai. Kin,  — ,  leader  of  pioneer  advance..        15 

¥1  1LLAWALJ  L,  myths  ..I lis 

Wallen, .  leader  of  pioneer  advance  . .        4". 

Walnut  in  Cherokee  lore 422 

Wampum,  Indian  use  of 354,488,494 

— ,  Iroquois 354 

WAPPING1  i:.  a la i  ion  of.  with  Delawares.      497 

-.  late  of 197-498 

— .  separation  of,  from  Delawares 19 

Ward,  Brian,  on  battle  of  Tali'wa 385 

Ward,  Nancy,  life  of 

— .  rescue  of  Mr-.  Bean  by 190 

— .  warning  to  Americans  by 47 

War  medicine,  Cherokee  beliefs  concern- 
ing    393    194 

Warpath,  Indian 

w  in  Woman's  creek,  legend  concerning  .      U9 
War  Women,  Cherokee W 

W  1SASH,   ■■     I  ISAGE 

Washburn,   Rev.  Cephas,  Cherokee  mis- 

-ionary 136 

—  ..ii  Howl  migration  100-101 

—  on  Cherokee  myths B0,  145 

—  on  Cherokee  regard  for  rattlesnakes  ..  15&  157 

—  on  Cherokee  Bacred  ark 603 

—  on  Cherokee  witchcraft  law 138 

—  on  Cherokee  emigration  to  Texas ill 

Osage-Cherokee  troubles 137 

—  on  Sequoya's  removal 13s 


w  ishinoton,    President    Qeorqi 

68 

raj  jiii 

NO 

W  ishinoton,  si  '  Wasi  rl  'na. 

w  VMHS..T..N,  treaties  "i 

w  Isl,  Chi     i  imj  ih  of 

..■I  .  h.ui,  ...  escapi    in. I  surren- 

i   -      

ingof 158 

Watauga,  cession  of  settlements  al 62 

rokee  attack  on  tort  at is 

Water  beetle,  myths  concerning  

UiMt:    .    I'.Mlal.-,  mi  Hi  ..:        

"  w  1 1  n:  "  In  Cherokee  lore  307,  110 

"Water  dwellers"  in  Cherokee  myth.  i 

Water  moccasin  in  Cherokee  myth  and 

lore 297 

Water  spider,  myths  concerning 241-242, 

130,  i  a 
W  1 1  ii  .  see  Stand  Watie. 
Watts,  John,  chief  of  Chickamauga  band.       7 2 

— .  conference  a1  Jellico  by  .  1794) 79 

— ,  expedition  against  Knoxville  under 75 

— ,  friendliness  of,  in  1794 76 

— ,  letter  left  at  Gillespies  station  by 66 

— ,  progressive  leader s;; 

— ,  rai.l  on  settlements  near  Knoxville  un- 
der   

— ,  wounding  of  (1792)  73 

Waxhaw,  heating  and  lighting  of  town- 
house  among 230 

— .  Spanish  contact  with 28 

Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony,  building  of  Fori 

Recovery  by 212 

.  defeat  "i  confederated  tribes  by 21  a 

— ,  effect  Of  victory  of 68,78,79,81 

— ,  message  to  Ohio  Cherokee  by 79 

WEATHERFORD,  William.  leader  of  hostile 

Upper  1  'reek- 89 

-,  li f 217 

— .  massacre  at  Fort  Slims  by  Creeks  under.      216 

— ,  surrender  of 

Weaving  among  Cherokee 101,112,211 

—  among  East  Cherokee 176 

Webster,  Daniel,  opposition   to  removal 

project  by 129 

Webster,  Thomas,  keeper  of  Iroquois  warn 

pums 

Win.   W.  II..  on  Indian  smelting 201 

Weie,  Colonel,  arrangement  bj  Ro     n  14 

Welch,  Lloyd  R.,  Fast  Cherokee  chief 175 

— ,  farewell  address  of 226-227 

Welcomi      m:    M,e  .  of '  in"., i  >■. 493 

Westeh     .in  la.K  i  I..  Easl  . 

against 177 

1 1  of 1 16-157 

.,  ARK  LN8AS  Chero 
W HEELER.  J.  F..  arrest  of 11.1 

— .  printer  ..f  Cherokee  Phcenix ill 

WHIPPOOBWILL,  Cherokee  name  for 2-1 

Whisky  in  Indian  legend 

Whistles  among  Indians 455 

White.  Colonel,  order  issued  by  1 1792). 

White, '.en        i  tpen n    of  at  tn; ler  .  90,91 

White. ,  on  petroglyphs 

gap ii  ' 


r,7<;;:: 


White, ,  on  War  Woman's  creek 419 

— ,  pseudomyths  and  traditions  given  by.  415-416 

White,  symbolism  of 493,494 

White  animals,  Indian  veneration  for 447 

White  Bear,  myths  concerning 250,264,473 

White -EYES,    Cherokee    condolences    on 

diatli  of 50,379 

Whitehall,  treaty  >it 35 

White-man-killer,  attack  on  Scott  party 

by '.         77 

White    men,    influence    of,    on    Cherokee 

mythology 235 

— .  legends  of  lirsi  contact  of  Cherokee  with.    350- 
351,  183 

White-path,  rebellion  of 113-114 

White  river,  cession  to  Cherokee  of  tract 

on  102-103 

Whites  p ,  conventional  (1791) 68-69 

— ,  expedition  against  Cherokee  from 65 

Whiteside  MOUNTAIN,  myths  concerning..     317, 
111.  167 
Whitley,     Colonel,     expedition     against 

Chickamauga  towns  under 7s,  79 

Wichita,  racing  among 494 

Wiedemann,  Alfred,  on  Egyptian  myths.      438 

Wild  Buy,  myths  concerning 242-249 

Wildcat,  myth  concerning 269-270,  149 

Wild  rice  gatherers  of  the  upper  lakes, 

memoir  on lii-liy 

Will,  progressive  leader 83 

Williams  on  De  Soto's  route 193,198 

Williamson,  Col.  Andrew,  expedition  un- 
der      19-51 1 

— ,  presence  of  Catawba  with 381 

Will-o'-the-wisp  in  Cherokee  lore 476 

Willstown,  Cherokee  refugeesat 55,209 

—,  establishment  of  mission  at 105 

WiLsiNi',  see  Spray,  H.W. 

Wilson  on  Rutherford's  route 205 

Wil-TJsdi',  see  Thomas,  w.  H. 

Win.nek.mio  tiki. le  mi  addressing  Delaware's        197 

WlNSBIP,  6.  P.,  work  of xxx 

Winsor,  Justin,  on  Davies'  History 202 

—  "ii  I  e  Luna's  expedition 201 

—  on  De  Soto's  route 191,193,198 

—  on  early  Spanish  settlements 27 

Wisdom,  D.  M.,  on  acts  of  Dawes  Commis- 
sion         154 

— .  011  Cherokee  population  and  acreage..      157 
— .  on  intention  of  United  States  toopen  In- 
dian Territory 154 

— .  on  intruders  in  Indian  Territory 154 

—,011  Mexican  encouragement  of  emigra- 
tion scheme 156 

— .  on  population  of  Indian  Territory 155 

Wise,  opposition  to  removal  project  by 129 

Witchcraft,  Cherokee  belief  in 138, 152 

— .  Cherokee  law  against  accusations  of 138 

Wit. ties  in  Cherokee  myth 244,401-403 

Wives,  Indian  custom  of  exchanging 156 

Wolf,  myths  and  lore  concerning 245-246, 

263, 264-265,  266,  272,  274,278-279,  280,  289 

190,362,  134,  145,  lis.  i.,n.  151,  152,  153,  189 

Woli  town,  purchase  of 161 


W.  im  EN  among  Cherokee  warriors  . . .  395, 419, 501 

Woodchuck,  myth  concerning 280 

WooDWARDon  De  Soto's  route 199 

—  on  chief  McGillivray 210 

—  on  Mobilian  trade  language 187 

—  on  chief  Weatherford 217 

Wool,  General,  disarming  of  Indians  by...      129 

—  on  Cherokee  opposition  to  Removal 127 

—  on  preparations  for  Removal 127 

— .  protests  against  New  Echota  treaty  sub 

in i  1  ted  to 126 

Worcester,  Rev.  S.  A..  Cherokee  mission 

ary 105 

— ,  death  of 1  IS 

— .  imprisonment  of 119 

— ,  life  of 217-218 

— .  work  in  translation,  etc.,  by 108,111,165 

World,  Cherokee  account  of  the   making 

of  239-242 , 430-131 

— ,  Cherokee  idea  of 455 

When  in  Cherokee  lore 401,504 

Wkosetasktow.  "emperor"  of  Cherokee  ..        34 

Wyandot,  Cherokee  relations  with 18 

— ,  legends  concerning 486 

—  mode  of  addressing  Delawares 497 

—  name  for  Cherokee 183 

—  traditions  concerning  Cherokee 19 

W  v  m  a  N  on  Creeks 499 

XfAi.A.  De  Soto's  visit  to 25,28-29,194,196 

Yahcla,  myth  of 347-349,  482-483 

Yamassee,  massacre  of  whites  by 33 

— ,  migration  to  Florida  of 99 

Ya'naoi  n'ski,  sec  Yonaguska. 

Yane'i.wa,  Cherokee  chief 164 

Yellow-jacket,  myth  concerning...  260,443-444 

Yei.lowhammer,  myth  concerning 288-289 

Yellow  hill,  purchase  of 161 

Von  mm  ska,  adoption  of  W.H.Thomas  by..      160 

— ,  life  of 162-161 

Yontonwisas  dance,  legend  concerning..  365,  192 
YowANi.  see  Heyowani. 

Ytata,  De  Soto's  visit  to 201 

Yiiiii  blood  among  Cherokee 234 

— .  Cherokee  relations  with 385-386 

— .  in  Cherokee  territory 142-143 

— ,  myths  of 421,430 

YOSwi  TsfSsiii',  sen  Little  People. 

YCn'wiyA',  meaning  of 15,182 

— ,  eee  also  Synonymy. 

\  oswi-i  SGA'sE'Ti,  see  Dangerous-man, 

ifUPAHA,  De  Soto's  visit  to 193 

Zeigler  and  Grosscup  on  Cherokee  myths.     467, 
476, 478-479 

—  .  >n  East  Cherokee  chiefs 175 

—  on  East  Cherokee  condition  (about  1880)  .      176 

—  on  .lunaluska 164 

—  on  Jutaculla  "Id  Fields 179- 180 

—  on  Rumbling  bald 471 

Zeisberger  on  name  Tallige'wi 19,184 

Zn.r.  el.  Z.  A.,  acknowledgments  to 13 

on  Cherokee  round-up 131 

ZuSl,  study  of  fraternitiesand  cults  of xlvii 

— ,  models  of  altars  at xlviii 


o 


